When you purchase visitors or "clicks" from a search engine, this is called "pay-per-click" (PPC) search engine advertising (or PPCSE). Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Advertising allows you to quickly get top search engine placement by "bidding" (paying) for keywords related to your product or service.
"Organic" or "Natural" search engine optimization (SEO) is accomplished by optimizing your web pages and by increasing your "link popularity" by acquiring or paying for links that point to your web site. This gives you high rankings at the Search Engines for your chosen search terms.
In this article, we will explore the strengths and weaknesses of both methods of search engine marketing.
"Natural" Search Engine Optimization
Today, there is a big myth that natural search engine optimization is inexpensive and easy. For example, if you wanted your web site to rank high for the keyword phrase "life insurance" or "debt consolidation" you're going to need to budget a minimum of $50,000-100,000 a year!
Yet still, natural search engine optimization usually gives you a much higher return on investment than pay per click. This is true for two main reasons:
1. More searchers click the natural search engine results versus the pay per click ads, so you'll get much more traffic for less.
2. One of the biggest factors to improving your rankings with natural search engine optimization is by boosting your "Link Popularity" by acquiring or paying for links that point to your web site. These links give you lasting results by giving you top rankings and traffic from the search engines. Plus, the links themselves will provide a significant boost in long term traffic.
With that said, the biggest weakness of natural search engine optimization is the time required to generate links and "tweak" your web pages and keywords to get those prized high rankings you so desire. It can literally take 3 months or more to finally enjoy the benefits of your search engine optimization campaign.
Pay Per Click Search Engine Advertising
The biggest benefit of pay per click is the fact that it will provide you with an immediate boost of qualified visitors, lead and sales giving you fast results within just hours or days. In fact, a pay per click advertising program is your best option if you seek fast results and a good return on investment while you are waiting for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program to "ramp up."
Depending on your traffic goals, you can budget $100 or $100,000. PPCSEs also give you the added benefits of being able to quickly test your web site and track your conversion rates (leads, opt-ins, and sales) and turning keywords (visitors) on and off easily.
So, as a short term strategy pay per click gives you the clear advantage over SEO. But, the disadvantage is the cost involved. Depending on the market demand for your keywords and clicks, your PPCSE campaign can generate tons of traffic and can cost hundreds, even thousands per day. With various optimization strategies you can lower your costs, but over the long term natural search engine optimization will give you a higher return on your marketing dollar.
In Conclusion
The golden rule in marketing is that you should constantly strive for maximum results and ROI for your budget. In other words, if your marketing is making you a profit - even if it's a thin profit - it's worth it. By this model, pay per click is worth doing, but overall pay per click will leave you with thinner margins.
The reason for conducting a natural search engine optimization campaign is to significantly increase your margins over the long term.
About The Author
Matt Hockin is President of Interactive Marketing, Inc., a small business marketing consulting company and the editor of the Interactive Marketing newsletter, one of the Internet's leading free small business marketing newsletters. Subscribe now at http://www.interactivemarketinginc.com.
Batchtown Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareYou may not realize it, but in the next few... Read More
When running ads on the AdWords network, one of the... Read More
AdSense may be one of the fastest and easiest ways... Read More
An unfortunate byproduct of the pay per click advertising business... Read More
The Mechanism First a brief glossary of terms: Adwords: The... Read More
When you are running a Google AdWords campaign, it is... Read More
Dinner With Mark JoynerAbout 3 Years ago in Los Angeles... Read More
Here's a fact for you, 85 to 95% of Websites... Read More
Hey, wait a minute. You can't have popups on the... Read More
"Pay-for-Performance" or "Pay-per-Click" Internet advertising is making big waves lately,... Read More
I have utilized pay-per-click (PPC) advertising since its inception about... Read More
Do you want to get paid for posting ads on... Read More
There are many forms of advertising nowadays. There's popups and... Read More
Your probably reading this article because you use Google Adwords... Read More
A ClickBank merchant account allows you to define and sell... Read More
So you want to make money with Google Adsense? I... Read More
Incorporating high paying keywords into your site is critical to... Read More
If you know anything at all about Internet marketing, then... Read More
Without tracking, your online advertising is just a shot in... Read More
Working in research and development for a large infomercial company,... Read More
It's worthwhile to examine Google's definition of Google AdSense and... Read More
Here's a feisty trick where you can profit from Adsense... Read More
In private consultations with some Search Engine Optimizers I am... Read More
Clickbank has been around for years and has earned an... Read More
Advertising on the Internet has always been a bit of... Read More
shuttle from Midway Munster are ..I had been using Google's Adsense program to generate some... Read More
Dear friends,Google, the most populated search engine on the Internet,... Read More
What are PPC Search Engines?PPC Search Engines are search engines... Read More
No matter how hard you work to optimize your page,... Read More
Google announced in January 2005 significant changes in their popular... Read More
Many surfers are savvy enough to identify ClickBank affiliate links,... Read More
If you're a webmaster, you've probably heard about Google's Adsense.... Read More
Are Small PPC Search Engines Really Worth The Effort? The... Read More
Google developed a prime product, Adsense. Marketing your website through... Read More
One of the most popular forms of Internet advertising is... Read More
No, this baby boom will certainly not swamp the Social... Read More
If you are using pay per click advertising, I don't... Read More
We read about how to develop a Google AdWord campaign,... Read More
Then most difficult aspect of marketing a new product or... Read More
I have utilized pay-per-click (PPC) advertising since its inception about... Read More
Did you know that there are actually pay per click... Read More
An unfortunate byproduct of the pay per click advertising business... Read More
To be a successful affiliate marketer takes a ton of... Read More
With so many people trying to make money on the... Read More
Many people decide to spend a lot of money putting... Read More
Cost per click or pay per click is a common... Read More
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is when an advertiser pays for each... Read More
As marketers and business owners, we're always looking for "the... Read More
As a blog or site owner, you can make some... Read More
"I don't need the Internet to advertise - I'm a... Read More
Pay-Per-Click Advertising |