Google Ads has many aspects, from account setup to campaign and ad group setup to keywords. Often, we're asked, "What is a branded keyword?". In this article, we will discuss:
What is a Branded Keyword?
Advantages and Disadvantages to Bidding on a Branded Keyword
Setup Proper Campaigns for Branded Keywords
What is a Branded Keyword?
You're targeting a branded keyword with your company name in mind. For our company, it would be "RAB Consulting;" for you, it might be "Mr. Rooter Plumbing." The point is that a person has heard of your company in some capacity from a friend, a video you've produced, etc., and has done a search for your company name.
Why Bid on Branded Keywords?
Some advantages to bidding on branded keywords:
Warm Traffic: They already know who you are
Lower Cost: Since your company name is less competitive, the cost per click tends to be lower
Protection: As your popularity grows, competitors will start to bid on your company name to steal your traffic
Some disadvantages to bidding on branded keywords
Warm traffic: You are not engaging with people who have never heard of you
False Sense of Accomplishment: The Cost Per Conversion will be lower, baiting you to spend more in this campaign
Unnecessary: If you are starting your company, many have never heard of you, including your competition, so there is no need to protect your brand.
How to Setup a Branded Keyword Campaign?
Luckily, this should be reasonably easy. You only have one company name, so you simply need:
1 Campaign
Name it "Branded Campaign"
1 Ad Group
Name it "Brand"
1 Keyword
Use "<your company name>"
1-3 Ads
If you offer different services, try to break those up into different ads and speak to the specific avatar that will benefit from that specific service.
Negative Keyword
In your other campaigns, put your branded keyword as a negative keyword to ensure that only your Branded Campaign shows up for your branded keyword search.
What to Watch Out For
As we mentioned, branded keywords attract two things: warm traffic and low cost per conversion. Most businesses we know are looking for new clients, and certainly, being warm does not mean they are not new clients; it just means they have heard of you from somewhere. The low cost per conversion makes it tempting to spend more than you should on this campaign. We recommend spending 5-10% of your budget on a branded campaign. So, for an average budget of no more than $150.
We hope this answers the question of what a branded keyword is. If you have any questions about the subject of Google Ads in general, feel free to reach out, and we will be happy to answer them.
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