Organic vs. Paid SEO – Which is Best?

SEO stands for “search engine optimization,” and is basically the process of improving a website in order to increase its visibility. For instance, when somebody searches Google or Bing for services or products similar to yours, your business will be one of the search results if your website has good visibility. SEO works by applying algorithms to search engine indexes and determining the order that which websites’ should appear in a search.

Organic SEO

Basically, organic searches happen when people find businesses and services among search results. A basic Google search will provide you with organic results to choose from simply by clicking on the website’s link. These results are based on the content and the quality of the website, and traffic from these results, or organic traffic, is considered the most valuable search engine traffic source.

The downside to organic search results is the time that it takes for a new website to make it in the algorithm and begin experiencing a good amount of traffic. In fact, a third of all link clicks from organic search results go to the very first result that people see. Beyond that, only five percent of traffic comes from the second page of search results. If your website is lucky and resilient enough to make it to the first result position, the benefits that you will see are immense and long-lasting.

Paid SEO

Paid search results, also known as pay-per-click ads, on the other hand, are those that usually appear at the very top of a search result. You may see a little box beside the website link that says “Ad” inside of it. Basically, this company has paid the search engine to automatically move their website to the top of the search results.

This means that this website will have a better chance of not only being seen but of generating more clicks straight away and gathering a loyal customer base, as opposed to waiting and having to work your way up the list of search results as those who use organic SEO’s have to do.

The downside of a pay-per-click SEO is, of course, the cost that the company will obtain to pay for the first position of a search result. Another downside is that, though you may want to eventually drop the cost of the paid SEO, you may also see some decline in the number of website visits or even in the amount of business that you receive. Paid SEO can be expensive, but can definitely give you the results that you are looking for, as long as you are willing to pay for those results.

Organic and paid SEO are very similar in many ways, the main difference being that one company is willing to wait and work its way up the search results ladder. In contrast, the other company has enough money to pay for the instant gratification of website traffic and, hopefully, an increase in business. Which SEO you choose is completely up to your personal preferences and budget.

Do you need help with SEO services? Contact us! We’d be happy to help.