The search engine has become a vital tool for businesses to gain visibility and make their presence felt among customers. This tool helps consumers find you whenever they want something related to your products and services.
However, whether your site appears at the top of the search engine result page (SERPs) depends on how well you position your business. There are two ways to do this—an organic search and paid search.
This guide explains the differences between organic and paid searches so you can better understand how to choose the right approach to position your business.
What Is an Organic Search?
In an organic search, users type relevant keywords into the search box and get algorithm-generated results. By this, you don’t need to pay for listing your website in the SERPs. Instead, you must improve your website to make it attractive to search engine crawlers.
The search engine uses algorithms to crawl through your website, check its content for relevance and quality, assess the structure and page load speed, and use all relevant data to rank your site in the SERPs.
What Is a Paid Search?
A paid search is a form of marketing where businesses pay to have their website featured in the SERPs. Ideally, you pay to appear among organic search results or at the top of the SERPs.
Businesses can use this approach to get their website in front of potential customers quickly and easily instead of spending months optimizing their website for organic search engine rankings.
What Are the Key Differences Between the Two?
The main difference between organic and paid searches is that an organic search relies on your website’s optimization, while a paid search is more instant.
For an organic search, you must work to optimize your website over a long period. For example, you must research keywords, write relevant content, and build internal and external links to your website. The process may take some time before the search engine algorithms identify your website as a valuable source for your target keywords.
On the other hand, a paid search enables you to bypass that part and get your website in front of customers more quickly. You can also customize your messaging and target a specific demographic or type of customer, which results in higher leads and conversions.
Additionally, these two strategies can affect your website’s credibility. For example, organic searches make your site more trustworthy. The fact that you made it to the top of the SERPs without paying for it can significantly boost your website’s credibility.
Conversely, paid search may create the wrong impression and make consumers assume that you only care about ranking rather than the value you offer. However, if you use it correctly and ensure your products and services quality match the hype, then it can be beneficial.
The final difference between the two marketing approaches is impact longevity. Organic searches have a longer impact and can bring more traffic in the long run. For example, once you optimize your website for organic searches, the search engine will continue to feature your website in its listings as long as it matches that topic’s relevance criteria.
On the contrary, with paid search, you must continuously pay for ads to appear in the SERPs, or you may lose out on potential exposure and leads.
Which Is Better for Your Business?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer when choosing the best marketing approach. So weigh the pros and cons of each option to decide which best suits your business goals. Also, consult a reliable digital marketing agency that can help you understand the significance of both and identify which approach is best for your business.
You can trust us at Grow Team to connect you with the best digital marketing agency to provide the proper guidance and help you optimize for organic and paid searches. We will also handle negotiations and provide the best deals for your business. Contact us or check our website for an evaluation.