How-to steps · Chapter 7, O for Offsite
Measure branded clicks and your brand ratio
You are here for this line in chapter 7 and chapter 11 of the book:
☐ Divide branded clicks by total clicks for matching periods in Search Console Performance; prioritise brand-building under five percent.
Chapter 7, O for Offsite
☐ Compare monthly branded clicks and impressions in Search Console Performance with GA4 direct sessions; note paid brand campaigns.
Chapter 11, E for Evaluation
- In Performance, click the filter bar, choose Query, then Branded. Google sorts branded from non-branded queries itself, so misspellings and your product names are included.
- No Branded option? It only appears on top-level properties with enough search impressions. Use + Add filter, Query, Queries containing and your brand name instead, or Custom (regex) to catch misspellings, for example
studiohawk|studio hawk. - Note branded clicks and impressions, then remove the filter and note the total clicks for the same dates.
- Brand ratio = branded clicks divided by total clicks. Compare matching periods (this quarter against the same quarter last year) so seasonality does not fool you.
- Put the monthly branded clicks beside Direct sessions in Google Analytics. When both rise with no paid brand campaign running, AI is likely putting your name in front of people.
You're done when you have branded clicks, total clicks and the ratio for this period and the same period last year, beside your Direct sessions.