Share of Search: How to Measure Keyword Demand and SEO Impact
- Sam Hajighasem
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Understanding where your brand stands amidst competitors is crucial in digital marketing. One of the most effective but often overlooked metrics to measure brand awareness and SEO performance is share of search. As search trends evolve and user behavior becomes more keyword-driven, tracking search volume for a keyword and mapping search demand have become essential elements of a successful SEO strategy.
Whether you’re a marketer aiming to increase brand awareness or a business owner analyzing trends, this guide breaks down how to measure share of search, why it matters, and the tools you need to get started.
What Is Share of Search in SEO?
Share of search refers to the percentage of search queries in your market that are about your brand versus your competitors. It indicates how visible your brand is in search engines—offering a clear, data-backed glimpse into your market perception and demand.
Why Share of Search Matters
While traditional metrics like market share or share of voice (SoV) have been popular for decades, they’re often hard to measure and slow to update. Unlike them, share of search uses real-time data like branded keyword searches to deliver fast, actionable insights into how your brand is performing online.
Moreover, there’s strong evidence supporting its predictive value: studies by industry expert Les Binet have shown up to an 83% correlation between share of search and market share, making it an early indicator of brand growth.
How to Measure Share of Search
To calculate share of search, use the following formula:
Your Brand’s Branded Keyword Volume / Total Volume of All Competing Brands’ Branded Keywords = Share of Search (SoS)
Let’s say your brand receives 5,000 searches per month and two competitors receive 4,000 and 6,000 respectively. The total branded search volume is 15,000. Your share of search would be:
5,000 / 15,000 = 33%
This metric tells you how often people search for your brand in relation to others providing a strong gauge on search visibility, keyword demand, and marketing effectiveness.
3 Free Tools to Track Keyword Search Volume and Share of Search
Tracking search volume for a keyword is the first step in evaluating search demand. Fortunately, you don’t need a big budget here are three free and effective tools that can help.
1. Google Trends
Google Trends visualizes the popularity of search queries over time.
Use it to:
Monitor keyword trends and find seasonal patterns
Compare your brand and competitor search interest
Identify break-out keywords and regional demand
Tip: Use the Compare feature to plug in your brand and competitors’ names and analyze their relative interest over the past 12 months, ideal for estimating share of search over time.
2. Google Keyword Planner
Available inside Google Ads, this tool offers estimated monthly keyword search volume, competition level, and suggested ideas. It's ideal for:
Discovering high-volume branded and non-branded keywords
Performing market demand forecasting
Generating keyword ideas around your core brand name to assess discovery
Keyword Planner’s forecasting feature lets you estimate potential traffic, which contributes to understanding your share of search potential.
3. Semrush Keyword Overview + Surround Sound Tool
Semrush goes beyond keyword suggestions. Key features:
Monthly search volumes for branded terms
Compare up to five domains for branded keyword visibility
Surround Sound reports show how often your brand is mentioned across top-ranking articles
When used together, Semrush’s tools help track your brand’s presence throughout the SERP (Search Engine Results Page), allowing you to optimize strategies that influence share of search.
8 Ways to Uncover Search Demand in Your Industry
Understanding search demand helps forecast growth opportunities and plan long-term SEO strategies. Below are eight actionable techniques to measure demand trends:
1. Track Organic Search Using Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
GA4 offers detailed insights into organic search traffic - where it's coming from, how it behaves, and what queries are driving it. Use custom insights to flag sudden drops or spikes in traffic.
2. Set Up Industry Benchmarks
Benchmark reports compare your site’s performance to others in your industry. Look at organic traffic, session duration, and bounce rate by region or device. Use these metrics to spot market shifts.
3. Conduct Manual Research
Use social forums, competitor blog comments, and online reviews to pinpoint emerging conversations. Validate these topics by checking their search volume using Keyword Planner.
4. Leverage Google Ads “Analytics Insights”
Use Google Ads’ AI-driven alerts to look for changes in keyword performance. More branded searches? That could mean your share of search is improving.
5. Use Google Autosuggest
Start typing your brand name or main product keyword into Google and analyze the suggestions. Autosuggest reflects real-time behavior, which informs long-tail keyword opportunities.
6. “People Also Search For” Refinements
Use these additional suggestions at the bottom of SERPs to expand your keyword targeting matrix. These are influenced by similar search behavior patterns, boosting SEO exposure.
7. Explore Search Console Data
Navigate to ‘Performance’ in Google Search Console to view:
Branded vs non-branded keyword searches
Click-through rates (CTR)
Impressions and positions by query
This helps identify which terms contribute to your share of search.
8. Test AI-Powered Research Tools
Use platforms like ChatGPT, Bard, or Jasper to:
Generate content ideas
Suggest synonyms and related keywords
Analyze growing topics in your niche
AI tools can accelerate market and keyword analysis, helping you reach undervalued high-opportunity search terms.
How to Increase Share of Search and Boost Brand Visibility
Improving your share of search relies on active SEO and brand visibility strategies. Here’s how to boost yours:
1. Target Branded and Non-Branded Keywords
Don’t just optimize for general industry terms. Increase the number of branded searches by doing the following:
Improve PR and cross-promotion for your brand
Get listed in high-authority third-party resources
Run awareness ads on Google or social platforms
2. Implement Surround Sound SEO
Surround Sound SEO involves placing your brand in multiple positions on the same SERP, including listicles and rankings by third-party sites (e.g., G2, HubSpot, review blogs). This builds trust and captures user attention from multiple angles to boost your search engine share of market.
3. Monitor and Optimize SERP Visibility
Use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to track featured snippets, People Also Ask positions, and rankings. Focus on increasing the number of times your brand appears in high-visibility areas.
4. Create Content Around Trending Topics
Use Google Trends and social listening tools to identify rising interest. Craft blogs, guides, or videos based on these terms, optimized with LSI keywords like “demand forecasting,” “keyword analysis,” or “search performance.”
5. Run Paid Campaigns to Reinforce Organic Efforts
While share of search primarily captures organic behavior, awareness from paid campaigns (TV, influencer, billboards) can increase branded searches. Brands like Warby Parker and Allbirds have proven this with measurable share of search growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between share of search and share of voice?
Share of voice often refers to ad spend over competitors in a channel. Share of search is organic and based on actual customer behavior, thus giving a more precise measure of brand interest in digital.
Can Share of Search Predict Market Share?
Yes. Studies show SoS closely tracks with and can reliably predict future market share. As your branded search increases, so typically does your revenue and sales performance.
How can AI help improve share of search?
AI tools can analyze competitors, uncover trending topics, automate keyword analysis, and personalize content all of which may grow your brand’s visibility and increase share.
Is share of search useful for small businesses?
Absolutely. Because it’s based on Google search data, even small brands can track their online presence relative to competitors without needing big budgets.
Conclusion
Share of search is more than a buzzword, it’s a powerful marketing KPI that tells you how visible and desired your brand is in the digital space. By measuring search demand through tools like Google Trends, Keyword Planner, and Semrush, you can identify your current position and strategically boost your market presence.
Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or part of a larger marketing team, mastering your share of search is essential for improving your SEO strategy, increasing conversions, and capturing long-term customer interest.
To dig deeper into your data and fine-tune your optimization, consider partnering with experienced marketers or using AI tools to scale insight generation. The earlier you tap into these metrics, the sooner you can steer your brand toward sustainable online growth.
