Last week, Google released an interesting snippet of information – on average 20% of web browsers click on paid advertising links (sponsored Ads that you see on the right-hand side of the screen) while the other 80% of the online nation hit organic results. Previous studies indicated that one in 20 people click on the sponsored Ads. Regardless of whether it’s a 5% or 20% hit rate it still makes me wonder why people are spending the largest part of their online marketing budgets on Pay per Click campaigns rather than Search Engine Optimization – the manner in which one attains top organic rankings.
The reality is that the majority of online companies allocate the largest part of their budgets towards Pay per Click advertising campaigns. In the US, paid advertising is expected to grow by 15% in 2009 – reaching $12 billion. Some companies spend up to $60 000 a month on PPC advertising costs and hardly anything on Search Engine Optimization.
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with paid advertising; it allows you to get instantaneous traffic from your desired target market, you can pick how much you want to spend per day/month/year and is guaranteed to improve overall ROI. Additionally, when it comes to SEO, it can take anywhere between one and 12 months to achieve top rankings in the organic results.
When it comes to which approach is better, one can argue that SEO is a far more superior long-term strategy. The advantages of Search Engine Optimization include:
• No direct marketing costs when your company’s advertisements get clicked.
• Targeting at least 80% of the Search Engine market.
• When your site ranks well you are pretty much up there all of the time which means that your long-term marketing costs decrease over time.
• Top ranking organic results have a far better conversion rate.
In the few years that I have been involved in online marketing I have experienced that companies that allocate more of their internet marketing budget towards SEO experience far higher returns. Clearly, this statement will only hold true when you use an SEO company that knows what they are doing and can deliver top rankings in the Search Engines.
It’s important to note that given the complexity and ever-changing nature of Google’s ranking algorithm there is no SEO company in the world that can provide a top ranking guarantee. At the same time, a really good SEO company will be able to provide examples of their ranking performance and be able to guarantee consistent growth in traffic volumes.
If you are looking for an SEO company that knows what they are doing and can provide a long list of current rankings in competitive markets – then look no further. We have dozens of SEO clients from a diverse range of industries, who are all reaping the rewards of organic traffic and experiencing phenomenal ROI.
Want to increase your traffic, revenue and profits? Contact us today to get a free SEO quote!
