Paid Search Declines, Organic Search Increases
First up, then down:
(Source) Hitwise data indicate that the share of search traffic coming from paid listings is decreasing at the expense of organic traffic.
Could this decline be related to advertisers spending less on advertising, or is there something larger going on here? The article above concludes it is due to cutbacks in marketing spend and I’d have to agree. So if consumers aren’t finding what they need with paid search, they’ll get it through organic search. That pretty much says that these companies were throwing away revenue on paid search, doesn’t it?
I mean, if searchers find you through organic search then why pay to get found? Of course, there is the argument that paid search can boost organic search engine optimization campaigns and the results from them, and I’d agree with that, but is there a point at which you have spent too much on paid search and, as a result, are losing revenue? I think so. What do you think?
11 Responses to “Paid Search Declines, Organic Search Increases”
The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Journal is Written by SEO Expert:
Nick Stamoulis
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nick@brickmarketing.com
Brick Marketing - SEO Company
Let’s not forget that those natual clicks are not free, even though it may seem that way.
Good SEO requires a focused and dedicated individual,inhouse, agency or consultant to dedicate themselves to the ongoing maintenance and enhancement of all SEO activities (tech/onsite/offsite).
Spend has decreased in general, however, in my particular industry, we’ve found that spend is shifting significantly towards PPC from more traditional media.
@Slideshow Mechanic – This is very true SEO is certainly not free and great point about spend shifting from traditional media to PPC…
Lets also not forget that SEM companies likely get more $$$ for SEO than PPC. As the economy has shrank, I’m guess that a lot of smaller search firms are switching their sales around a bit to get more revenue from SEO…because the advertiser needs to spend xyz on services and xyz for clicks. Where SEO is typically all service related:) Anyways, just a thought!
Great Post Nick. Keyword searchers do prefer the organic/natural search results. In the vast majority of keyword queries searchers prefer the organic results 6 to 1 over the paid sponsored listings sometimes 7 to 1. Quality Organic SEO should result in strong natural keyword placement for many months, sometimes years. Organic optimization has far more lasting value than the immediate quick fix of sponsored search campaigns. The most effective search campaigns are grounded in quality Organic SEO.
@Christian Del Monte – SEM firms that focus on what works for their clients always tend to do well, even as businesses shift to more SEO related services. I have found actually that because everyone’s sales are down some companies are willing to spend more on PPC since it is much faster and in their minds much more measurable…it is interesting for sure!
@Jack Roberts SEO – I agree with you as a long term strategy SEO generally has a much better long term return for most companies.
Some great pertinent comments here guys, like it. Anyone involved in traditional, quality SEO knows the long term worth of organic search results – analytics and clients’ reported sales prove it over and over. It’s all about trust, perhaps more so now than ever before because ‘the man in the street’ is more Internet savvy by the day and the one thing he knows is how hard it is to get top organic rankings. There’s a worth to organic rankings that you just can’t beat, hence they will, in my opinion, always be trusted the most. Long live good SEO!
@Shelagh Caudle – Long live good SEO is totally right!
Thanks for your comment!
I am not surprised to see this downfall in paid clicks. I feel organic search results tend to influence a search engine user to visit a website more than the paid clicks. Secondly, advertisers are cautious about their budget due to increasing click frauds that make a hole in their pockets unnecessarily. SEO is a time-consuming process, but it makes sure to build your foundation strong and get automatically listed by search engines at the top. However, paid click can be useful when you have that much budget and know how to engage users once they visit the landing page.
@Vaibhav Kalamdani – Very good point about click fraud with paid search as well!
I think we are all agreed on the better long term value of SEO as opposed to PPC. But at the moment there are always reasons that PPC will be worth looking at.
a.New websites until they come out of the sandbox.
b.Timing issues.Sometimes events happen so quickly that you will be taken by surprise and the only way to rank is by PPC.
c.In very competitive markets PPC offers a way to test variations easily and quickly.
Also a good point about SEO firms shifting away from PPC as their income is less
@Colin Corlett – Thanks for reading, your point “C” is very valid, PPC is excellent for testing…