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Evaluating Search Advertising Options |
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There are two models for search...paid and free. So why do most marketers prefer the paid model of search engine optimization? Why does no one talk about the free model?
The answer is easy. The paid model is easy to manage. It is an advertising model with a host of ready-made software packages that are supplied by the search engines and capable of efficiently analyzing and summarizing paid search results. Marketers understand paying for ads.
Organic search methods require the analysis of inbound traffic and few have the patience needed to first analyze web usage reports and then link them back to other marketing activities.
However, if you think about your own search habits, what do you click on first? The paid ads in the right column or the organic results in the center of the page? Chances are good that you'll click the results at the center of the page. For any marketer, this means there are two obvious take-aways...
- Paid ads are less credible than organic search results
- It pays to spend just as much time improving your organic search results as you spend on your paid search results
The bottom line is search engine users can tell the difference between paid and free listings and tend to trust the organic listings more than they do the paid ones. |
