Organic Search Results or Pay-Per-Click?

By Chris Behan

Before we begin to explore the differences between the organic search results and the pay-per-click results, I would first like to clearly define both. The organic, or “free,” search results are the listings that run down the left-hand side of a search engine’s results page (SERP). The sponsored, or pay-per-click (PPC), listings usually run down the right-hand side and are sometimes displayed at the top of the page as well.

This article will examine six key differences between the organic and paid results as well as other factors, which will hopefully give you the information you need to make an informed decision as to which program best suits your company’s needs.  

Ability to Drive Traffic:
There is little debate that the organic listings are capable of driving significantly more traffic than the sponsored links, and most experts agreeing that at least 70% of all search engine users prefer to click on the organic results. But does this mean that the organic search results are always the best choice? For most companies, YES. But in certain cases – such as when you are selling a branded product and search engine users are price shopping that branded product – the paid link may be the right choice for your company.  This is not to say that only price shoppers go to the paid links, or that you can’t drive traffic from the paid listings for non-branded products and services, but the purpose of this article is to simply contrast the difference between the organic and the paid listings. 

Advantage: Organic Listings
Building Trust: In a recent study, 75% of search engine users reported that they trusted the organic listing over the paid, but in many cases did not know why they came to this conclusion.  The answer is really quite simple. The organic listings are organized by relevance, unlike the sponsored side of search, which is organized by who has the highest bid and budget. The organically ranked sites are placed there by search engines like Google, because those sites were found to be relevant to the user’s search. Along with relevance comes trust.

Advantage: Organic Listings
Implementation Time: Just when you thought I was totally anti-pay-per-click, along comes implementation time. Basic pay-per-click campaigns can be set up in as little as an hour, with larger, big-budget campaigns taking longer. This is still considerably less that the 4-6 weeks it takes to implement a true organic program and begin to see your listings in the organic results.  

Advantage: Pay-Per-Click
Return on Investment: Optimizing your site for the organic side has obvious advantages over pay-per-click. The biggest disadvantage of pay-per-click is that, as soon you’re done paying, your site will immediately disappear from search engines. Websites that are properly optimized for organic search, however, can enjoy longevity within the search engine listings and continue to rank well even after you are done optimizing.  Another important item to remember is that, sites which are highly ranked organically have an open-market value and should be considered a company asset. There are thousands of examples of websites selling for hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars!

Advantage: Organic Listings
Cost: In general, optimizing for organic side search is considerably more affordable than pay-per-click. You have to understand that pay-per-click listings are essentially organized by bid and budget. Those willing to spend the most money per click, and those with the largest budget overall, will outrank other bidders. Because people are competing to pay the highest price for keywords, the PPC system will continually go up in cost.  Optimizing for organic search is an investment that can provide you with long-term success, even after you’re done optimizing your website. 

Advantage: Organic Listings
Coolness Factor: This may be the Internet marketing nerd in me, but it is really cool to rank organically. I don’t believe it’s just me who thinks this way either. I have been helping firms rank organically for over a decade, and I can’t tell you how many times I have heard my clients brag about their organic listings to friendly competitors.  For those of you who have strong organic listings, you know what I am talking about! Besides, no one brags about spending more than your competitor for the same pay-per-click keyword. At best, bragging about PPC will just cost you more money!  

Advantage: Organic Listings
The Bottom Line…I certainly don’t mean to discourage anyone from launching a pay-per-click campaign. As a matter of fact, my firm skillfully manages considerable PPC budgets – but in most cases, we manage them only after an effective plan has been implemented to gain organic placements in major search engines.
It really is all about the return on investment. For companies with higher-margined products or services, pay-per-click can be a fast and easy way to begin doing business online. And, for those companies selling a branded product – and that are comfortable competing on price – PPC certainly gets you in front of shoppers.
Just know that if you are trying to fully penetrate any market online, ranking in the organic listings offers you the ability to reach the most potential customers at the lowest cost – all while building trust and corporate value.  And as we say at Socius Marketing, “the view is always better from the top”.

About the Author
Chris Behan is the President and Chief Optimization Officer of Socius Marketing, Inc. (www.sociusmarketing.com), Tampa’s top-ranked search engine optimization company, which provides Internet marketing services to small, medium, and large businesses looking to expand their online presence. With offices in Tampa and Atlanta and clients across the country, Socius Marketing is one of the largest, and fastest-growing online lead generation firms in the United States. Chris can be reached at chris@sociusmarketing.com or by calling (813) 282-8300. – Offices Rocky Point, Tampa