Branded vs. Non-Branded Traffic: A Game-Changer in Google Search Console

What is  Branded and Non-Branded Query Filter in Google Search Console?. It’s certainly caused a bit of a stir in the SEO community and for good reason. The feature allows you to break down your search data by whether it involves a brand name or not.

SEO is a constantly evolving space and you’re never really ever fully equipped with the information you need to help guide your decisions. A couple of weeks ago, Google announced that the Branded and Non-Branded Query Filter in Google Search Console, which was first announced in November, was now available to all websites. Here’s why this feature is important.

But what exactly does this update do, and why should you care?

Understanding Branded vs. Non-Branded Searches

Before we start this feature, it’s probably a good idea to talk about branded vs non-branded search terms.

• Branded queries – these are searches which include your company name, product names or any other keyword variant which could be linked to your brand (for example: “Creatika Media Group SEO services”).
• Non-branded search terms are search terms that do not include your business name (e.g. “SEO agency near me” or “how to improve website ranking”).

Conversion Kinds: New vs. Returning New vs Returning This Conversion Kind allows you to track whether the customers converting on your marketing campaigns were new or returning. This enables you to understand where your customers are coming from, whether it’s because they already knew you or it’s the first time they’re discovering you.

What’s New in Google Search Console?

Now, there is a filter to the Performance report Search, so now you can filter search data by first search, subsequent searches and searches that lead to no results.

• Branded traffic
• Non-branded traffic

Before, we were doing this manually; we would have to export the data and find the keywords we were looking for and then build the reports manually. Now it is a lot quicker and less prone to error. This update gives you more visibility into the clicks, impressions, CTR and average position.

Why This Matters for Your Business

1. Measure True SEO Growth

One of the biggest annoyances when it comes to SEO reporting is trying to identify the amount of traffic that is coming from the brand name vs. organic search.

Branded traffic often comes from:

• Existing customers
• Referrals
• Offline marketing efforts

Unbranded traffic is the holy grail of SEO when it comes to keywords, and what this measures is the true picture of your efforts to rank and acquire new search terms, and therefore, new visitors.

With this filter, you can clearly see if your SEO strategy is:

• Expanding your reach
• Generating new leads
• Increasing visibility beyond your existing audience

2. Better Keyword Strategy Insights

By isolating non-branded queries, you can identify:

• Which keywords are driving new users
• Opportunities for content creation
• Gaps in your current SEO strategy

We refer to this statistic quite a bit when dealing with larger clients. Low unbranded traffic could be a sign that your content is too branded and that you’re not covering the breadth of topics that users are searching for online.

3. Improved Reporting and Client Transparency

For us at Creatika Media Group this new feature is a total video reporting game changer.

Instead of presenting blended data, you can now:

• Show clear growth in non-branded traffic
• Demonstrate the impact of SEO campaigns
• Separate brand awareness from search performance

This leads to more transparent and meaningful conversations with clients.

4. Smarter Content Planning

Content marketing thrives on understanding user intent. With this update, you can:

• Focus on topics that attract new audiences
• Optimize pages that already perform well for non-branded queries
• Reduce over-reliance on branded searches

What’s at the core of the User Experience (UX) shift? Well, it’s all about marketing away from a more brand-centric approach and more towards a user-centric approach. So, in order to build a long term SEO strategy, UX shift is something to take into account.

How to Use the Feature Effectively

The Search Console Beta team recently announced that a new filter is coming to Google Search Console for websites to filter results by who made the request to Google. 

As we know, there are a number of people and tools that ask for

1. Start with a baseline

Review your current split between branded and non-branded traffic.

2. Monitor trends over time

Look for growth in non-branded clicks and impressions month over month.

3. Identify top-performing non-branded queries

These are your strongest opportunities for scaling traffic.

4. Optimize underperforming pages

If pages rank but don’t get clicks, improve titles and meta descriptions.

5. Align with your SEO goals

If your goal is lead generation, prioritize non-branded growth.

What to Watch Out For

While this feature is powerful, it’s important to interpret the data correctly:

• A high percentage of branded traffic is not always a bad thing. It could just mean that your brand is very recognizable.
• Drop in branded search terms? That could be a sign of a problem with your brand awareness or external marketing efforts.
• Non-branded growth takes time and consistent effort.

Content equilibrium is a guiding principle that is hard to master. We’re not trying to ban branded links from search results entirely, but we want organic links to be the dominant way to get content discovered.

A new feature called Branded and Non-Branded Query Filter has been rolled out to Google Search Console and while it’s only a small update on the surface, we believe it’s a pretty material change to how we think about search results.

For businesses and agencies alike, this means:

• More accurate data
• Better strategic decisions
• Stronger SEO outcomes

Changes are coming to your CMRx data update service. 

We view this change as an excuse to look at and improve our processes, reporting and value to your business.

You are probably already using it, but just in case: you should be. It could revolutionize your SEO work and the promotion of your brand needs.

At Creatika Media Group, we don’t just analyze metrics, we turn them into actionable insights that help your business grow.

Let’s take your SEO to the next level. Get in touch with our team today and discover how we can help you increase your visibility, improve your rankings, and reach the customers who are already searching for your services.

Contact us today to get started.