For the small business SEO is the #1 strategy. PPC (paid search) would seem to be less cost-effective. They believe that PPC is too expensive, and that won't deliver the visitors and the conversions that only SEO can. Above all, unlike PPC, those SEO created first page rankings are free. Thus, many web owners see search engine optimization as the goal. By working at SEO they will ultimately reach that crucial first page. And then those "free" organic rankings will escalate their business by driving the leads or direct sales they've been expecting. In the real world of Internet marketing, however, that's not how it works. Here, you'll discover that there's a turning point at which paid search becomes by far the more cost-effective strategy. Search results data shows that first page ranking may not be as powerful as many people assume. According to research, clicks received from first page organic results are heavily weighted towards the top sites. The number one ranked site gets the lion's share, 42%. For the other sites on page one, the click through rate (CTR) goes downhill rapidly. The second ranked site gets only 12%, the third 8%, the fourth 6%, the fifth 5%, the sixth 4%, and the seventh only 3%. Of course, these figures are generalised. They don't apply precisely to every situation. But they do seem to make sense. This helps us compare the value of natural search with paid search. The click through rate on ppc varies according to your type of market, product, service, and so on. It's also about how good you marketing is. Of course, you can achieve very high CTR's. But as a guide, you should expect a CTR of around 2-3%. And this is the turning point. To make that clearer, let's debunk the myth that SEO is free. If you want to get to the top, and stay there, you have to pay. And you usually need professionals to help you. Standard rates for a minimal service start at $1000 per month. And the top companies are paying thousands more per month, every month. Every year. So, if you're paying for SEO services on your site doesn't reach the top three on the first page, it could be more cost-effective for you to use pay per click instead. Because this is when paid search comes out the winner. At this level, it offers considerable advantages over organic search. With pay per click, bid management can ensure your ad will appear on page one and you can even get higher up the page. For instance, if you get the marketing right, your ads can even appear on the same side as and above the organic rankings. And, if you use Google AdWords, you can perform even better. The trick with AdWords is to ensure a good keyword quality score. In that way, you have the benefit of both reduced costs per click (CPC) and being bumped up to a higher position on the page. The outcome will be increased visitors to your site. More importantly, paid search gives you control over the content the searcher sees on the results page. This is often not the case with organic search. Also, you can direct searches to a landing page within your site that is relevant to what you want to achieve, e.g. lead generation or e-commerce. Organic search results most often take the visitor to your homepage. This is rarely the best page for encouraging conversions. Let alone increasing conversions. Finally, PPC unlike SEO is measurable in terms of its costs, even to the granular level. So, you get fast and precise metrics that show you if PPC is working and producing the ROI you want. So, it doesn't run out of control. Nor gobble up your hard-earned cash before you know if it's working, in the way that SEO can do If you don't get high rankings in organic search, i.e. in the top half of the page at least, and stay there, then you may very well have reached the tipping point. When paid search is the best Internet marketing strategy for you.
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