When it comes to SEO, many businesses focus solely on traffic volume without considering the type of traffic they’re attracting.
This oversight can leave gaps in your strategy and limit your ability to grow.
Analysing branded and non-branded search traffic isn’t just a helpful skill – it’s fundamental for increasing your organic reach. This foundational skill sets the stage for a more effective organic search strategy, helping you understand the bigger picture of how people discover your business.
Understanding these search types helps you connect with new audiences and refine your strategy to drive more traffic to your website.
What Are Branded Searches?
Branded searches include queries that directly mention your business, products, or services. For example, searches like “Propeld digital marketing”, “BIG4 Apollo Bay” or “Lone Wolf Coffee” fall under this category.
High branded search volume is a good sign. It indicates:
- Strong brand awareness
- Effective marketing campaigns
- Loyal customers actively seeking you out
However, branded searches typically grow more slowly as they rely on raising awareness across all marketing channels and are limited to keywords that include your brand or product names.
Relying solely on branded searches limits your growth potential by focusing only on those who already know your brand. This makes it essential to pair branded search strategies with broader efforts to reach new audiences and drive growth.
Non-Branded Searches: Casting a Wider Net
Non-branded searches cover a broader spectrum of queries unrelated to specific brands.
Keywords can be categorised by their position in the buyer’s journey, which we call buyer intent. Buyer intent in SEO refers to the motivation or purpose behind a search query. It reflects the user’s position in the buying journey – from exploring solutions to making a purchase decision.
These can be divided into six categories ordered by highest buyer intent to lowest:
- Transactional – “Buy coffee beans online”
- Location-Based – “Mobile bar hire Melbourne”
- Service-Based – “Digital marketing agencies”
- Product-Based – “Led Strip Lights”
- Investigation – “Best trademark attorney in 2025”
- Question-Based – “How to catch cheating partners”
Non-branded searches are essential for attracting new audiences, expanding your reach, and increasing organic visibility.
By addressing these queries, you position your business as the solution to problems and needs your audience may not associate with your brand – yet.
Why Measuring Both Matters
Tracking branded and non-branded traffic offers a fuller picture of your brand’s growth.
If your traffic is mostly branded, it suggests strong awareness but limited new reach. Conversely, low branded search traffic can indicate a lack of awareness in the marketplace, highlighting the need for broader marketing efforts to strengthen your brand’s visibility.
A healthy mix of both indicates a balanced SEO strategy targeting existing customers and new audiences.
Understanding this balance helps align your SEO efforts with business goals.
Whether you’re building awareness, driving conversions, or increasing market share, knowing where your traffic comes from ensures smarter decision-making.
How to Measure Branded vs. Non-Branded Traffic
Start with what I think is the best free SEO tool you can have in your arsenal: Google Search Console. It provides invaluable insights into search terms driving traffic to your site and helps you make data-driven decisions for your strategy.
Steps to segment branded and non-branded traffic:
- Use the “Performance” tab in Search Console.
- Apply filters: “contains” for branded keywords (e.g., “Propeld”) and “does not contain” for non-branded.
- Analyse trends to see how each segment performs over time.
Don’t have Search Console set up yet? Why not? It’s free! Start here
Other tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs offer deeper keyword analysis if you’re ready to invest in more advanced insights.
Using Insights to Shape SEO Strategy
Once you’ve segmented your traffic, you can begin to shape a tailored SEO strategy. By understanding how branded and non-branded traffic performs, you can make informed decisions to drive growth and reach new audiences. Here’s how:
Focus on Branded Searches
Branded traffic is crucial for building loyalty and strengthening your reputation. During a rebrand or new product launch, prioritising branded campaigns can:
- Reinforce your presence with existing audiences.
- Boost recall through targeted marketing efforts like social media or email campaigns.
Target Non-Branded Keywords
To grow your organic reach, create content tailored to high-value, non-branded keywords. Examples include:
- Optimising product and service pages to align with specific searches, ensuring they rank well for relevant terms.
- Writing blog posts answering common queries (e.g., “How to choose the best vegan desserts”).
- Developing product guides or comparison pages targeting investigative searches.
Balance Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Short-term strategies, such as advertising campaigns, can target non-branded keywords for immediate visibility by securing top positions in search results. These efforts are particularly effective for promotions or seasonal offers.
Long-term strategies focus on consistent content creation and optimisation. By developing high-quality blogs, product pages, and guides, your business can climb the organic rankings over time, building sustainable traffic growth.
Case Study: Strategic Growth Through Search Traffic
Mahadeva’s Kitchen, an online retailer specialising in vegan desserts and a trusted supplier to some of Melbourne’s best-known cafes and eateries, initially had a 60/40 ratio of branded to non-branded searches 12 months ago.
This highlighted significant room for growth in service and product-related queries.
By focusing on targeted non-branded content, they shifted the ratio to 25/75 within a year – all while increasing branded search volume.
As a result, their search traffic more than doubled (+120%) in a year-on-year comparison over the same period.
This strategy significantly enhanced visibility, attracted new audiences, and boosted overall traffic and ultimately sales.
Elevate Your Brand Online with Smarter SEO
Measuring branded and non-branded search traffic isn’t just about numbers – it’s about actionable insights.
By understanding your traffic mix, you can align your SEO strategy with your business goals and ensure you’re capturing both loyal customers and new audiences.
Ready to take control of your SEO? Book an obligation-free consultation to discuss what strategy will work best for you.