|
|
|
|
|
| 06 | 2007 |
|
| Search Engine Optimization: Organic vs. Paid |
|
For many, search engine optimization is a mystifying practice whose secrets are hidden behind the closed, locked and heavily guarded doors of Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search companies. It’s an ongoing conundrum – search companies require your site to be fully optimized, but they won’t let you in on the secrets of doing it effectively. It’s understandable, of course, when you consider the ongoing war against spammers, link farms, bots and other defrauders lurking about in cyberspace. In this two-part series, we take a look at the differences between organic versus paid rankings, debunk some of the myths, and provide you with a checklist of SEO do’s and don’ts that can improve your rank or earn you time in the penalty box.
Let’s start from the perspective of a search engine user. When you visit your favorite engine and type in your keyword or phrase, the results you get back are a combination of both organic listings and paid listings. In most cases the paid results are listed first, with some engines also listing them below the organic results and down the right side. Often subtly labeled as “Sponsored Listings,” these pay-per-click results are listed in order of bid, with the highest bidder first. Many sites limit their highest paid ad positions to two or three spots, meaning if you’re not bidding high enough to be ranked first, second, or third, you’re ad will get pushed to a footer location or even to the next pages of results.
The unpaid search results are organic. Organic listings and rank are determined by a specific search engine’s indexing criteria. Some use 200 or more algorithms, from popularity of your site to keyword density (which we’ll explain in more detail in Part 2), to index your site and rank it each time it’s spidered.
The ability to easily pay for a top ranking on search engines has led some to believe in the misguided notion that they need not worry about optimizing their site for organic results if they can simply buy a top-ranked spot in the sponsored listings. There are several issues resulting from this line of thinking. One, paid advertising is not cheap, particularly if your business is in a popular industry. It’s not unheard of for companies to burn through hundreds of dollars PER DAY to maintain a top ranking for the most contested keywords. Second, engines are becoming continuously more strict with their guidelines for pay-per-click ads in an effort to eliminate sites offering the same services as well as spamming sites. Relevant content and quality results are the top priority of every search engine, even if it means turning away paying advertisers. Third, due to the network of search engines, recent studies have shown that high rankings in BOTH organic and paid search results can actually double your conversion rate.
A recent article on SEOChat.com, outlined the benefits of Google optimization for both organic and paid results. “According to Google, 1000 impressions on average will net 10 clicks on a top spot in their AdWords scheme. A top position in organic results will net you 20 clicks per 1000 impressions. Being at the top of both will net an astounding 60 clicks.” This means that having a top ranking in both organic and paid results with double your rate of return.
It’s when we expand our thinking beyond the results of just one search engine that Google’s analysis becomes conceivable. The network of search engines gets quite complicated when you begin to realize that Google uses DMOZ for its directory results, but in turn provides its own results to Dogpile, Netscape and others. Search engines like Dogpile are considered in the secondary rung of search because they do not offer their own results. Instead, they fall into the category of meta-search by collectively offering the results from numerous other search engines such as Yahoo, Google, MSN, and others. Here’s where the paid vs. organic portion comes in: many search engines split up their results and filter them out independently of each other. Lycos, for example, only receives the paid results from Google, and its primary results are provided by Ask. Dogpile receives the paid results from Yahoo, and its primary results are a combination from multiple engines. This is why it becomes vital to have a good ranking in both categories. It insures that you will also have a high ranking among many of the top search engines, instead of just one or two. The result is a better return both on your paid advertising investment as well as the investment of time to optimize your website.
For details on optimizing your website to improve your organic search engine rank, click here to read Search Engine Optimization: Getting Ranked.
|
|
|
|
|
About The Brookfield Group
The Brookfield Group has become a leader in IT, ISP, ASP and web solutions by providing next level technology solutions managed by experts who give you peace of mind without the tech-talk. The company's services are customized to fit any enterprise-size businesses and include: IT project management; hosting solutions and maintenance; systems security and patches; telecommunications services, server and desktop setup, repair and applications; network infrastructure design; audio visual products; surveillance and security solutions; as well as a variety of other software, hardware, services and accessories. Located in Carmel, Indiana, more information about The Brookfield Group products and services is available at www.thebrookfieldgroup.com or by calling 317.524.6000.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Get the latest technology news,
alerts and tools delivered directly
to your Inbox each month.
> Click here to learn more...
|
|
| Subscribe Today! |
|
| Enter email address |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
