Buy your Competitors’ Branded Keywords

Level the playing field on Yahoo!, Google and other search engines by buying the branded keywords of your competitors. Recently, we turned you on to the importance of buying your own branded keywords. By buying your competitor’s branded keywords, you would ensure that whenever someone searches for the name of their business, your company’s name would also pop up in the paid search results. This is a common tool, and one you can use with a clear conscience. While most people think this is something the search engines don’t allow, they do, but with some restrictions. For instance, you shouldn’t pretend to be your competitor or even use their brand-name in your ad. As long as you represent who you truly are, you should be good to go. But you might want to check with each of the search engines you are advertising on to ensure you are not breaking their terms of service.

For an example of how this works, go to Yahoo.com and type in Dell. You’ll notice that Sony pops up in the paid search results. Sony sells PCs, too. Coincidence? Not likely. Your goal here, like Sony’s, is to increase awareness of your business among your competitor’s audience. And if they choose to click on you instead the other guy, all’s fair in love and Search Engine Marketing.