Balancing Paid and Organic Search Listings

Does your companys website really need to be listed in both the organic or natural search results as well as the paid sponsored results? According to panel of search engine experts at a recent Search Engine Strategies conference, the answer is yes. Most search engine marketing experts agree that a combined approachone that relies on both organic search engine rankings and paid listings works best.

Higher click-thru ratios According to recent research, websites that are listed at the top of the organic search results and the paid listings will triple their click-thru ratio. Three times more people will visit your website if it is listed in both places because there is a second opinion effect. Searchers see both listings and are encouraged by the fact that a website is listed in both the organic listings and the paid listings.

Greater penetration of search results By optimizing your websites content to rank well in the organic search results, your website can be found for many keyword phrases and combinations of keywords. Good organic search engine rankings typically take months to achieve, and are fairly easy to maintain on an ongoing basis. Pay per click (PPC) can be implemented quicklyit can also be turned on and off as needed, depending on your companys budget and current promotions.

More keyword research Keyword research tells you how many people per day search for what keyword terms. There are many tools available that allow you to perform keyword research even before you achieve organic search engine rankings or start a PPC campaign. Once organic search engine rankings are achieved, keyword research using existing website statistic data allows you to enhance your listing of keywordsyou can combine your organic keyword list with your PPC keyword list to focus on the keyword phrases that bring you the best ROI.

Build credibility Organic search engine rankings provide very high levels of credibility and broad coverage on potentially every search engine worldwide. When a website is listed well in the organic search results, the website usually is found for not only their chosen keywords but many combinations of keyword phrases related to those chosen keywords. Its those other combinations of related keywords that bring a website a lot of more visibility in the search results, frequently causing a website appear to be found for everything related to a certain industry. The results can be staggeringa properly optimized website can appear in the search results more often and for more related keywords than a company who has not done any organic search optimization.

Appearing the paid results also helps to build credibilityjust because a searcher doesnt click on a paid ad and visits the website doesnt mean they havent seen the companys sponsored listing. Paid listings also can provide some visibility and credibility for certain keywords that arent usually obtainable through organic search engine optimization.

Bill Hartzer manages the Search Engine Marketing division of MarketNet, Inc., a leading full-service interactive design and development firm in Dallas, Texas. Hartzer recently joined MarketNet, where his vast experience significantly bolsters MarketNets already robust search engine marketing offerings.

Hartzer is a successful writer and search engine marketing expert. During the past fifteen years, some of his many accomplishments include:

Search Engine Optimization Strategist, Intec Telecom Systems PLC
Webmaster, Intec Telecom Systems PLC
Founder, Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association
Owner/Author, Corporate Web Site Marketing
Administrator, Search Engine Forums
Frequent Speaker, Search Engine Strategies Conferences
Frequent Speaker, WebmasterWorlds PubCon Search Engine and Internet Marketing Conference