Insight Into Technology: Organic vs Pay Per Click
Ernie Martin
June 1, 2008
A
ccording to comScore Inc., more than 113 billion core online searches were
conducted in the United States in 2007. The primary vehicles were Google, Yahoo! and MSN. These
statistics fuel the competition between companies hoping to attract Web users searching for their
product or service online.
As a result, companies invest billions in search engine optimization (SEO) to improve search
engine rankings.
Marketers use two primary strategies for increasing traffic to their site. Organic SEO is
the process of configuring a Web site with proper content and Meta Tags in a way that drives
traffic based on studying a search engine’s algorithms and placement techniques.
Pay per click (PPC) is a pay-for- performance model in which the advertiser bids on keywords
and then pays the search engine based on the number of click-throughs each sponsored link
generates.
Factors to consider when determining if organic or PPC is for you include goals, budget and
the quality of your site. By evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of both, you can determine
which online advertising strategy is best.
Goals
Companies desiring immediate (within a day) results should think twice about organic SEO. It
can take between three to six months to achieve high rankings. But while results are not immediate,
they are long lasting and worth the wait. Conversely, once a PPC campaign is launched, results
nearly are instantaneous. Based on the quality of your keywords, your site can be highly ranked
within minutes.
Budget
According to Jupiter Research, marketers will spend $7 billion on PPC advertising by 2010.
Because competition for keywords drives up costs and PPC requires companies to pay for every
visitor that clicks through to the Web site, PPC advertising can be expensive. While organic
undoubtedly is more cost-effective, the cost of an organic campaign will depend largely on the
level of competition within your industry in addition to the time spent optimizing the site to
ensure higher rankings.
Quality Of Your Site
Marketers often are attracted to PPC advertising because it doesn’t require changes to the
site. But while they may see a rise in visitors, if their site can’t turn them into customers, they
won’t have a return on their investment.
Organic SEO forces marketers to develop a site that’s full of premium content. While it does
take time to redevelop your Web site and make continual improvements, you’re sure to develop a
solid site.
Whether you decide to invest in organic or PPC, invest for the long-term. Companies opting
for an organic strategy should be diligent about continually adding new content to maintain high
rankings. Those that choose PPC should be mindful of rising accounts of click fraud, which rose to
16.6 percent during fourth quarter 2007, according to Click Forensics Inc. Click fraud occurs when
a person, program or automated script generates a charge per click without having an interest in
the target of the ad’s link.
Be Competitive
Bolstering your online presence is critical to increasing brand awareness and competing in
the global marketplace. Based on budget, most companies must choose between organic or PPC.
Organic SEO tends to have a higher return on investment because the clicks are free, they
carry more credibility and a high ranking through organic SEO tends to get more clicks.
Ernie Martin is founder and principal of Persuasion Communications Group.
