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A very Interesting question pertaining to SEM strategy was asked by a client recently. “why is it necessary to bid on our own band name as a keyword in google adwords?” he questioned.

It is a very valid question coming from an entrepreneur who wants to ensure that every penny being spent on Internet Marketing is worthy of ROI. Brand Keyword targeting is an important and interesting aspect of SEM / PPC (Pay-Per-click) campaign strategy. Let me share some reasons why a company should have its own brand name as a keyword in a Search Engine Marketing campaign.

1. Owning more real estate on the search engine results page – reinforcing brand.

For a new business it is a difficult and time consuming proposition to rank on organic search results. With some good on-page search engine optimisation techniques good results can be achieved for brand on SERP’s (search engine result pages). But is this enough?

While it is obvious that the result of good seo will ensure brand presence on page 1 of google it is also important to take note of the user behaviour when he/she is searching. Most users do not differentiate between organic and paid search results thus having a relevant text advertisement on brand keywords ensures that there is maximum brand ownership on the page. This helps reinforce the brand image.

2. Protecting your brand from competitors on search.

Knowing that competition can bid on your brand name can make many a client uncomfortable. But Maintaining top ad position in case other advertisers decide to bid on your brand is an important .

By doing right campaign and bid management brand keyword based ads can find top position on the SERP’s and thus ensure that competition does not have complete attention of the user. In cases where the brand name can have many different interpretations this becomes more important.

3. The web page hot spots

Every webpage has hot spots. Heat map technology has evolved over time to suggest the most likely spots on a page a user is likely to click.

The top of the page and the top right of the page are known prominent positions. This is where google shows sponsored ads.

4. Messaging and communication control.

Messaging control also allows to weed out those who may have thought differently about the brand offering. The description of every search result cannot be controlled. This could mean different things to different people. By controlling ad text elements we ensure that the right message is received and increase the likelihood of a user clicking on the ad due to message relevancy.

5. There is also an element of targeting which when actioned helps us focus on select markets. This is typically implemented once the brand is beyond the “I want to be noticed phase”.

A choice can be made to be absent from select markets where presence is not needed. This option ensure that you are able to target markets with search engine marketing for better campaign performance.

6. Building and leveraging Quality score

In most well executed campaigns Branded keywords secure good click-through rates and if the campaigns are managed properly they also secure the best quality score and have some great performance stats.

Quality score is an important aspect of campaign and bid management. A perfect 10 on brand keyword quality score helps in improving the overall account quality score and thereby leads to better CPC’s (cost per clicks) and hence better ROI.

Most Brand ignore these aspects and loose out in the long run by allowing others to take their own deserved space.