One of the questions I hear most often from clients is:
If we're already ranking first organically, why should we pay for branded search?
In almost every case regardless of your organic rank, I recommend branded paid search because it gives organizations more control over one of the highest-intent moments in the patient journey.
What Do I Mean by Branded Search?
Branded searches occur when someone searches specifically for your health system often at a very low cost.
These are often high-intent searches. The person has likely already encountered your organization through another channel (an advertisement, physician referral, website visit, article, social media post, or word of mouth) and is now deciding what to do next.
That makes branded search one of the most valuable opportunities to influence the patient journey as the last touchpoint.
Why I Recommend Branded Paid Search
Organic rankings don't tell the whole story.
Ranking first organically is valuable, but it doesn't guarantee you're the first brand someone sees.
Google's search results continue to evolve. AI Overviews, local listings, maps, videos, and other search features often appear before traditional organic results. A paid listing alongside your organic result helps your organization remain prominent when prospective patients are actively looking for you because it boosts your credibility, brand recognition, and awareness by increasing your presence on the search results page.
It helps defend your brand.
Many healthcare organizations are surprised to learn that competitors can bid on their branded keywords.
Without a branded paid search campaign, another health system may appear above your organic listing and become the first organization a prospective patient sees, even when they searched for your brand by name.
Branded paid search helps defend against that risk while capturing high-intent searches that are already directed toward your organization.
It gives you greater control over the patient experience.
Organic listings offer limited control over how your organization appears in search.
Paid search provides greater control over both your messaging and the patient experience by promoting priority service lines and other key differentiators in your ad copy while using assets such as sitelinks and call assets to guide prospective patients to relevant landing pages or enable click-to-call.
Whether someone is looking for a physician, scheduling information, or a specialty service, you can make it easier to find the right next step.
That creates a stronger user experience and increases the likelihood of conversion.
Paid and organic search drive incremental traffic, together.*
A misconception I hear is that branded paid search simply replaces clicks you would have received organically.
Research suggests otherwise. Studies have shown that paid and organic search work together to generate incremental website traffic. While some paid clicks replace organic clicks, organic listings do not fully recover the traffic lost when branded paid search is paused.
In one published incrementality test, running branded paid search alongside organic listings resulted in a 39% increase in combined paid and organic traffic.
Together, paid and organic search strengthen visibility, reinforce trust, and help capture more high-intent traffic than either channel can on its own.
My Recommendation
I view branded paid search as a foundational part of a well-rounded search strategy.
That's not because I believe every click would otherwise be lost. It's because branded search helps organizations make the most of one of the highest-intent moments in the patient journey—when someone has already decided to look for them.
For a very modest investment, branded campaigns can strengthen visibility, defend against competitors, improve the patient experience, and generate incremental traffic while helping convert high-intent searches into measurable business outcomes.
Every organization should evaluate its strategy based on its goals, competitive environment, and available budget. But in most audits and client engagements I've worked on, maintaining a branded paid search campaign has been the right recommendation.
*References
