What is Share of Search? A Simple Guide & Tools to Measure It

You've launched a new product. You have done market research, written awesome content, fixed SEO, and adjusted your ads; your social media is also active. Now you want to know its success. How do you know if customers think of your brand first? "Share of Search" can help. It is a little-known but essential metric to focus on. Let us understand what exactly it is, why it is necessary, and how to use it.

What is Share of Search?

Let us understand this with an example.

Imagine there is a room full of people, and everyone discussing different brands or services. Now, let's suppose most people are talking about your brand. So what does that mean? Bravo, it is a good sign that most are familiar with your brand. Isn't it? That's what Share of Search is—the percentage of all searches in your market that are about your brand. The higher your Share of Search, the more people look for you.

Think of it as the ultimate popularity contest, but instead of likes or followers, we’re looking at search queries.

More searches for you = more brand awareness = more potential customers!

Why Should You Care About Share of Search?

Okay, so now the point is why this is important. Here’s why:

It’s Like a Health Check-Up for Your Brand

Your Share of Search can tell you much about your brand's health, whether it's healthy or needs treatment. If it’s going up, awesome—people are more interested in you. If it’s going down, it might be time to change your marketing strategy.

Having a good understanding of your brand perception is a must in this case. By conducting targeted surveys, you can gather valuable insights into:

• Brand awareness: How well do people recognize and recall your brand?
• Brand image: What are the key associations people have with your brand?
• Brand loyalty: How loyal are your customers to your brand?
• Brand satisfaction: Are customers satisfied with your products or services?

This data will help you improve, strengthen your identity, and improve your brand identity.

For instance, you can use SurveySparrow for this! This market research and feedback collection tool can help you gather insights with conversational surveys. That's not it! You can share them via multiple channels, collect the data, visualize the information on an executive dashboard, and analyze it with an advanced set of tools.

Plus, Cognivue, the AI-driven text analytics tool, can help you conduct a root cause analysis and identify the topic shift over time!

It Predicts Your Market Share

Some clever marketing experts have found that a high Share of Search often leads to a more significant market share. Think of it as a glimpse into the future. If more people search for you now, they’ll likely buy from you later.

It’s a Great Way to Spy on Your Competitors

Want to know how you measure up against the competition? Check your Share of Search. It might be time to improve your game if they're ahead of you.

It Guides You in Making Killer Content Strategy

Knowing what people are searching for related to your brand can help you create more focused content. For example, if you notice a sudden increase in searches for a specific product or service, it might be a great time to write a blog post, create a video, or share a case study. Consider using brand awareness survey questions to better understand customer interest. This approach helps you capture interest and turn it into conversions.

It Validates Your Marketing Spend

Are your marketing dollars being well spent? You can track your Share of Search to see if your advertising or promotional efforts are profitable.

How Do You Measure the Share of Search?

All right, so you understand Share of Search and its importance. Now, how do you actually measure the Share of Search? Don’t worry – you don’t need a high-level degree or technical brain for this. 

Here are a few simple steps to get you started.

1. Start with Your Keywords

First, you need to figure out what keywords are relevant to your brand. Think about what people would search for when looking for a product or service like yours. Include both your brand name (branded keywords) and generic terms (non-branded keywords).

Let’s say you run a coffee brand. Your keywords might look something like this:

• Branded: “Starbucks,” “Costa Coffee,” “Nespresso”
• Non-branded: “best coffee beans,” “coffee machines,” “espresso maker.”

2. Use Search Tools

So now the important part is to know the volume or frequency of the keywords that are being searched for you. Some of the free or paid search tools are:

• Free: Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, Google Search Console
• Paid: Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, SE Ranking

You will get the search volume data, keyword difficulty, and other key insights using search tools.

3. Calculate Share of Search

Divide the number of searches for your brand by the total searches for all brands in your category. Multiply by 100 to get a percentage. 

Example: 

Let's say, we're calculating the Share of Search for "Nike" in the sports apparel category. If "Nike" has 20,000 searches and the total number of searches for all brands in the category (including Adidas, Puma, Under Armour, etc.) is 200,000, the calculation would be:

Thus, Nike's Share of Search in the sports apparel category will be 10%.

4. Track Over Time

Keep an eye on these numbers regularly. It’s not just about a single data point but the trends that develop over time. Monitor brand awareness using surveys and combine this with your search data to see how your brand's visibility changes. Regular monitoring helps you identify areas for improvement and track your progress over time.

Tools to Measure Share of Search

Tools make measurement easier.  Agree! The same applies to Share of Search. Here are some of the most popular ones to move ahead with:

1. Use Google Trends – It’s Free and Easy!

Google Trends is a fantastic free tool showing how often a term is searched on Google. Here’s how you can use it:

• Type in your branded keywords.
• Add competitors’ branded keywords for comparison.
• Set your location and time range to match your target market.

Boom! You get a nice little graph showing how each brand's search interest changes over time. It’s like having your own stock market chart but for brand searches.

2. Google Keyword Planner – Your Next Stop

Google Keyword Planner is usually used for planning PPC campaigns, but it’s also great for getting search volume data.

• Enter your branded and non-branded keywords.
• Look at the search volumes.
• Calculate your Share of Search by dividing your brand’s search volume by the total search volume of all brands.

3. Spend a Little Price on SEMrush / Ahrefs

Take it further by employing tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs. These details are search information insights. They will include search volumes, organic traffic, and the difficulty of pursuing them.

• Keyword Overview: Check search volumes and keyword difficulty.
• Competitor Analysis: How your brand is performing against competitors? Measure it over time and track your growth versus Share of Search trends.

Yes they are expensive but if this is something you would even think about, then it's worth every penny.

4. Don’t Forget Social Media – Use Social Listening Tools

Search isn’t just about Google. People also search (or talk) about brands on social media. Tools like Brandwatch or Sprout Social can help you track these mentions.

While this isn’t the same as Google search data, it gives you a broader view of your brand’s presence online.

How to Boost Your Share of Search?

So, you’ve measured your Share of Search by now, and it's time to increase it. Here are some practical tips:

1. Invest in SEO – Because Google Loves It

SEO is a way to increase your Share of Search. Make sure your website ranks well for both branded and non-branded keywords. The following factors can significantly enhance your website's SEO performance:

• Optimize Your Content: Create high-quality, relevant content that answers your audience's questions.
• Get Those Backlinks: High-quality backlinks from reputable sites can boost your search rankings.
• Improve Your Website’s Performance: Fast loading times and mobile-friendliness are necessary.

Conducting a brand perception survey before you start on anything would be a smart move. Here's a free customizable template.

Brand Perception Survey Template

Preview Template

Use This Template

2. Create Awesome Content

Content is still king. Whether it’s blog posts, videos, or infographics, create content that provides value and engages your audience. To drive consistent traffic to your website, consider these key content strategies:

• Focus on Long-Tail Keywords: These are less competitive and easier to rank for.
• Make It Evergreen: Content that stays relevant over time will keep driving traffic.
• Guest Posts: Write for other sites to increase your visibility.

3. Take Advantage of Social Media

Social media can drive brand awareness, which indirectly boosts your Share of Search. To enhance your social media strategy, consider the following factors:

• Stay Active: Regularly post and engage with your audience.
• Use Paid Ads: Boost your reach with targeted social media ads.
• Partner with Influencers: Leverage the reach of their followers and grow your own.

4. Deploy Intelligent Advertising Campaigns

By using this method, you can raise your Share of the Search instantly through paid ads. Run branded and non-branded campaigns on Google Ads or social media ads. Key factors for optimizing your advertising campaigns include:

• Brand Keywords: If people are looking for you, make sure they can find you by bidding on your brand.
• Target Competitor Keywords: Capture search traffic from your competitors.
• Test, Test, Test: Conduct A/B testing on different ad creatives to determine which performs best.

5. Monitor your progress and make necessary modifications

This digital world keeps changing continuously; be prepared for it. You never know what may happen to your Share of Search. To effectively manage your Share of Search, consider these key factors:

• Regularly Review: Look at your Share of Search data once a month or quarterly.
• Survey Insights: Use surveys to build brand identity and understand what resonates with your audience.
• Adjust: If something drops, don´t panic; figure out why and plan your strategy.
• Stay Informed: Be updated with trends and changes in the search landscape.

Wrapping It Up

So to wrap this up: Share of Search = Brand Success. This demonstrates the reach and scalability of your brand. If you track it, you can stay ahead of your competitors. It is not only about visibility, it is about selection. 

Conduct thorough market research with SurveySparrow and begin measuring your Share of Search to improve the online visibility of your brand.