Why do you advertise on your own brand name?
In this blog I would like to explain to you, why it is better to advertise on your own brand name, even if you have captured the number one position in the organic search results. Many brands advertise in Google Ads on their own brand name. Not only big brands do this by the way, medium and small businesses also advertise on their own brand name.
Below is a screenshot of Zalando's organic position and their Google Ads ad.
SERP dominate
Suppose a competitor advertises on your company name organically at number 2, you will simply miss out on visitors because people will also click on the second position. By advertising on your own company name, you are visible, because you are at the top organically, but also with your ad you are at the top. So you increase your chances of people landing on your website. In addition, advertising on your own brand name can be useful if, for example, a negative review about your company is highly ranked. You can print this with your own ad below the fold line so it is not visible to potential customers without scrolling.
More complete representation of the company
Sitelinks in Google Ads differ from sitelinks in organic results. Many companies offer more services and products than the average customer is aware of. See also the example of Zalando above. The organic search result and the ad show a different assortment. For example, in the ad you see Premium Clothing listed and in the organic search result you don't. You have probably experienced such a situation yourself once, where you thought, "Oh do you/or do you have that too?".
Responding to seasons
Organic sitelinks can be controlled through Google Search Console but not completely determined. Google determines this for you and at most you can have sitelinks downgraded. Sitelinks through Google Ads can be set at your discretion and changed à la minute. In the fall, Zalando could place a sitelink here to all winter coats, while in the summer it could link to swimwear. This also allows you to capitalize on certain brands on which you make more margin, for example, products of which you have (too) much in stock, etc. You simply don't have this possibility and flexibility with organic sitelinks.
Google Ads account quality score
Organic sitelinks can be controlled through Google Search Console but not completely determined. Google determines this for you and at most you can have sitelinks downgraded. Sitelinks through Google Ads can be set at your discretion and changed à la minute. In the fall, Zalando could place a sitelink here to all winter coats, while in the summer it could link to swimwear. This also allows you to capitalize on certain brands on which you make more margin, for example, products of which you have (too) much in stock, etc. You simply don't have this possibility and flexibility with organic sitelinks.
Prevent competitors from advertising on your brand name
Clicks generated on the keyword [company name] are usually very cheap. When competitors want to advertise on your company name, they will often have to dig much deeper to get higher than your own ad, making it very unattractive. If competitors are already advertising on your company name, what are you waiting for? Surely you won't let them take away your customers!
Gaining trust
Being listed twice and claiming a large listing in Google unconsciously inspires trust in the potential/existing customer. This increases the chances of a click and conversion.
Capture typos
You hear it more often in radio ads, companies with difficult names that emphasize the correct spelling. A well-known commercial today is Squla. In the bumper of the radio commercial, it says, "Squla with a Q." So thanks to Google Ads, you can advertise on all possible misspellings on the company name so that people won't give up looking for you.
Everyone skips those ads
This is another naive statement. If this were so, why do companies advertise with Google Ads at all. Indeed, in 2014, compared to 2013, there was a +17% increase in Google Ads clicks.
Note: Did you know that 30 -35% of people don't even recognize the ads? Many people shout that they always skip those ads, but the reality is often different. Just ask Aunt Nelly on the next birthday to google something and see what she clicks on. I think there is a good chance that she clicks on an ad, but she thinks she clicked on the first organic result, because the ads are always on the right side of the SERP...right? By the way, I also find this unbelievable since the ads even show a yellow/orange block containing the abbreviation Adv. but still it is often the case.
Advertising on search terms you are already #1 with
Many of the above arguments also apply to advertising on a relevant keyword (non-branded) where you are already in position 1 organically. Think sitelinks, seasonal products, dominating in the SERP, gaining trust etc. But in this case, there are even more arguments to be made for doing advertising if you are already at #1 with a particular keyword.
Up to 80 percent do not click on organic No. 1
When you rank #1 organically, you enjoy between 20 and 40% of potential clicks (CTR) on average. So that means that 60 to 80% do something else. This can be clicking on an ad, but also, for example, changing the search query, closing the browser, etc. So by not advertising, you are missing out on potential customers.
Note: this CTR is an average of keywords. Long tail searches typically enjoy a higher CTR as do regional searches.
Referring to a better landing page than the home page
Typically, the further you land people from the search engine in the funnel, the better the conversion rate will be. The less people have to click and thus make less effort, the faster they will pull out the wallet. Often the home page of a website is the best findable page. As a result, a company's home page is often organically findable on the broadest keyword that has the most potential traffic. This does not mean that the homepage is also the best page where visitors can land on your website. Therefore, it makes sense to advertise on pages deeper in the funnel.
A display of your ad increases organic CTR
And let the organic CTR be a metric in Google Search Console. Improving organic CTR can be an indirect positive effect of advertising with Google Ads. Advertising in Google Ads is not an SEO factor, but a display of an ad can thus indirectly affect a likely SEO factor.
Remarketing at the keyword level
Because you do get specific information at the keyword level with Google Ads (and not organically in Google Analytics), you have the opportunity to remarket this group of people and encourage cross selling, for example. Suppose someone buys a PlayStation 4 from you, thanks to the keywords PlayStation 4 buy, you can remarket this group of customers on searches such as PlayStation 4 games, for example. What are these sales opportunities worth to you? By the way, want to know more about remarketing and remarketing lists? Then read my earlier blog on the subject.
Understanding click behavior is winning at the keyword level
I sell a lot of product A, because I am organically #1. Whether you get maximum return from this organic No. 1 position is the next question. Because organically used keywords are no longer visible in Google Analytics, it is impossible to optimize a purchase process at the keyword level. This can be done with Google Ads, however. So what if this gives you insight on how to improve conversion rates? This has a positive effect on ALL your visitors.
Google Ads ads on a smartphone
Midway through 2015, there was an important tipping point. There were more mobile searches in the Netherlands that month than searches on both laptop and tablet. Grab your mobile and google on Playstation 4, for example. Sometimes you already have to swipe twice to get the first organic search result at all. People are lazy and just click what's at the top, ad or not. Do you want to ignore all these potential customers too?
Disadvantages of advertising on brand name/keyword with which you already rank #1 organically
While I'm a big proponent of advertising by brand name and keywords that already rank you #1 organically in Google, I'll also mention some disadvantages of this for completeness:
- Budget: advertising on your own brand name or keyword that you are already number one with can cost a lot of budget especially when there is high search volume.
- Cannibalization: yes, no doubt you are now going to pay for visitors who click on an ad who would otherwise have visited your website organically (and thus for free).
- Profit margin: if you start looking at the profit margin at the keyword level, it will start dropping.
A word about the cons...
Most companies do not have a marketing budget that reaches to the sky. However, as long as the ads bring in more than they cost ... why not? Determining a CPA (cost per acquisition) is key here. Suppose you have a product on which you make €20 net profit, why shouldn't the cost per conversion be €15?
To what extent cannibalization takes place depends on what industry you are in. In most cases, I would venture to say that the extra reach of people who otherwise would not have found you is greater than the cannibalization that takes place. So on balance, it offers an advantage.
The average profit margin per product will decrease, since selling via Google Ads and keyword X always costs money. On the other hand, the volume of sales will go up and if you handle this well, you will keep more on the bottom line and your customer database/market share will grow. If the profit does not come from the width then it will come from the length, right?
Conclusion
Never bet on just one horse. By this I mean, don't depend 100% solely on organic findability or Google Ads. Google adjusts the algorithm daily to improve the search results and that could just mean that at some point you drop organically in Google. Add to that the fact that your competitors are sawing at your feet, because they want to occupy that organic No. 1 position. On the other hand, new competitors may suddenly emerge who, thanks to Google Ads, are immediately at the top and increase the average cost per click, so you may have to settle for less. Using Google Ads and SEO together generally give the best results because the forces are combined. They offer the most long-term security. My advice is to advertise on keywords where you already rank number 1 organically as well as on your own brand name. Want to know more about this? Google search ads pause study. This research is probably a bit outdated, but it certainly gives food for thought. In addition, of course, we can always help and advise you. Feel free to contact us, we are here for you.
