There are many components to an Internet marketing campaign, with the biggest being paid search and organic search. If you’re unfamiliar with the terms, here’s an explanation of what they are and how they differ.
Paid search
Paid search is just what it sounds like – the placement of ads on the first page of an Internet search engine result page, or SERP. An SERP is always generated based on the keyword phrase or keyword entered by the searcher. It’s much more attractive to be on the first page, because most people who are searching for a service business, for example, will only look at the first few listings on the first page. One example of a paid search service is Google AdWords, where an advertiser places a bid in order to have an ad placed. The advertiser bids for a phrase for which the company wants visibility, such as “Baltimore plumbing services.” The paid search ads normally appear above and to the right of the organic results, which will be explained below. Basically, they compete with the organic results.
Organic search
The main difference between organic and paid searches is that organic searches are not paid for. This kind of search ranking is “earned” by convincing the engine that your site is more relevant than those below your listing for a certain phrase or keyword. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the method used to achieve high search engine rankings. By providing quality, unique and new content in terms of blogs, videos, press releases, articles and more, you improve your level of relevance.
Which one is right for you?
There are more than 200 factors that determine how your site ranks for a certain keyword or phrase in an organic search. Because an organic search is based on relevancy and page rank, it can take a considerable amount of time for your company to make it to the top of an Internet engine listing. However, online surfers are about seven times more likely to click on an organic result than on a sponsored ad or a paid search result.
The biggest benefit of a paid search (also known as “pay per click”) is that you get immediate results without having to make wholesale changes to your website – or at least the home page of that site. The effectiveness of a paid search campaign is limited only by your budget and how well your ads are constructed.