SEO vs. Google AdWords: Which is right for your business?
The goal of any website is to capture qualified leads, right? So, what’s the best way to let your prospective clients know you exist? Getting your website to rank on Google is one of the many challenges businesses face when marketing their products and services. Should you pay for Google AdWords, or put in some effort and play the long game with Organic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? It’s a tough question and one that needs careful consideration. Most businesses don’t know whether to engage in an organic SEO strategy or a paid search strategy, or use both. We’re here to help you navigate the storm.
Organic Search Engine Optimization
The biggest advantage to having a strong organic SEO ranking is that it tends to be more trusted than advertised rankings. Google has been around long enough for users to be wise to when they are being advertised to. And, statistics reveal that a high organic ranking attracts 50% more click throughs than the top AdWord listing.
With this in mind, businesses that recognize higher organic rankings means increased trust which in turn equals increased revenue. However, it’s not as simple as ‘if you build it they will come’. In fact it’s far more complex. Which is where SEO comes into play.
At Chatter Marketing, we ensure our websites are Google friendly—increasing performance and trust—and in turn are more trusted in the eyes of the almighty search engines. We make sure your copy is relevant, your headings are appropriately tagged, your sites images are optimized and tagged, and that your site is mobile friendly.
We’ve seen some incredible results for our SEO clients, but it’s not an exact science and it is a moving target. Google regularly updates their search algorithm which impacts how they rank sites. Organic SEO takes effort, focus and a lot of patience but, once your site is established, it undoubtedly yields incredible long-term results that help businesses grow based on merit and trust rather than depth of pockets.
Google AdWords
There are many forms of paid online advertising, but for this blog, we’ll focus on Google AdWords. They are after all the biggest and better known player. AdWords is a great way to elevate your listing to the top of the pile. However, it does come at a price and, if it’s not managed correctly.
Google AdWords charges on a Pay Per Click (PPC) basis. That is, when someone clicks on your ad, you’re charged. Popular search terms are more expensive to purchase than those that are less popular. The rate you are charged per click is dependent on your market and where you’d like to rank. For example, a company paying $0.20/click will likely not rank above a company paying $0.30/click. It’s just the system.
When starting a paid marketing campaign it’s important to understand what your customers are searching for when looking for your service. The biggest advantage of PPC is that you can control which terms your website will be listed for. This is especially helpful when you’re trying to determine which keyword term yields the best results. Using Google AdWord management tools, you can easily see which keywords are converting into site visitors.
Conclusion
There really is no right or wrong answer here. It’s all depends on your business, competition and budget. For many businesses, a mixture of organic and paid results often works best. The organic ranking gives your business some authority, trust and longer term results, while paid ads provide an immediate high ranking placement and increased visibility.
Whether you’re going to manage your own digital marketing or engage an agency such as Chatter Marketing, we recommend doing your research. What are your competitors doing? How are they ranking? How are they winning work? What keyword terms do they use? And when all else fails, turn to Chatter Marketing to help you stand out in a sea of competition.
