Learn how to increase your traffic by optimising your brand keywords and attracting more relevant visitors to your website.
Martin Langborg Hansen
Congratulations! You have a well-optimised Google Ads account with campaigns that are running smoothly… but perhaps your turnover isn’t quite meeting expectations. Brand keyword campaigns are not always the easiest to scale dramatically – but here are some useful tips.
Let’s say your Google Ads account is performing well. For every pound you put into Google Ads, you’re getting your desired return. However, you’d like to see more traffic to help increase your revenue.
Brand keywords often deliver the best results, as click prices are typically quite low and users get exactly what they’re searching for. Naturally, though, fewer people will use a specific brand name as a search term compared to broader keywords like winter jacket.
You can easily get plenty of impressions and clicks using general (generic) keywords, but the proportion of visitors who actually make a purchase will drop significantly (conversion rate).
If you have a huge budget, that’s great… go for it.
If not, here are some tips to help you still attract high-quality traffic.
Essentially, focus on
As mentioned, it’s often your brand searches that perform best and perhaps even generate most of your conversions. Typically, these campaigns are the most efficient and give you the best return for your spend. Unless you have a very well-known brand, you’ll probably see a limited number of searches on your brand name.
Check how your brand keyword is set up in Google Ads. The most commonly used match types are Exact Match, Phrase Match, or Broad Modified. I won’t go into detail here, but each limits how often your ads are shown in different ways.
Exact Match often gives the best results, but the least traffic. Broad Modified typically delivers the most traffic, but can also lead to more irrelevant clicks. However, this last match type is definitely worth testing, as it can bring in much more traffic. You can easily set up your brand keyword using all match types from the start and then see which performs best.
In principle, you can cover most searches where your brand is included with the match types mentioned. The advantage of creating brand + keyword combinations (e.g. brand + women) is that you can set up campaigns/ad groups with ad copy tailored to each keyword. This precise messaging can increase your click-through rate (CTR), so you get more out of your traffic. By directing users to the exact part of your website they’re looking for, you reduce the risk of losing potential customers who can’t find what they need. Users searching in this targeted way are often more ready to buy, so it’s wise to make the customer journey as short as possible.
You’ve probably tried running generic keywords that don’t include your brand name, and then paused them because they didn’t perform well. That’s fine, but it might be worth checking if there are a few generic keywords in a specific match type that actually do OK. If you also check the traffic, for example by device (mobile, tablet, or PC), you may find some keywords worth reactivating – even if only for a while to create more traffic and raise awareness of your brand. Often, the magic happens after a general search: people see and remember you, and then use your brand name as a search term – resulting in a cheaper click for you.
Many people believe that using Broad Match is too risky. Unlike Broad Modified, your ads can show for some quite irrelevant searches. For instance, if the keyword winter jacket is set as Broad Match, your ad might appear for searches like windbreaker. On the plus side, you’ll get lots of traffic and clicks – and costs. For brand keywords, though, it doesn’t have to be that bad. It’s still a good idea to test your brand keywords in this way. An added bonus is discovering lots of new ways users search for your brand. You can then consider adding these search terms as keywords in their own campaigns/ad groups.
Be patient – by regularly checking, adjusting, and adding negative keywords, your Broad Match campaign can become a good investment over time.
Tip: If you want to test Broad Match, start by creating combinations with your brand and another keyword, e.g. brand + women. This will help Google find the right searches.
Tip 2: Spend some time sharpening your Google Ads ad copy. If you end up in a more peripheral search, strong copy and messaging can ensure the right users click your ad.
…and one more tip: Set up Broad Match in its own campaign, not just mixed with other keywords. This way, you have better control over the budget and can more easily track and exclude irrelevant search terms (negative keywords).
Once you’ve attracted users, it’s definitely worthwhile to do more to keep them engaged. With Google Ads Remarketing, you have the opportunity to re-engage people who have already visited your site.
RLSA is a type of Google Ads remarketing that lets you automatically bid higher when users who have already shown interest and visited your site search again on Google. This is clever, as most webshops see people coming and going several times before finally making a purchase. It does require a fair amount of traffic – you need to have had 1,000 active users in the past month.
Display banners
If you don’t have that many visitors yet, try remarketing with visual display ads (banners) instead. Display ads require fewer visitors: only 100 active users in the last month. Display remarketing is a brilliant way to get your message across, as display isn’t limited to users who are actively searching (unlike text ads).
With Google’s Display Network (sites that show ads), you can usually reach a wide audience. For example, you can choose to show your display banners on sites that feature content relevant to your topic, or advertise on selected sites (that perfectly match your product).
This type of advertising works well for a general brand campaign that highlights your key benefits and USPs.
Achieve precise targeting
With remarketing, you can target specific audiences very precisely. In Google Analytics, you can set up audience segments based on user behaviour on your site. For example, you can create an audience of users who have visited specific brand pages on your site – such as yoursite.co.uk/brand1 or yoursite.co.uk/brand2. Then you can run display ads targeting these groups with a tailored message.
You can also exclude those who haven’t purchased (or those who have), or who only stayed a few seconds, or who don’t fit your target demographic.
Find lookalike audiences
As an added touch, Google automatically creates audiences similar to the groups you’ve set up (not all, but many). Select them in Ads under Audiences > Edit Audiences. This way, you can drive even more traffic from users who resemble those likely to search for your brand.
In-market audiences
A relatively new feature, Google can help you find potential customers who are “in market” – that is, based on their online behaviour, users who are likely to make a purchase soon (In-Market). This isn’t strictly remarketing, but Google can identify users who have shown a real interest in products like yours.
It’s a clever feature, and this targeting can significantly increase your conversion rate while saving on costs.
The beauty of this type of advertising is that it also improves your overall brand effectiveness, including your regular Google Ads text ads. Increased brand awareness makes users more confident in choosing your site and your offer.
Tip: Separate your campaigns, so you have remarketing and broader display campaigns running independently. This makes it easier to manage your budget.
Suppose you’ve set up your Google Ads account with strong keywords – yet, nothing much happens. Frustrating, but it could be that your account or previous campaigns have specific settings that you copied over, which are now restricting your ad visibility.
Geographical targeting
It often makes sense to limit ad visibility geographically, as this helps control costs and allows you to focus your advertising efforts on a specific area. For brand searches, however, this isn’t always necessary. It can be a good idea to make your brand findable nationwide.
Negative keywords
Adding negative keywords is normally a good way to ensure your ads only show for the most relevant searches. For brand keywords, though, you might want to limit the use of negative keywords. For example, negative keywords could be supermarket names. However, your brand should be strong enough that you’re still chosen in these cases. As always, it’s important to regularly review your search terms.
Max CPC
Your brand keywords are often quite cheap, as your site is the most relevant for the term. This helps you rank higher among Google Ads (Ad Rank). However, it’s worth considering bidding slightly higher on your own brand keywords. Not only does this protect you from competitors suddenly bidding on your brand (you’ll still only pay a little more than the second-highest bidder), but you may also find Google placing other ads above yours – especially if your brand name contains a generic word.
Tip: Monitor your keywords’ performance under Keywords > Avg. position in Google Ads – remember to view recent data, e.g. 7 or 14 days, to get your current positions.
Ad scheduling – time-based display
Check your Google Ads account for any time limitations on when your ads can appear. For example, they might not be set to show in the evenings. For brand searches, it’s likely not necessary to restrict ads to business hours. Remove these limits to get more traffic.
Loosen your ROI requirements (maybe temporarily)
If you use automated bidding strategies like ROAS or CPA, you might find that your targets are met but your turnover doesn’t increase. Especially for brands, it can be worthwhile to remove automated bidding altogether for a test. Brand keywords can often deliver good results on their own and should generate profitable sales for you.
If your conversions are around 20-30-40 per month, the Google Ads system can become stuck and restrict spend too much. Conversion numbers drop, and the system has too little data to optimise effectively.
Tip: After each change to your bidding strategy, the system needs some time to adjust to the new data. Avoid changing things too frequently.
Quality Score
Check how your Quality Score is developing. Brand keywords often have a good score, but if your ad copy is too generic or doesn’t include the keyword, your score may drop. If your landing page is also rated poorly by Google, your bid may not be high enough for a good, visible position. This results in fewer clicks and a lower CTR – and you end up in a negative spiral. On the other hand, with well-optimised ad copy and landing pages, you can secure a more visible position and more traffic.
Budget
Google Ads will indicate if your budget is limiting ad impressions… most of the time. You can’t always tell whether your budget is big enough. Try boosting your brand campaign’s budget – you may see a sudden spike in traffic.
Also check how your brand ads are delivered – is the campaign spending the budget as quickly as possible (Accelerated), or is the system trying to stretch it throughout the day (Standard)? Usually, it’s best to use the Accelerated setting for brand campaigns.
The typical approach to Google Ads is to set up campaigns that respond to the traffic or demand that already exists. Ads are triggered when people actively search, which is the core strength of Google Ads: your ads are shown when users are interested and active.
Display advertising – broad visibility (not remarketing)
However, you can also influence how many people search for your brand.
The display ads mentioned above are excellent for building awareness of your product. The limitation with display is that they don’t necessarily appear when the user actually has a need.
The targeting option “users in market” is one of Google’s groundbreaking features for efficiently finding users who are especially valuable to target. Here, you have a better chance that people will later search for your brand – not just the generic product type. Read more about the best display banner sizes.
Custom intent – reach your competitors’ visitors
Imagine being able to reach your competitors’ visitors. Unfortunately, many people don’t know or remember your brand. Here, Google offers an exciting targeting option where you can show your ads specifically to users who have visited a competitor, as well as users with similar behaviour. This can be powerful – someone shows interest in a competitor and is then reminded that you exist too. This can only increase branded search traffic for you.
Generic keywords – a small detour with a big impact
Bite the bullet and accept that “expensive” generic keywords are what bring in the extra traffic you want. Accept that generic campaigns won’t perform as well as brand campaigns. Once you have the traffic, there’s a good chance your customers will return via brand searches (or even through organic searches!).
A “trick” for your ad copy is to include the price. This will filter out some users by immediately showing the (quality) level you offer.
Google Shopping and brand
Google Shopping is a fantastic concept, as users immediately get lots of information in their search results: what the product looks like, brand, target audience (e.g. men/women) and, not least, price – before they click on your ad.
Unfortunately, you can’t trigger Google Shopping ads with specific keywords, but you can see afterwards which search terms brought users to your ads. Based on this data, you can see whether brand or generic searches are actually driving conversions. You can, however, limit impressions with negative keywords.
Tip: Split your shopping campaigns into brand and generic campaigns. This makes it easier to manage bidding, budget, and prioritisation between different campaigns. It’s a slightly complex topic, but it’s vital to manage where you set negative keywords so the right campaigns show at the right times.
Follow Google’s guidelines
Setting up Google Shopping can be a bit tricky, especially making sure the feed that sends product data to Google (Merchant Center) works correctly and optimally.
One of the most important things for brand searches is to add the brand name in the product title and description – and include it as an attribute in the feed. This makes it easier for Google to find relevant products for brand-related searches.
Tip: Start with your bestsellers. Hopefully, you’ll get plenty of impressions and clicks, which can quickly use up your budget. By selecting your bestsellers, you give yourself the best chance for Google Shopping to be profitable. Even with a limited budget, you can achieve significant visibility (impression share).
Note: Remember to use negative keywords to avoid showing your products alongside very cheap competitors or for irrelevant topics.
Remarketing with Google Shopping – dynamic remarketing
As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of opportunities with remarketing, including for Google Shopping. This is especially valuable because many consumers now check out multiple webshops before making a decision. As impatient as we are, it doesn’t take much to abandon a purchase process if something on the site isn’t perfect. One click and we’re gone.
Google has made remarketing even smarter for Shopping, as users don’t just see ads – they also see the exact products they viewed, similar to display ads across the web. This is extremely powerful, especially if you combine remarketing with an audience segment of users who reached the basket stage. You then have a great chance to recapture these potential customers.
Conclusion
With brand campaigns, you have plenty of opportunities to build and grow a successful business. Usually, you don’t need to worry about testing new things, as you have the advantage of being the brand owner.
Try out some of the more advanced Google features – there are some very exciting options for driving more traffic and retaining your users.
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