Traditional logic would tell you that a number one organic ranking in a search engine is going to give you the greatest possible click through rate.

You would also think that, given the search term is directly related to your brand, that any chance of the searcher going elsewhere would be relatively remote; after all it is definitely you that they are looking for.

So why is it that brands bid on pay per click advertising for their own brand name? Why would they want to pay for traffic that they would otherwise have probably got anyway?

Dominating the search engine results page

It will sound an obvious one but by adding a pay per click campaign for your own brand name you are taking up a significant amount of display space when someone searches for your company.  This is further exacerbated if your brand name is displaying site links to deeper pages within your website.

Here is an example from BT:

If a searcher is using your brand name then it is likely they are either familiar with your services or are ready to buy from you – they are highly qualified visitors.  Dominating the search results page will ensure you are maximising the chances of them being caught in your search net.

You will also see that as a result of bidding on your own brand you can take up space where other competitors would otherwise look to bid, which takes us nicely on to the next benefit.

If you don’t advertise then your competitors will

By bidding on your own brand name you are taking up advertising real estate that competitors would otherwise look to take advantage of.

Competitors will also often use their advertising campaigns to run aggressive sales offers which if you are in an industry such as home or car insurance where a price difference of just a few pounds could drive a customer elsewhere, can have a significant impact upon internet driven revenue.

Bidding on your own brand is relatively cost effective

It goes without saying that the most relevant site to your own brand name will be your own.  With this in mind you will have a high ‘quality score’ for your own brand name which will make it more cost effective.

According to Google, a ‘quality score’ is:

“an estimate of how relevant your ads, keywords, and landing page are to a person seeing your ad. Having a high Quality Score means that our systems think your ad, keyword, and landing page are all relevant and useful to someone looking at your ad. “

As we have said, nobody is going to be more relevant than you and those within the industry have highlighted that bidding on your own brand name can boost your quality scores.

Test the effectiveness of campaigns and advertising wording

Brands have complete control over the wording of their adverts.  Bidding on your own brand means that you can trial wording and flexibly highlight product sales and promotions as and when you need to.

Testing advertising campaigns and promotions on your own brand name can be a useful tool before spreading them on to other target key phrases, particularly if working within a small or limited budget. 

For more information on pay per click advertising and how you can use it to boost the online revenues your business makes please give us a call or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk