The Google Game
Natural or Sponsored Search?
Dear EarthMonkey
I've been advised by a few SEO firms to look at pay-per-click advertising. Others are telling me to focus on natural listings! Any advice?
From: Philip. Recruitment Consultant, Wokingham
Dear Philip
That's the billion dollar question! The answer is, both have a value - and while you want to focus on natural listings in the long-term, pay-per-click can help you to get there.
Let's start with a definition (just for clarification).
The natural (or organic) listings are the results on the left hand side of Google. The paid listings are the sponsored links to the right. By and large, you'll get more business through natural listings because (a) the eye naturally falls to the left of the screen, (b) people are more likely to trust a result if it's there solely on merit, and (c) some folk (just some) are simply too nice to click on a sponsored link!
That said, paid links can help you enormously, especially if your site is new or you're in a hugely competitive market.
Here's how:
1. Testing your keywords
Before you go the expense of optimising your site, it's a good idea to see which keywords are sending you the best traffic. Pay-per-click is a fast and effective way to do this, especially as you can measure which keywords have led visitors to a contact or sales page. In other words, you might find that some keywords are sending you visitors, but those visitors aren't buying from you. Armed with this intelligence, you can optimise for the keywords that have proven their worth, and discard the rest!