Branded vs non-branded traffic: who's finding you on Google?
Separate Google clicks from people searching your name from clicks from new people, with a regex filter in Search Console, and why the two don't add up.
Branded searches contain your site's name ("simpledash login"); non-branded ones don't ("simple ga4 dashboard"). Branded clicks show people who already know you; non-branded clicks show new people finding you, which is what SEO is meant to grow. In Search Console, split them with a query filter that uses a regex of your name.
Split them in Search Console
Open Search Console → Performance → Search results.
Choose + Add filter → Query → Custom (regex).
Choose Matches regex and enter your name and its common spellings, for example:
simple ?dash|simpledash\.appThat's your branded traffic.
Edit the filter to Doesn't match regex with the same pattern: that's your non-branded traffic.
Add misspellings and your product names to the pattern. ? makes the space optional, and | means "or".
Why the two don't add up to your total
Google leaves out searches made by very few people ("anonymized queries") from any query-filtered view. So branded plus non-branded is less than your total clicks, sometimes much less on small sites. Compare each one with itself over time rather than adding them up.
What to look for
- Non-branded growing: your content is reaching new people.
- Branded growing: more people know your name, often after a launch or press.
- Branded falling while non-branded holds: fewer people looking for you directly.
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Sources
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