Everybody wants to be famous—well maybe not everyone—but brands certainly do. Some brands have nailed the art of becoming household names, so much so that they’re practically used as verbs. From Google to TiVO and FedEx, these brands have done something most brands never will, be synonymous with their product.
While being the next Google or FedEx may seem out of your reach, there’s no reason you can’t get a taste of at least a fraction of their success by paying attention to organic and paid search results as this could be the trick you’ve been missing out on.
As we said, visibility is everything and if you’re a marketer or business owner trying to get your brand to be seen then SEO and SEM are probably terms you’re familiar with. This brings us to organic and paid search results and which one of the two SEO and SEM are connected to.
But before we get into all that let’s start with the basics.
What are the striking differences between organic and paid search results?
Paid search results are ads
Whether an ad is a shopping or a text ad, Google doesn’t mince words. They make sure that everyone knows that it’s an ad. If you’ve ever searched for something and remember seeing a label on the top left side of the page that says ‘Ad’ or ‘Ads’, that’s an example of a paid search result.
They may look aesthetically pleasing, improve your search experience, and blend well with the flow of the page, but discerning users will know that they’re paid ads and not organic ones.
Paid ads are either on the top or bottom of SERPs
These often look like tiles and are generally displayed on the top of the SERP followed by the organic results, or at the bottom of the search page. You’ll typically see paid ads that appear as shopping ads at the top of SERPs.
Paid ads are more visible if your bid is high
Once! Twice! Sold! If you want content for your website to be displayed on ad spaces on SERPs then you need to bid on keywords. If you make the highest bid then you’ve got the space you need for your ad. How does the auction happen? Every time a user puts a search term on Google’s search bar you’ve got yourself a bidding war.
Improve organic search results with website rankings
If you don’t want to spend all of your money in one place then using SEO tactics to boost the rankings of your website can help it appear much higher up in organic search results. This isn’t something that you can get done overnight so patience is key.
It’s also worth noting that the ranking parameters are a closely guarded secret by Google so you’re never going to understand the complete process, but many experts believe that adding value to the content, optimising website UX/UI, and using strategic keywords can help you creep up to the top of organic search results.
Organic can help you become a featured snippet
Ever seen those snippets at the top of your search engine with some highlighted text? That’s what’s referred to as a snippet and is a great example of how organic search results can take on different forms of their own and give paid ads a run for their money.
Usually, these snippets appear on desktops or as answers labelled as “People also ask”.
All this is great but…
Why do businesses need paid search ads?
Paid search ads serve an important purpose: they give your company the ability to appear at the top of search engine results pages. While there are other benefits to paid ads, this is perhaps the most important and, in many cases, the single most important reason for businesses to go all out on their paid ads strategy.
You might argue that the same could be done with organic search optimisation and, yes, you’re right. The only difference is if you want to improve your visibility faster then paid ads are the way to go (if you’ve got the budget to go for it) because organic results could take time.
What’s all the rage about organic search results?
Once you start dabbling in strategies to improve your SEO, you’ll start making your way up the search engine rankings. Give it enough time, and your web content could even end up being a coveted snippet.
Putting in the time and effort to achieve great SEO, all this will start happening naturally and feel more like a free campaign.
When you start ranking higher and higher on organic search results, you’ll find that your business has high-quality traffic and increases the trust users have in your brand. Eventually, when all this comes together, you’ll bring in new customers, increase sales, and much more.
Organic and paid search results on demand: Are you ready to take the next step in becoming visible?
Got a good idea about organic and paid search results and how search engine marketing and search engine optimisation play a part in helping your business grow its online presence? Excited to take your brand visibility to the next level?
If you’re familiar with what each option offers then you’re going to have a hard time balancing the two and coming up with the best digital marketing strategy using the available budget.
Once you’ve mastered the art of paid ads and organic search optimisation and how they can add value, you’ve got a great chance at overcoming this all too familiar dilemma.