Does having a lot traffic off branded search terms boost non-branded terms?
-
A site I work for has tons of organic traffic coming from branded terms like BRAND, www.brand.com, BRAND + Product, BRAND + question, etc.
They also have a lot of non-branded terms, coming through. Overall a strong site.
I've also seen websites for lawyers on TV with plenty of spammy links, almost no good ones, but nonetheless they rank well for their terms.
My intuition says these are related, that the more people search for your brand, the more Google recognizes your authority relative to your keywords. Is this possible, or am I misguided?
-
Just a personal belief.... the strongest signal that Google can get is when people are asking for you by name - in the search box or in the address window of Chrome.
-
Hi Scott,
Yes, Ranking on non-branded keywords would mean that google / search engines look at your website as an authority website, however , whether you would rank better than your competition on branded keywords would also depend on their own domain authority.
I hope this helps,
Regards,
Vijay
-
Hi there.
As far as I know, yes, it helps your rankings indirectly. I believe there was a WBF video by brand with some statistics. Let me see if I can find it.
Here it is: https://moz.com/blog/is-brand-a-google-ranking-factor-whiteboard-friday
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
When should i use 'Generated search clicks'?
Dear MOZ Community, When should i use 'Generated search clicks' (Links to google site results with your site results) in my content? Instead of direct links or ads to my site? For instance: I'm posting on social media or in a newsletter about a Top 5 OLED tv's.
Branding | | TimThijsse
Should i use a direct link to my Top 5 OLED page or should i use a link to search results on my page? https://www.plattetv.nl/categorie/top-5-oled?utm_source=social&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=Top-5-OLED
or
a search-click generator: https://www.google.com/search?q=plattetv.nl+top-5-oled Best regards, Tim Thijsse1 -
Mentions if domain slightly different to brand name
Hi, Just a question/discussion regarding mentions. I have read for the last few years that Google is able to give credit to websites who get mentioned without a link. Even a few months ago there was a big article on the Google update at the end of last year saying how mentions would become an even stronger signal than a link. My question is, if anyone knows, is there any evidence that Google and other search engines are able to give ranking credit to websites whose brand name is slightly different from the domain? Can the search engines figure out that it is the same thing? If not, then there must be a lot of brands missing out. Thanks.
Branding | | Brian_Dowd0 -
Using PPC in informational searches
What is your take on using PPC to be the "first" result in an informational search when your goal is truly to deliver information, educate, and affect public opinion? I'm following a large bureaucratic non-governmental organization who has a mission to get accurate information to the public -- they have nothing to literally sell, not even donations -- they're a membership NGO, and this is part of their charity mission. They have sat at about 6th place in the organic rankings for years, while other non-profits and for-profit companies on the other side of the issue (that do have something to literally sell to the traffic they generate off this search) rank in the number 2 and 4 spot. Wikipedia ranks number 1. An About.com site generally ranks #3. On related long tail keywords the bureaucratic NGO often doesn't even rank at all in the organic searches -- it's all the opposing non-profits and for-profits dominating those long tail informational searches. Now I'm seeing the bureaucratic NGO is doing PPC to be the first result on the main search and a bunch of long tails. I am seeing some changes in their website, too, to make it less bureaucratic, more user-friendly, less technical and boring, and more visual and interesting. I'm not privy to what they're doing internally, and I'm not sure if they are doing link-building for climbing in the organic rankings. I'm a newbie to SEO - most of my understanding is based on Moz Beginner's Guide, Moz Link guide, discussions on here, and what I find from googling about SEO concepts. I gather from the google searches that I've done that you don't normally try to use PPC to buy first place in informational searches -- that with informational searches, you should be emphasizing quality link building. I'm also not sure how sustainable it would be to stay at the top position by buying the top position through PPC -- although its conceivable to me that this organization could do that indefinitely, because they're not trying to make a profit off these searches, and they're big and got the bucks. Any insights on PPC in purely informational campaigns?
Branding | | scienceisrad0 -
Issue with the company's brand name in SERPs
Any suggestions on how to solve this without the need to be ranked for something not related?
Branding | | GardenPet0 -
Marketing for a new alternative solution (general keywords) and for it to show up under specific keyword searches
Hi Moz Community! I've run into a marketing dilemma for one of our customers that we provide SEO and internet marketing services to. Therefore, I need the help of you clever people! The company is a high-tech innovative biotechnology company, so instead of using their product as an example which might be confusing, I will represent the problem with "DVDs" and a new technology similar to Netflix. Customer wants to buy 500 Days of Summer DVD online and isn't aware of the new technology called 'Netflix' where we can stream it online instead of ordering it online. Netflix marketing team wants their website to show up alongside search results so when people search for 'buy 500 Days of Summer DVD', you will see Amazon, blah blah and at some point also see 'Netflix: Stream Instantly Online!' What is the best way to approach this? Micro (macro) site? Can I target 'DVD' and make the microsite use a direct match? Do I have to create a page for every single popular DVD in order for it to effectively rank? Any other clever solutions to this problem? Thanks everyone! Sheldon
Branding | | swzhai0 -
Long Exact Match Domain, or short "Brand" domain?
I've searched and found a lot of discussion regarding the benefits of using Exact Match Domains, however I'm still unsure of what is a "too long" domain to make it not user friendly. I'm working on a new web application that help users design their own <product>. </product> Let's say that the product would be canvas paintings as an example. Would you choose the domain www.designcanvaspaintings.com if it was available? Or would you rather create a "brand" like paintify.com that is shorter and has a more "brand" feeling to it.
Branding | | marcuslind0 -
When a PPC campaign is instituted what happens to non-branded organic search traffic ?
when a PPC campaign is instituted what happens to non-branded organic search traffic ?
Branding | | Archers0 -
How to balance International and Local Search targeting?
Hi guys, A local company provides tourism services in Spain but its potential clients reside abroad in USA mostly. This means we have 2 search potentials:
Branding | | emerald
1. For reaching international clients via international search in advance before they arrive (preferred).
2. Last minute booking potential for local serach when they have already arrived and seek a service while already here. So far we have targeted USA and international searches solely and ignored local search. We have tried to target our website to USA in GoogleWebmasterTools and link building location mostly. But what about local search? Would establishing ourselves in Local Search (google places and maps etc) be a confusion for Google and mess with our good rankings in US? Or would it add to our potential of additional last minute local seaches? What's the best approach in a situation like this? Is a happy medium possible? Thanks in advance.0