Search Marketing Blog
When does 20 + 10 = 60?
As a reader of this EngineWorks blog, you are well aware that Search Engine Marketing is one of the most critical components of an effective interactive marketing plan. This is due to the fact that more customers find products and services through search engines than through any other online means. In fact, search engines deliver more visitors to Web sites than banner advertisements, contextual links, and direct navigation combined.
Because of this, it is paramount that your company be easily found in both Natural search results and Paid Search listings throughout the world’s most important search engines. As you also may know, even though it is not always possible, or necessary, to achieve the top position (i.e., the number one ranking) in search engine results; the higher your Web site is ranked for relevant keywords, the better.
You may not be aware, however, that there is tremendous value in achieving highly ranked positions in both Natural search results and Paid Search listings for the same relevant keyword.
A recent study by MarketingSherpa, Inc., a research company serving the marketing/advertising marketplace, has uncovered an extremely valuable phenomenon that validates the importance of employing aggressive strategies for both Natural search optimization and Paid Search campaigns.
This study revealed that achieving high Natural search results through effective Search Engine Optimization, and purchasing high ranked Paid Search listings along side these prominent Natural listings, exponentially increases the number of qualified visitors delivered to your site.
As discovered by MarketingSherpa, search engine users select the top position, in Natural search query results, an average of twenty percent (20%) of the time. In addition, search engine users “click” on the top position in Paid Search listings ten percent (10%) of the time.
Now, here is the powerful part.
Web sites that achieved the top position in both Natural search results and sponsored search listings, for a specific keyword phrase, had users selecting one of their listings an amazing sixty percent (60%) of the time.
This seemingly illogical phenomenon, whereby 20% plus 10% equals 60%, can be attributed to the fact that, as with any form of advertising, more exposure and more coverage equates to more awareness. By securing more page space, and in this case, securing the most prominent space in both areas on a search results page, Web sites are able to attract more users to their listings.
This correlation between top-ranked Natural results combined with top-ranked Paid Search results holds true for prominent positions other than just number one rankings. The study found that achieving “first page” positions in both Natural and Paid Search listings for the same keyword resulted in similar increases to relevant traffic.
In addition, the well-documented fact that more than one-third (1/3) of all search engine users perceive companies that appear at the top of online search results to be leaders in their industry, contributes to this powerful phenomenon. This perception becomes even more convincing when a Web site is ranked in the top position of both Natural and Paid Search listings for a specific keyword or phrase.
Bottom Line: As a commercial Web site, your best results will be achieved through a professionally designed and implemented search marketing campaign that integrates both efficacious Natural optimization strategies and actively managed Paid Search campaigns.
