The Great Digital Marketing Debate: Paid vs Organic Traffic Explored
It’s no secret that Google is the lead generator when it comes to online search engines. And in this rapidly expanding digital hemisphere, Google has fleshed out two main traffic sources to inbound marketers: paid search and organic search. Additionally, there are two methods to acquiring traffic through these platforms: search engine optimization, or SEO, and search engine marketing, or SEM, respectively. The debate of Paid vs Organic Traffic is central to understanding these strategies.
If you’re in the digital marketing sphere, or quite frankly, even have a shred of an online presence through your business or organization, you’ve no doubt heard one or both of these terms. Optimizing your searches to reflect the best possible chances of drawing traffic to your brand is imperative for growing your business. This is where the Paid vs Organic Traffic comparison becomes crucial.
But when it comes to SEM, SEO, paid, and organic traffic, if these terms are not in your wheelhouse, it can feel overwhelming and intimidating on where to even begin. Which option is a better choice for you and your business? Which one will further the bottom line of your company and draw in more traffic? The Paid vs Organic Traffic discussion can help clarify these choices.
Let’s take a look at these options and evaluate which one is more beneficial to your growing business needs.
What Is Organic Traffic?
Simply put, whenever you type anything into Google, any of the links that come up below the ads are considered organic results. The order of the links depends on the quality of the content (which, adversely, is where search engine optimization comes in). “Organic traffic” is the result of users finding your links among these results and clicking on your content specifically. Understanding Paid vs Organic Traffic starts with recognizing the nature of organic traffic.
Some of its advantages include:
• Google takes care of the legwork, directing the highest amount of traffic, and they are the most trusted search engine for people researching a product or purchase.
• Google is fairly particular about its rankings. Ranking in the top five search results means that your content is of the highest quality within that industry or topic.
• If you are high in the ranks, you will be reaping the benefits of that for years to come
• Organic search drives over ten times more website traffic than organic social media.
However, it also comes with its own set of tribulations. Some cons to generating organic traffic include:
• It’s extremely difficult to move up in the rankings, and it takes a lot of time.
• Search results on the first page of Google receive 92% of all of the search traffic on Google.
• One-third of clicks from organic search results go to the very first listing on Google.
• The first result on a Google SERP has a 28.5% click rate. The tenth result generates an average of 2.5%. This makes it extremely difficult for most businesses and industries to drive traffic to their site organically. Hence, the Paid vs Organic Traffic dilemma becomes even more relevant.
What Is Paid Traffic?
Paid search, on the other hand, is all of the search results that appear at the top of your page that companies have paid for. They are tagged with a small box labeled “ad,” and fit seamlessly into the rest of the search results. Since organic search has grown to be more competitive, paid traffic has increased in popularity, as it is a surefire way to appear at the top of the search results. This makes the Paid vs Organic Traffic choice pivotal for many businesses.
Some advantages of paid traffic include:
• You do not have to spend years perfecting and changing your SEO strategy.
• 27% of website traffic comes from paid search results.
• Paid search advertising exists with Google Ads, which means that Google evaluates your maximum bid.
A few disadvantages of paid traffic include:
• The charging model is based on cost-per-click, not per lead. This means that each click-through to one of your advertisements costs you money.
• It is more costly than organic traffic. Organic traffic is extremely inexpensive, or free, whereas Google charges you to post your ads on their search results.
• As a result, this could lead to temporary listing results. When your budget runs out, your advertisements will disappear from the Google rankings. This aspect of Paid vs Organic Traffic often influences budgetary decisions.
The Bottom Line
For many businesses, paid traffic is often the better option compared to organic search, especially when working with limited budgets and resources. While paid ads require an upfront investment, they can generate more immediate website traffic and potential sales. Additionally, you can avoid the substantial costs of employing an in-house content marketing team to continually optimize for search algorithms. This makes a strong case in the Paid vs Organic Traffic debate.
If driving qualified traffic and leads through paid advertising is a priority, Nexlaunch can help. Our digital marketing experts specialize in creating and managing high-performing paid campaigns across platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and more. We’ll work closely with you to develop a custom paid traffic and lead generation strategy aligned with your business goals.
Take the first step towards boosted website traffic and sales – schedule a free strategy session with us today. Let’s explore how Nexlaunch can supercharge your online marketing success.
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