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I disagree with you, but I certainly would like to know your reasoning behind this. Most people are going to use a search engine if all they get are paid ads.

by ssharp 12y ago

I disagree with you, but I certainly would like to know your reasoning behind this. Most people are going to use a search engine if all they get are paid ads. People go to Google for the organic results and sometimes the paid ads are useful for those people. It's still in Google's best interest to provide the most relevant organic results as possible. Most businesses I've worked with still get more revenue from organic than paid and even if the percentages change, it's mostly from increased paid spend leading to more revenue and not decreasing organic revenue.

alphadevx 12y ago
> Most people are going to use a search engine if all they get are paid ads. Most people will just click on the first few "results", even if they are in fact ads. They can hardly tell the difference. That's why businesses are paying so much to be on top of certain lucrative search key terms: if they we not getting a return on their advertising spend, then they would not be spending it. My main point is, even if your website is horribly un-optimized in terms of SEO, if you have a bucket of cash to spend on Adwords, you will still get a tonne of traffic. SEO in this instance is almost irrelevant.
- ssharp 12y ago
  I don't want to get too specific into our paid and organic strategies, but I can say that our numbers don't support that people will be more likely to click on the ads than the organic results. This is for both popular, competitive keywords, and branded. You main point is valid. You can buy traffic from lots of places and that traffic is often very good. But organic traffic can still make up a big part of your revenue and shouldn't be ignored.
  - enjo 12y ago
    FWIW we are seeing exactly the same. We compete in highly competitive areas, and our paid search ads barely break even these days. Paid search is really tough. Our organic efforts are much more fruitful.
- hising 12y ago
  > My main point is, even if your website is horribly un-optimized in terms of SEO, if you have a bucket of cash to spend on Adwords, you will still get a tonne of traffic. SEO in this instance is almost irrelevant. I do not agree. A competitor with an optimized page will pay less and rank higher even in the payed result. It is not as simple as the one who payes the most will rank highest, Google has a quality score for Adwords landing pages that will effect your ranking in the payed result as well as what you pay per click.
- Polemicist 12y ago
  > Most people will just click on the first few "results", even if they are in fact ads. Incorrect. Specific percentages vary from study to study, but on average no more than 30% of clicks on a search results page are on ads, leaving 70%+ for organic results.
- snowwrestler 12y ago
  You can always buy traffic, but it cuts into your profit margins and/or reach. Remember that SEO is optimization. It can't replace ads, but the more traffic you can get organically, the more profit you can make, and then you'll have more to spend on ads. It's a virtuous cycle. And success is relative. If you're not doing any SEO, and your competitor does it half-assed, well, then their average visitor cost is going to be less than yours--and that's a competitive advantage.

by ssharp 12y ago

alphadevx 12y ago

> Most people are going to use a search engine if all they get are paid ads. Most people will just click on the first few "results", even if they are in fact ads. They can hardly tell the difference. That's why businesses are paying so much to be on top of certain lucrative search key terms: if they we not getting a return on their advertising spend, then they would not be spending it. My main point is, even if your website is horribly un-optimized in terms of SEO, if you have a bucket of cash to spend on Adwords, you will still get a tonne of traffic. SEO in this instance is almost irrelevant.

ssharp 12y ago
I don't want to get too specific into our paid and organic strategies, but I can say that our numbers don't support that people will be more likely to click on the ads than the organic results. This is for both popular, competitive keywords, and branded. You main point is valid. You can buy traffic from lots of places and that traffic is often very good. But organic traffic can still make up a big part of your revenue and shouldn't be ignored.
- enjo 12y ago
  FWIW we are seeing exactly the same. We compete in highly competitive areas, and our paid search ads barely break even these days. Paid search is really tough. Our organic efforts are much more fruitful.
hising 12y ago
> My main point is, even if your website is horribly un-optimized in terms of SEO, if you have a bucket of cash to spend on Adwords, you will still get a tonne of traffic. SEO in this instance is almost irrelevant. I do not agree. A competitor with an optimized page will pay less and rank higher even in the payed result. It is not as simple as the one who payes the most will rank highest, Google has a quality score for Adwords landing pages that will effect your ranking in the payed result as well as what you pay per click.
Polemicist 12y ago
> Most people will just click on the first few "results", even if they are in fact ads. Incorrect. Specific percentages vary from study to study, but on average no more than 30% of clicks on a search results page are on ads, leaving 70%+ for organic results.
snowwrestler 12y ago
You can always buy traffic, but it cuts into your profit margins and/or reach. Remember that SEO is optimization. It can't replace ads, but the more traffic you can get organically, the more profit you can make, and then you'll have more to spend on ads. It's a virtuous cycle. And success is relative. If you're not doing any SEO, and your competitor does it half-assed, well, then their average visitor cost is going to be less than yours--and that's a competitive advantage.