Organic Search vs Paid Search: What’s the Difference?
If you’re just starting out your SEO journey, you’ve probably come across the terms “paid search” and “organic search.”
These are two terms that work hand in hand to hold your SEO campaign together. That said, they’re two different ways to achieve the same goal. We’re going to discuss the ideas of organic search vs paid search in this article, giving you some insight into what each one is and how you can use them.
Let’s get started:
Organic Search vs Paid Search: Understanding Both
We’ll break down each term individually, giving you some idea as to how these two pieces of SEO work together. Hopefully, you can use the ideas below to direct your marketing campaign.
Organic Search
Organic searches are those that come naturally through some form of search engine. So, when you search for something on Google, the top results that come up are organic search results.
It takes a lot of effort for businesses to land somewhere in those results, and the entire process of SEO is directed toward those coveted spots. You can earn organic results through things like content creation, keyword research, keyword optimization, backlinking, and a whole lot more.
The process is geared toward making your site look good to users as well as the search engine algorithm. The algorithm uses some 200 search factors to determine whether your site is relevant enough to the user search.
If you meet the specifications, you can land in the top results and see an increase in traffic. Organic search results come naturally through the relationship of users, websites, and search engines.
Ideally, only the most useful websites will rise to the top of the results. It’s your job to be one of those useful sites.
Paid Search Results
Paid search results also land businesses in key spots in search engine results or on social media feeds.
It’s possible to create paid advertisements through Google and other search engines. It’s also possible to create these ads through almost every social media site.
The advantage of paid search results is that you can target a specific demographic and know that your ad will be presented to them. This is an excellent way to get results if your budget allows.
The cost of placing such ads typically varies depending on the keyword phrase you’re ranking for and the website you’re using. It’s important to use organic search results to try and meet your key demographics over the long term.
It’s also crucial to use paid results to reach new audiences, start to gain a reputation, and improve your bottom line. Both of these practices have value, and there’s an art to doing each.
Paid ads, for example, aren’t guaranteed to improve your sales. They require good keyword research, formatting, and placement.
Need More Marketing Insights?
Understanding the difference between organic search vs paid search is one thing, knowing all you need to know about SEO is another. We’re here to help.
Explore our site for more information on SEO on how to use it to your advantage.
