Paid vs. Organic Search

by Carie Ferg, Manta Contributor, September 2017
​Unless you’re an expert on search engine optimization (SEO), it’s easy to get lost in the lingo and technical complexities. But if you don’t pay attention to search because it’s too confusing, you could be leaving important dollars on the table that could help drive your small business’ success.
When thinking about getting search engine traffic to your website, it’s important to understand the difference between the two search categories: paid and organic. According to Julie Howell, director of SEO at Postali, paid search and organic search operate completely independent of each other.
While paid search such as Google AdWords is a paid advertising opportunity, “Organic search results are determined by a propriety algorithm that you cannot pay your way into,” said Howell. “Running a paid search campaign will have no effect on your organic rankings, positive or negative.”
But just because the two search categories don’t directly impact each other doesn’t mean that you should dismiss either one. SEO is a slower marketing channel; it can take months to see your ranking climb. In the meantime, you could see instant results for your paid search campaigns.
it’s also important to provide users with both options to cast a wide net for potential customers. “Some users prefer to only click on organic results, while others will click on an ad. You want to try to appeal to both,” said Howell.
Having a presence in both organic SEO and paid search channels increases the overall exposure of your small business, thus increasing clicks and conversions. “Think of a search engine results page (SERP) as multi-faceted real estate,” Howell said. “Paid search is a bigger investment but has the ability to drive faster results.”
Reposted courtesy www.manta.com