Most businesses measure how they are doing by looking at sales. The trouble is that sales tell you what already happened. By the time sales drop, the reasons often started months earlier.
One useful early signal is share of search: how often people search for your brand name compared with your competitors.
What share of search means
Imagine your market has four main brands. Add up how many times people searched for each brand name on Google in a month. Your share of search is your brand’s searches divided by the total.
If people searched for your brand 2,000 times and for all four brands 10,000 times, your share of search is 20 percent.
Why it matters
When people search for a brand by name, it usually means it is on their mind. They have heard of it, seen it, or been told about it, and they want to know more. More people thinking about you today usually means more people buying from you later.
Marketing effectiveness researcher Les Binet, in work published by the IPA in 2020, found that share of search tends to track closely with market share in many categories, and that changes in share of search often show up before changes in market share. That makes it a useful early warning signal and a way to see whether your brand building is working.
How to measure it
You do not need expensive tools to start.
- Google Trends is free. Enter your brand name and up to four competitors to compare their search interest over time. It shows relative interest rather than exact numbers, which is enough to see trends.
- Google Search Console shows how often your brand name appears in searches that lead to your website.
- Keyword tools can estimate monthly searches for each brand name if you want more precise figures.
Look at the trend over months rather than weeks. Short spikes often come from news or one-off campaigns.
How to read the results
Rising share of search usually means your brand building is working: more people know you and are curious about you.
Falling share of search is a warning. A competitor may be gaining attention, or your marketing may have gone quiet.
Flat share of search while spending more on marketing suggests your activity is not making your brand more memorable.
Some cautions
Share of search works best for brands with enough search volume to measure. Very small or very new brands may not have enough data yet. It also works better when your brand name is distinctive. If your name is a common word, searches for it may not be about you.
It is a signal, not a guarantee. Use it alongside your sales, enquiries and other measures.
How to grow it
- Be distinctive, so people remember your name.
- Show up consistently in places your buyers spend time.
- Build your founder’s and leaders’ visibility, which often drives brand searches.
- Earn media coverage and mentions in your industry.
A worked example
Suppose you run one of four main wellness brands in a city. Each month, you note the relative search interest for all four names in Google Trends and write down your share.
Over six months, your share moves from about 18 percent to 24 percent, while your sales are still flat. That is an encouraging sign: more people are curious about you, and if the pattern holds, sales often follow.
Now suppose instead that a new competitor’s share climbs quickly while yours slips. Your sales may still look fine today, but the trend is an early warning to look at what they are doing differently and to strengthen your own brand activity.
How to set up a simple monthly check
- Pick your comparison set. Choose three to four brands that buyers genuinely consider alongside yours.
- Use the same settings every time. Same country or region, same time period, same search type.
- Record the numbers in a spreadsheet each month and calculate each brand’s share.
- Add notes about campaigns, launches or news, so you can explain changes later.
- Look at the six-month trend, not single months.
Common mistakes
- Comparing brands that buyers do not actually consider together.
- Reading too much into one month’s change.
- Using a generic brand name that people search for other reasons.
- Treating it as the only measure of success.
The takeaway
Searches for your brand name are a simple, free way to see whether your brand is growing in people’s minds. Check them every month. If you would like help setting up simple brand tracking, get in touch.
Want us to track this for you? Our brand audit includes a share of search check, and our SEO work helps grow it.
