Owning Your Branded Search: How to Beat Coupon Code Affiliates at Their Own Game

You know, sometimes in the world of SEO, even if you’ve been around the block a few times, there’s always something new that catches your eye. Recently, I was reminded of a brilliant piece of advice from my good mate, Carl Hendy. Now, Carl’s someone who’s been knee-deep in SEO for donkey’s years, and he’s helped big names like BlackRock, Eventbrite, and Betfair. We go way back to the days when he helped us out at broadband.co.uk during those tricky Panda and Penguin updates.

Carl put up a post on LinkedIn recently about owning your branded search, especially when it comes to coupon codes. And it got me thinking. Actually, it gave me a bit of a nudge, if I’m honest, because it’s something I’ve probably overlooked.

So, here’s the gist. There are loads of sites out there specialising in coupon codes, driving traffic to brands by offering discounts or special offers. If you’re a brand that uses coupon codes, why aren’t you promoting them yourself? People are searching for your brand plus “coupon code” or “voucher code,” so they might as well get the codes directly from you rather than through an affiliate, right?

I mean, affiliates have their place, and I’ve been in the affiliate game myself over the years. But when it comes to coupon code affiliates, they’re not really adding much value to the customer journey. If someone’s searching for your brand with “coupon code” attached, they’ve already decided to buy from you. They’re just looking for a little extra incentive. So why let an affiliate sneak in and nab a slice of that sale?

Carl highlighted several compelling reasons to control your branded coupon code searches:

1. Brand Image and Positioning: By managing how your discount codes appear, you maintain control over your brand’s image in search results.

2. Customer Service Experience: Ensuring that only valid promotions are available improves user experience. There’s nothing worse than trying a code that doesn’t work.

3. Financial Impact: Protect your profit margins. Why give away a chunk of your sale to an affiliate when you can keep the full amount?

4. Data Collection and Consumer Insight: When you control your voucher distribution, you gain valuable insights into consumer behaviour, which can help optimise your marketing efforts.

5. Preventing Misuse: Managing your codes helps prevent unauthorised sharing and potential fraud.

Now, you might be thinking, “But Edd, my brand isn’t big enough for people to be searching for coupon codes.” That’s what I thought about keywordspeopleuse.com. We don’t usually do big coupon deals. It’s pretty rare, to be honest. But out of curiosity, I searched “keywords people use coupon code,” and lo and behold, there were affiliates out there with pages targeting that exact term.

They were listing our prices, and when you clicked, they’d say something like, “You don’t need a coupon code, just follow this link,” which, of course, is an affiliate link to our site. Sneaky, right?

It was a bit of a wake-up call. Even though we’re a niche within the SEO industry, we’re not immune to this. If affiliates are doing this with our brand, chances are they’re doing it with yours too. So, it’s worth checking. Just pop your brand name along with “coupon code,” “discount code,” or “voucher code” into Google and see what comes up.

So, what’s the solution? Create a dedicated page on your site targeting these keywords. Even if you don’t offer coupon codes, it’s still beneficial to have a page. You can explain that while you don’t have any active discounts, you always strive to offer the best prices to all customers. The point is, you want to be the one controlling the narrative when it comes to your brand.

Carl even provided a handy wireframe in his LinkedIn post detailing what such a page should include and how to link it from your site. He suggests including things like:

– A clear headline targeting the keyword (e.g., “BrandName Discount Codes and Offers”)
– An explanation of your pricing policy
– Any current promotions or offers you have
– Related products or services
– FAQs about discounts and pricing

By doing this, you’re not only improving the user experience but also preventing affiliates from capitalising on your branded searches.

Another tip is to make sure this page is easily accessible from your site, perhaps linked in the footer or within the help or FAQ section. The idea is to ensure Google recognises this page as authoritative and relevant for those searching for your brand plus coupon-related terms.

At the end of the day, it’s about taking control of your brand’s presence online. Don’t let affiliates or third parties dictate what potential customers see when they search for you. By owning your branded search, you’re protecting your profits, maintaining your brand image, and enhancing customer trust.

So, big thanks to Carl for bringing this to the forefront. It just goes to show, no matter how long you’ve been in the game, there’s always something new to learn.

If you want to dive deeper into this, I highly recommend checking out Carl’s LinkedIn post from 8th January 2020 also check out his business at audits.com. And while you’re at it, give him a follow. He’s always sharing nuggets of wisdom that can help sharpen your SEO strategy.

Well, that’s it from me on this topic. Time to get cracking on that coupon code page for my own site!