Blog - SEO and internet marketing

In the age of Internet Marketing, there are a number of techniques you can use to ensure maximum visibility for your website. Two important approaches to marketing your website are through paid ads or generate traffic organically. Searches or web traffic which comes from unpaid listings on search engines are called organic clicks/hits. Pay-per-click allows the advertisers to bid on certain keywords relevant to their target market. These advertisements called sponsored links appear adjacent to the organic results on the home page.

Organic hits stands out as much more reliable and affordable option delivering a higher return on investment [ROI] over time. Consider this; Organic results are 5x more likely to be clicked on than paid results. [Source: Marketing Sherpa 2005, Search Marketing Benchmark Survey] The same report states that organic listings account for 4.2 % conversion rate while paid listings account for 3.6% conversion rate.

With the advent of savvy web surfers who look out for non-sponsored results or organic hits on the first page of the search engine, the popularity of PPC has dropped considerably. Surfers believe that if the site made it to the results on the first page itself without paying for it, it must be the best site. Apart from that, PPC is limited by space and gains less traffic overall when compared to organic hits. It remains the second best way to ensure a good ranking for your site in the search engines, behind organic hits.

Here’s why PPC gains less traffic for your site even if it gets you decent conversion. PPC only provides links to your homepage. But, the internal pages of your site will link throughout the search engine if you rely on organic means to rank your website. A PPC campaign that links to your sites internal pages is not a cost-effective means to guarantee conversions as well.

Here’s a table which shows the level of education and SERP (Search Engine Results Page) usage patterns:
patterns:

In the recessionary times we are a part of, internet based businesses might not even want to consider PPC. The campaigns might not even be as successful as they have been in the past too. Here’s an image displaying the relevance of organic hits when compare to paid hits.

Organic Hits: Long Road to Success?
The process to push your site organically into the top 10 results on google.com might be long and tedious. You will need to work on keeping content fresh by frequently updating your site, writing articles, posting your site in forums and even take advantage of Social Media Optimization to get your business out there. Better still, you could use the services of a SEO company to bring targeted traffic to your site. Findability is key in any online business. Despite what you paid to have your website designed, what purpose does it serve if no one can find it? Only a qualified SEO company can help potential clients find your website on the major search engines. This allows you to concentrate on your business while a qualified SEO consultant takes care of your website optimization.

However long and hard the process, the results are well-worth it. It is definitely credible to be listed highly in organic searches than paid results. Research has revealed that people who click on organic search results are highly educated which translates into relevant traffic for your website. ‘More Money at No Cost’, that’s what organic hits will help you with. Apart from that, organic hits guarantees long lasting rank and traffic for your website.

The Golden Triangle
As you see in the image of the Google Golden Triangle, which was the result of a study conducted by Enquiros. The study watched eye movements of fifty users on the Google search engine result pages. Results revealed a "golden triangle" which confirms the belief nothing beats organic search results, although sponsored sites which are placed above the organic results do well.

Paid Hits that Can Hurt SEO
Link exchanges, setting up related links, emphasizing on anchor text and updating your site with content is the cornerstone of any website success story. However, there are some common link building mistakes which questionable webmasters commit. Using paid linking services could result in loss of $15 on an average after each hit - linking circles, and spamming to build links, are just some of them.

On the other hand, PPC guarantees immediate ranking because you pay to be listed. It helps familiarize users with your website and more often visitors log on to your website it will help improve your site’s performance too. Your ad will be shown at the times when you choose to pay for it. If you have chosen PPC for your site, ensure that you choose the Google Adwords program.

Organic hits or PPC: One or both? Which did you choose? How did it help your site?

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