When it comes to optimizing your web presence, a recent study by Google confirms what most online marketing professionals have been insisting for years: search engine advertising helps – not hurts! – organic traffic volume. The findings in this report address a frequent concern of some advertisers who may question the value of PPC ads in conjunction with SEO efforts. With this study, the message is clear: if you are putting a lot of effort and resources on building an organic web presence that appears across search engine results pages, boosting your efforts with search engine advertising can give you immediate results and turbo-charge your organic traffic.
The Google study shows that paid search ads give a brand an 89% incremental lift in site visitors. And the word “incremental” is especially revealing in this case. As the Google research blog puts it, “This means that a full 89% of the traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused.” In other words, a holistic web presence strategy that combines search advertising with SEO tactics will ultimately drive more traffic to your site than doing either alone.
Whether your search ads focus on keywords related to your business vertical or your business name itself, search engine advertising is a vital component of any online marketing strategy for your business. Our Director of Marketing, Mike Merrill, explains more in this video.
Are you including paid search engine advertising along with search engine optimization efforts to promote your local business web presence online? Share your experiences in a comment!
Author: Angela Epley writes about online advertising & web presence for the ReachLocal blog, which focuses on small business online marketing strategies.