Businesses, now more then ever, are using Google to market their products and services as they realize the abundance of targeted traffic it provides.
This then poses the question: do you optimize your website to appear in Google's natural search listings or do you pay to be placed in the sponsored listings? Which of the two will be a more affordable seo technique?
It can sometimes seem an easy option just to pay for results, but is it really the right decision?
In a recent study, Google found that searches were 72% more likely to click on a natural listing rather then a pay-per-click advert. this shows that although you can pay to get your website seen at the top of Google, it is not as effective as having it appear there naturally.
Searchers look for relevance in the adverts they click on, in the same way that Google looks for relevance in the websites it shows in its natural listings. This is why natural search offers a much greater conversion rate: People know that the natural listings will tend to be more relevant to their search as they cannot be bought, ONLY EARNED.
The main benefit of natural listings is that they are free to earn and maintain. There are no click prices or fees as with pay per click. This is not to say that pey per click is not worth doing, just that natural listings are deemed more relevant and cost-effective.
I agree with this Alejandro. Pay per click has it's place and purpose, especially when a company needs traffic right away and there is a lot of competition for the keyword they want. But every company, large or small, needs an ongoing, comprehensive website optimization strategy. As you write, more people click on the natural search results rather than the sponsored links. Plus, there is a much greater return on the marketing investment for website SEO rather than pay-per-click. A company can quickly run through their budget if they rely on PPC alone.
ReplyDeleteI advise all my clients to start with an affordable SEO package of 2-4 keywords for website optimization. This should not cost more than $150 per keyword per month, and any SEO firm with it's keep will have your site within the first 30-40 Google results in no more than 2-3 months. If your keywords are more focused, or are local based (e.g. "Miami web design"), you should be in the first 10-20 results.
Of course, to stay high in the natural search results, it is imperative that a company keep up the website SEO strategy on a monthly basis. As soon as you stop, you will start to sink back in the listings, while your competition continues their website optimization / SEO strategy.
Keep up the great posts, Alejandro.