The Trouble with Paid Search Marketing — Pear Metrics

NEW YORK – July 23, 2020 – PRLog — No matter what kind of business you run, one thing that is increasingly critical to your marketing success is a high ranking in search engine results. Highly ranked websites receive substantially more traffic than their counterparts further down the page, and study after study has found that the top result on Google receives as much as one third of all clicks from curious net-surfers. On the other hand, the second page of search results is essentially a no-man’s-land, with stark few Internet crusaders ever clicking that far. Relying on virtual Indiana Joneses stumbling across your site is not ideal, especially since organic searches represent more than half (https://searchengineland.com/organic-search-responsible-for-53-of-all-site-traffic-paid-15-study-322298) of website traffic.

    It is more important than ever to win that coveted spot at the top of the page. But how? Well, there’s more than one way to go about it: PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising and SEO (search engine optimization).

    PPC ads are paid search marketing. Here’s how it works: your website is listed at the very top of the page where it is highly visible, and you pay a fee for every click on your ad. Ideally, a good chunk of these users will then be converted into paying customers who purchase your goods or services, and… Boom! Profit.

    But don’t celebrate just yet–there are issues with paid searches. Your listing is clearly marked as an advertisement, and people just don’t like ads all that much. In fact, as few as 4% of Americans actually trust ads (https://adage.com/article/media/marketers-media-trusts/29…), and relying on this method may result in people feeling uneasy about your company. You certainly don’t want to spend a lot of money on paid search marketing to have visitors wonder if your ad is a trick. To get around the stigma, Google controversially experimented (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/24/google-will-iterate-the-d…) with a feature that made its ads look like normal search results, and many clients reported significantly more clicks.

    With paid searches, your high ranking can also be like a mirage; when you stop running the ad, your top ranking will disappear along with your traffic, and you will be right back where you started. But never fear! There is another way–one that will carry your marketing dollars further and with lasting results: SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. This method involves fine-tuning the content of your website so that it is more visible to search engines.

    Good SEO is an art form that gives your website the power to promote itself and rank highly in search results all on its own, generating more clicks without having to pay for them, and without the negative perceptions that often come with marked ads. Instead of browsing your website with skepticism, visitors will be exploring out of genuine curiosity and interest. SEO makes real, authentic web traffic possible in a way paid search marketing simply can’t match.

    Is your website in need of an SEO makeover? We can help! Book a free consultation (https://www.pearmetrics.com/inquire) and start boosting your website’s ranking in a way that lasts.