Targeting Branded Keywords in SEO and PPC

Targeting branded keywords means making sure that when someone searches your company or product name, plus words like pricing, login, reviews or alternatives, they land on a page you control that answers the question. In SEO, that's mostly about building the right pages. In PPC, it's deciding whether to pay for clicks you might get for free. And in reporting, it means keeping branded search separate, because it grows with everything else you do.

Below is what counts as a branded keyword, which branded searches to own, when to bid on your brand, and how to read branded search traffic without fooling yourself.

What are branded keywords?

Branded keywords are searches that include your company or product name: "[your brand]", "[your brand] pricing", "[your brand] login", "[your brand] vs [competitor]". Non branded search is everything else, like "[category] software" or "how to [job your product does]".

The two behave differently. Branded searchers already know you, so they convert at high rates and cost little. Non-branded searchers don't, so that's where acquisition happens. Mixing them in one report makes every channel look better than it is.

Branded searches to own in SEO

Most companies rank for their own name and stop there. The searches around your name matter just as much, because they come from people close to a decision:

1. "[brand] pricing": a pricing page with real prices and plan limits.
2. "[brand] reviews": a page that links to your review profiles and shows real customer stories.
3. "[brand] alternatives" and "[brand] vs [competitor]": honest comparison pages, or a competitor will write them for you.
4. "[brand] [integration]": a page for each integration people search for.
5. "[brand] login" and "[brand] docs": clean, fast pages that get existing users where they're going.
6. "[brand] security" or "[brand] SOC 2": a security page that answers what a buyer's security team will ask.

AI assistants make this more important. When ChatGPT searches for facts about a company, it often goes straight to the company's own site. I covered that in how to rank in ChatGPT search. If your pricing or security page is missing, the answer comes from someone else's version.

Should you bid on your own brand in PPC?

Bidding on your own brand is the most debated budget line in B2B PPC. There are good reasons to do it:

1. Competitors bid on your name, and your ad is the only thing standing between a branded searcher and their offer.
2. You control the message, the landing page and the sitelinks, like pricing, demo and login.
3. Branded clicks are usually cheap.

And there are good reasons to be skeptical. Many of those clicks would have come through your organic listing anyway, and branded campaigns flatter the account's overall numbers.

The practical answer for most startups: run a small, tightly controlled brand campaign if competitors bid on your name, and report it separately from everything else. If nobody else bids on your brand, test pausing it in a quiet period and compare total branded signups, paid and organic together. If the total doesn't drop, you were paying for clicks you'd have had anyway.

When competitors do target your brand, my post on competitor conquesting covers how those campaigns work from both sides.

Keep brand out of your non-brand campaigns

Branded terms leak into non-brand campaigns through broad match and Performance Max. When they do, non-brand performance looks far better than it is, because it's partly paying for people who already wanted you.

Add your brand terms as negative keywords in every non-brand search campaign. In Performance Max, use brand exclusions to keep campaigns off branded queries. Then report brand and non-brand separately, every time. My guide to B2B PPC covers the rest of the account structure.

How to read branded search traffic

Branded search traffic is a symptom, not a channel. People search your name because something else reached them first: a creator video, a podcast, a recommendation, an AI answer or a sales email. The search engine just collects the result.

That makes branded search one of the best measures you have for upstream marketing. Capture branded search volume before a launch or a creator campaign, then compare the weeks after. At Quadratic, every creator partnership was measured against a branded-search baseline captured before it ran. I cover the method in my guide to marketing attribution.

In reporting, separate the two:

1. In Google Search Console, filter queries containing your brand name, or use the branded queries filter Google introduced in November 2025 if your site has it.
2. In analytics, split organic landing pages into branded and non-branded where you can, and never credit SEO with branded growth that other channels created.
3. In ad accounts, keep brand in its own campaigns with its own budget and report.

Targeting branded keywords, in short

Targeting branded keywords comes down to three habits. Build pages for every search that includes your name, bid on your brand only when you can show it adds signups, and keep branded search out of every other channel's numbers. Do those and your reports will tell you what's actually working.

If your paid and organic reports blur brand and non-brand together, my paid search services start by separating them.

Branded Keywords FAQs

What is an example of a branded keyword?

An example of a branded keyword is any search containing your company or product name, like "Notion pricing", "Slack login" or "Zapier alternatives". Non-branded keywords leave the name out, like "project management software". Branded searchers already know you, so they convert at much higher rates than people searching non-branded terms.

Should you bid on your own brand name?

You should bid on your own brand name when competitors bid on it or when you need control over the message and landing page. If nobody else bids on your brand, test pausing the campaign and compare total branded signups. If they don't drop, the brand campaign was buying clicks you'd have earned organically.

Why is branded search traffic growing?

Branded search traffic grows when other marketing works. Creator videos, podcasts, press, word of mouth and AI answers send people to search your name, and the search engine collects the result. Treat rising branded search as a sign that upstream channels are working, not as an SEO or PPC win.

How do you separate branded and non-branded search?

You separate branded and non-branded search by filtering queries that contain your brand name in Google Search Console, or by using its branded queries filter where available. In Google Ads, keep brand in its own campaigns, add brand terms as negatives in non-brand campaigns, and use brand exclusions in Performance Max.