Branded vs Non-Branded
Your Google Search Console data mixes branded searches (people who already know you) with non-branded searches (people discovering you through SEO). Without separating them, you can't tell whether organic growth is real or just brand awareness. QuickSEO lets you switch a website's dashboard between all, branded and non-branded searches in one click.
How It Works
Check your branded terms
Each website starts with branded terms taken from its domain name. Add your brand name's variations and common misspellings in the site's Settings.
Switch the filter
Choose All, Branded or Non-branded at the top of the dashboard. The chart, totals and keyword tables follow.
Read each segment on its own
Non-branded traffic shows discovery through search; branded traffic shows people looking for you by name.
Why It Matters
Measure what SEO brings in
Non-branded traffic comes from people who found you through generic searches. Filter to it to see the effect of your SEO work.
Track brand demand separately
Growing branded searches mean your marketing, PR and word of mouth are working. A drop can mean a campaign ended.
Avoid flattering totals
If branded traffic grows while non-branded stays flat, the total looks healthy while discovery is not growing at all.
Report accurately
Show the effect of SEO work separated from brand momentum, instead of one number that mixes both.
Example: branded vs non-branded in practice
Imagine you run an online store called Brewquill, at brewquill.example, that sells coffee equipment. Search Console shows 10,000 clicks last month. Looks great — but what is really happening?
Branded keywords (people who already know you):
- “brewquill” — 2,400 clicks
- “brewquill coffee” — 1,800 clicks
- “brewquill grinder” — 600 clicks
- “brewquill.example” — 200 clicks
Non-branded keywords (people discovering you through search):
- “best coffee grinder” — 1,200 clicks
- “pour over coffee maker” — 900 clicks
- “how to grind coffee beans” — 700 clicks
- “espresso machine under $500” — 400 clicks
Without the filter, you see one number: 10,000 clicks. With it, you see that 5,000 clicks are branded and 5,000 are non-branded. Now you can answer real questions:
- Did the blog series on brewing methods bring in new visitors? Filter to non-branded and check.
- Branded traffic dropped 20% — is that a site issue, or did a campaign end?
- Non-branded clicks grew 40% quarter over quarter — your SEO work is paying off.
Choosing your brand terms
Each website starts with branded terms taken from its domain name. In the site’s Settings, add the other ways people search for your brand:
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Brand name | brewquill |
| Spelled as two words | brew quill |
| Domain | brewquill.example |
| Common misspellings | brewquil, brewqill |
| Abbreviations | if your brand is often shortened |
A keyword that contains at least one of your brand terms counts as branded; everything else is non-branded. A term like “brewquill” already covers “brewquill grinder” and “brewquill coffee”, so there is no need to list every product.
Doing it by hand
Without a saved list of brand terms, splitting the report yourself means:
- Exporting your queries to a spreadsheet
- Writing formulas to mark each query as branded or not
- Rebuilding your charts and totals from the result
- Repeating all of it every time you want fresh numbers
In QuickSEO you set the terms once per website, and the dashboard’s chart, totals and keyword tables switch between all, branded and non-branded searches in one click.
Explore More Features
See it with your own data
Connect Google Search Console and QuickSEO builds this for every website you add. Free, with no card.