Marketing has always been a very influential factor in any successful business, however over the years the face of marketing has changed. No longer will a simple advert in the Yellow pages guarantee you with a strong influx of potential customers. The online search engines seem to have become the dominant force in advertising and the first place people look when seeking out their required product or service.

Google is currently the most popular search engine in the UK and with features such as Paid Search / sponsored links, conversion tracking and Google Analytics they don’t seem to be slowing down.

Paid Search – The Sprint

PPC is by far the fastest way to ensure your site appears on the first page of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS); however you have to pay for the privilege. This option is ideal for a company with very competitive keywords or with a new website that hasn’t yet got a presence on the search engines organically. This option is fast becoming very popular which means there is more competition for keywords and this is driving up the Cost Per Click (CPC) with some even going for £10+ per click!

Although this form of advertising works very well for a lot of companies, search engine users are becoming wise that these adverts are in fact paying to be in that position and may not be as relevant as natural listings as a result many opt for these organic (natural) results.

Organic SEO – The Marathon

Although appearing organically (naturally) on the first page of the search engines would be the number one choice for most companies, we are seeing less effort put into this as more are opting to pay for their positions in the sponsored ads. Although it is possible to do very well from advertising via paid search, I still feel that the money is better invested into working on the organic rankings of your website. It can take time to gain top positions using SEO (search engine optimisation) techniques, however once you are up there and your SEO is constantly being maintained against your competitors you will reap the rewards of a constant flow of daily traffic to your site without having to pay for each and every visit.

Andrew Ash

SEO Consultant

Posted In:

Google, PPC - Google Adwords, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing