In this blog I will be diving into the importance of paid ads and organic search. First I will discuss organic search, then paid, then I will break them down in a comparison.
SEO
When you think about organic search you think google. While this is by far the most popular search engine, there are many others such as bing and yahoo. Organic search holds so much importance as it is a popular thing potential consumers will do when they are seeking something out. In fact, over 50 percent of all website traffic comes from organic search. That’s a powerful statement that shows just how important organic search is to getting your website more views. One approach to maximizing your clicks in a cost-effective way is through SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and if you have had Bryan Adams as a Professor, you may know a thing or to about this term. SEO is a plan that many companies take to gain more users on their website. One thing I didn’t know is that there are over 200 factors that affect google’s pecking order in the results page. That means your SEO strategy can be tough to execute perfectly. Sometimes you may have to try a few different versions, and go with the best. It’s all about making the search engine recognize the importance of your search. But when used correctly, SEO can give you a higher ranking for the search pages you want exposure on. One component of SEO is setting up your website in a way that google gives it more respect and authority. Now that we’ve discussed SEO let’s dive into other important terms regarding organic search. In order to explain organic search completely and explain how it works, we must talk about keywords. Keywords is a rather self explanatory term. Literally key words, words that are key! But when it comes to organic search, the use of the keywords is key. You with me still? Good. When people type things into a search engine, within a second, the SERP is shown. Not the Serpe the SERP, the Search Engine Results Page! Use of keywords is a main factor in what comes up on the SERP. If someone types in your keyword, your website has a chance to come up on the SERP, but in order to get a top spot you have to have either massive popularity/credibility on your site, or have a very specific keyword usage that allows you to get top spot. The specific keyword will mean your site will likely only approach the SERP for more specific searches about your topic. This may be worth it if your website isn’t a big deal. There is a way where one can drastically change their SERP positioning for generic and specific keyword searches. Have you ever heard of the word money?
PAID
If you do know what that word means you already understand a lot about paid advertising! Paids ads are clicked on ten times less than natural organic search results. People tend to trust things that aren’t forced about them. With that being said, paid ads can be of extreme importance regardless of the fewer clicks. When you do a paid ad, you are essentially paying google to give you priority over other alike websites. A priority you likely don’t have if you are paying for it. For the right price or cost per click, you could be the first website seen for even the more generic keyboard. Sounds wonderful, what’s the catch? I’ve told you like three times now, MONEY. Some of the low key websites that would be helped by paid ads probably can’t afford paid ads (ironically). Anyways, paid advertising can be a long term investment as well. Picture this, now close your eyes, I see you squinting, well I guess you have to read this so you can leave them open. Now picture your website, www.thisisyourwebsite.com, is on the top of the SERP, entering the minds of thousands of users. You get a huge upgrade in clicks then you normally do, even though other unpaid results nearby are getting more clicks than you. You then notice a few months later, your site moved from page 3 of google to page 1 for this particular keyword. Wow, by utilizing paid advertising you brought a lot more traffic to your site. This, without a doubt, is something the google algorithm takes into account when establishing it’s SERP. Because of using paid ads, you now are in a way better position to gain users.
SEO and paid ads both clearly, if done properly, great ways to attract more users through organic search. If I had to tell you which method is better I couldn’t, because I don’t know who YOU are. Your website/company and situation may be different and need a different strategy. I think a utilization of both of these without a doubt will be the most effective in getting more clicks, but it will be pricey. If you’re up for it though, SEO and paid advertising go hand in hand like peanut butter and Jelly.
Riserbato, R. (n.d.). What’s an organic search & how do you report on it? Retrieved March 03, 2021, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/organic-search-definition-100-words
