Search Engine Optimisation v Google Adwords

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is which is the most effective form of online marketing; search engine optimisation or Google Adwords (Pay-per-click campaigns).

Well, the truth is that both marketing methods have pros and cons, as do most things in life, but the truth regarding which is the most effective depends entirely on the industry that you are working in.

Both search engine optimisation and Google Adwords offer fantastic online potential. They can both help to increase your online exposure, gain a larger number of visitors into your site, and ultimately lead to a larger number of sales and/or enquiries being generated on a daily basis. However, it is important that remember that neither offer immediate success.

So, what are the pros?

Search Engine Optimisation:

1. Search engine users tend to click on organic links in the search results more frequently than listings within Google Adwords. The overall split is around 60%-40% in favour of organic results.

2. You are not paying per visitor as opposed to Google Adwords. This means that you can receive 30,000 visitors per month and not pay a single penny for them, other than your SEO costs of course.

3. The conversion rate for visitors gained via organic methods tends to be twice as good when compared to Google Adwords for the majority of industries.

4. If your website is effectively optimised then it can potentially be found on the 1st page of results on Google, and the other search engines, for a wide range of keyword searches. The majority of our clients are found on the first page for anywhere between ten and thirty different keyword terms which helps increase visitor and sales potential.

And the Cons:

1. Depending on the competitiveness of the industry you are in it can take anywhere from 1 month to 12 months before your site is found on the first page of results on Google. The more competitive the term you want to target the longer it is likely to take before you have achieved a successful organic ranking. Patience is key when it comes to SEO.

2. Search engine optimisation is an on-going process. Just because you have achieved successful positions it doesn’t mean that you should stop optimising your site. Google’s algorithms are constantly evolving; therefore if you cancel your optimisation service then you could easily find your organic results dropping off very quickly.

Google Adwords - Pros:

1. It’s an instantaneous form of online marketing. Once the campaign is set up and made live then you can be receiving visitors and sales in the same day.

2. You can target an unlimited number of keyword terms so visitor and sales potential is vast. However, in truth the number of keywords you ultimately target is impacted by the monthly marketing budget you have available.

3. You can pause or cancel your campaigns at any point so if you feel that you’re spending too much money on Adwords then you just have to simply click on the pause button and your adverts will stop appearing in the results.

4. You are in full control of your monthly Adwords spend. If you only want to spend £200 per month on your online marketing then you can easily set this up, and the same applies if your budget is £20,000 per month.

And the Cons:

1. You are paying per visitor you receive, therefore when targeting competitive keyword terms you could find yourself paying anywhere between £2.00-£6.00 per click. Fortunately the majority of keywords can usually be targeted successfully for between £0.10-£1.50 per click but this can still eat your monthly budget up pretty quickly if you’re not careful.

2. As mentioned previously, the conversion rate for visitors accessing a site via Google Adwords listings is usually half as good as it is when compared to organic visitors. This ultimately means that you can be paying more money for less sales and enquiries.

3. As times goes by more and more competitor sites appear online vying for the same keyword positions which results in the average cost-per-click steadily increasing. This means that year on year you could find yourself paying more for gaining the same number of site visitors.

And the Winner Is:

Whilst Google Adwords is a great and effective way of marketing your website online we feel that search engine optimisation is the most visitor and cost efficient overall.

The fact that you could potentially receive 30,000 visitors each month for a monthly spend of £285 (if you went for our Enhanced Optimisation package) is extremely good value for money, especially when considering that gaining this many visitors via Google Adwords could easily cost between £5,000-£40,000 per month depending on the competitiveness of the keywords targeted.

The downside to optimisation is that it can take a number of months before you still positive results but in the long term this is definitely worth being patient for due to the amount of visitor and sales potential available to you.

Of course we are not dismissing the worth of Google Adwords. If utilised effectively then this can prove to be an excellent, although potentially expensive, form of online marketing.

Carrying out an on-going search engine optimisation service alongside a Google Adwords campaign enables your site to receive the best of both worlds, expensive yes, but potentially you are reaching out to 100% of your online target audience.

Jump 2 IT Media are specialists in website optimisation within the UK. If you are interested in our services then please contact us on 0845 582 3545 or email us at info@jump2itmedia.com.