Organic vs. Paid Search

What is organic Search?

The SEO topics we addressed in SEO 101 all relate to organic search.  When you search for something in Google, the primary listings on the center left of your screen are organic search results.  These cannot be bought - the only way to get higher in organic search listings (where most people that search for things click) is to write content that is searched for and build relevant inbound links to it, one of the essential steps of a successful search marketing campaign that will improve the rankings of your pages. 

What is paid search?

However, above the organic search listings and to the right you will see sponsored search.  These links are bought by paying advertisers.  Google (which owns more than half the search market), offers a paid search program called AdWords. 

What is Adwords?

AdWords enables website owners to buy sponsored links on Google search results pages (on top of the organic search results and in the right sidebar), as well as sites running Google's ads.  You can sign up for this program using the link below, and setup a campaign advertising your website or a page on your site.  You can define how much you want to spend per day, and the system will automatically run your ad on relevant search results pages as well as websites running Google' ads.  These ads are placed on pages in Google's AdSense network.    

What is Adsense? 

Publishers of content on the web can sign up for Adsense - an advertising program where the publisher makes a commission off each click they send your way.  In other words, let's say you start an AdWords campaign targeting "Paid Search Engine Listings" and you allocate $10 per day to your campaign.  Google will automatically display your ad on search results pages for searches related to "Paid Search Engine Listings," as well as sites whose content targets the topic of "Paid Search Engine Listings."  How often your ad runs, how high it places in relation to other paid ads, and on which sites it occurs is influenced by your budget.  Google features a step-by-step tutorial that will explain in more detail what I just went over.  If you wish to run ads on an existing website, you may sign up for Adsense below.

Combine Paid and Organic (Natural) Search

One of the best approaches you can take to SEM (Search Engine Marketing) as a whole is a two-pronged approach: take advantage of both paid and natural search. Your core focus should always be on getting ranked in the organic/ natural search results. Why? Because your position will hold itself with a little maintaining, and traffic will be consistent. With paid search, the traffic stops as soon as you stop paying.

However, you'll notice that the paid search ads have quite the prominent position - being listed in a yellow box just beneath the search box and above the natural search results. So, by paying to get these spots in addition to the top organic spots, you can ensure that visitors will reach your pages and not those of your competitor.

Congrats!

If you just read through our whole search marketing essentials series, give yourself a pat on the back. You now have the essentials of search under your belt. But wait, there's more - search is a constantly changing, evolving, and adapting field. Take the time to explore the site, and sign up for the newsletter (top left corner) so you can be kept abreast of the latest in search marketing.