Organic SEO V's PPC

33% of Internet users perceive a company in the top search engine rankings to be a major brand.

Pay for it, you will

I'm not against paid-for listings, not at all. A good AdWords campaign can and will bring profit to a website that exploits this offering well. But before we go down the route of paid-for placement we need to do everything we can to ensure that your site is search-engine friendly and ranking well, without committing to financial outlay - and at the end of the day, AdWords is always going to cost you money, especially in the short term. Have a campaign. But ensure that you are maximising your site to perform well in the natural or organic listings also.

Your target should be to rank high naturally and be featured within the AdWords listings - because two listings on page 1 of Google is always going to look stronger than just a single one.

They're just so switched-on, nowadays

Your average Internet user is getting clever. They are becoming wise to the fact that the search results at the top of the page and on the right-hand side are only there because someone is paying for the privilege. Therefore, many people will actively not click through them, and prefer to explore the natural search results - those sites that are there because of their SEO and content merits, not their marketing spend. You must ensure that you are ranking there too.

Here's an idea for you

To get a feel for the disparity and similarities of how websites perform in the paid for and natural listings make a few searches on Google. Try 'posters', 'auction' and 'toys'. Notice any patterns? Are there some companies you would have thought would be paying for placement who aren't? Now do a specific search for your industry - do you appear on the first page? Who are your competitors? Do they have a good natural listing and/or a paid-for placement? By understanding what others are doing within your market you will quickly ascertain what you need to be doing to compete effectively.


Custom Search