A brand query is one that is entered whenever a user is looking for a company.
A brand query is one of three different queries that a user is likely to type into a search engine.
The first type of query is informational, users perform these types of queries when they are looking for information related to a particular subject e.
g.
"on what date did England win the World Cup".
The second type of query is transactional, users use these queries when they are looking for a specific product and more often than not search engines will return relevant products within a one box result.
The final type of query, and the one this article will address, is the brand or navigational query, users use this query when they are looking for a particular website.
So why would you want to rank for your competitors brand query and what can you do with any traffic you manage to pick up from ranking in a prominent position around the term? The main benefit to ranking for a brand query is that the user is signaling a great deal of intent to find out more about a very specific service offered by the company.
This intent is particularly useful of affiliate marketers; brand queries can account for upwards of hundreds of thousands of queries each month, and by tapping into some of this traffic an affiliate can divert this traffic onto the main website and earn a commission from each referral made.
So what do you do with this traffic? One of the best options is to offer either a review or position your own company as an alternative within the sector.
For example, you may want to rank for a competitors brand term within the gym and leisure sector.
Once the searcher lands on your page you can offer them a full review of the gym or even offer your own services as an alternative in the area.
This is a great way to get more visits and potentially more customers to your website, and what's more, it's done when they're signaling intent to purchase.
Capitalise upon this intent and you can take money from your competitors back pockets.