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Organic Search vs. Paid Search: Which Is the Better Choice?

July 16, 2024
3 Min Read
Organic Search vs. Paid Search: Which Is the Better Choice?

If you're struggling to get your business' content in front of the right audience you're definitely not alone. Fortunately, there are some great ways to find your audience and give them what they're looking for. One of those ways is through determining the difference between organic search vs. paid search and whether you should use one or both types to increase your chances of success.

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To decide whether you'll get better organic search results vs paid options you'll want to consider pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO). These are very different styles of doing the same thing, which is bringing quality traffic to your website in an effort to seek conversions. Pay-per-click works through the creation of ads that appear at the top of search results, and you'll pay a small fee every time someone clicks on your ad.

Search engine optimization doesn't require ads, but there's a time commitment involved. You'll need to optimize your eCommerce website to increase your search engine rankings, thereby driving increased traffic to your site. So, which one should you use? How can you solve the paid vs organic search dilemma? Fortunately, you can get all the information you need right here, so you can make a good decision for your business. Here's what you need to know.

Paid Search vs Organic Search: They Can Both Be Great

The first consideration when looking into organic vs paid search is making sure you know your target market. You have to understand the personas and profiles of your desired buyers, so you can develop a strategy that puts your content in front of them. In the paid search vs organic search debate there isn't a superior option. The "right" one is the one that works for your company and its audience.

Getting Value from Paid Search Opportunities

Paid search is among the most popular PPC options. Anytime you see ads at the top of SERPs (search engine results pages), the business has paid for that ad and its placement. The best way to determine if PPC is right for your company is to work with a certified eCommerce PPC agency. That way you can get the most bang for your advertising buck.

Generally, though, if you're on the fence about organic vs paid search, paid search options are typically the best choice when your company:

  • Wants immediate results and doesn't have time to build up ranking through SEO.
  • Needs to target a highly specific audience that has a very particular set of demographic criteria.
  • Is making a time-sensitive offer that won't be available after a lengthy SEO campaign.
  • Focuses on ranking as a priority and wants to increase conversion through Google AdWords.

It's easy to see that paid search has a lot of value under the right circumstances, and can be extremely effective as long as it fits your budget and goals. Of course, there are times when an organic approach might be best.

Choosing Organic Search for Increased Success

Organic search results vs paid is an important consideration, and many businesses struggle to show up in organic results where a high ranking is needed to drive website traffic. However, not everyone can invest a lot of resources into PPC advertising or sustain those ads for the long term.

If that's you, choose organic search vs. paid search options when your company wants to:

  • Get consistent results that can stand the test of time, and are able to build up those results slowly and with effort.
  • Establish website authority and be seen as a trusted and reliable source for information about your specific product, service, or niche area.
  • Increase the value of its eCommerce website in the same way you would work to improve real estate and increase its value in the market.

Even if you also choose to use PPC and other advertising strategies, it's highly valuable to take advantage of all the SEO opportunities your company has available. That can help you increase website traffic, get backlinks from authoritative sites in your industry, and develop higher organic search rankings.

Take advantage of SEO and optimize your strategy to increase website traffic, backlinks from authority websites and organic search rankings.

Organic Search vs. Paid Search Is an Important Debate

Whether you're mired in the paid vs organic search question or you have some ideas to talk through with professionals, deciding between organic vs paid search doesn't have to be difficult. By getting in touch with us today at Groove Commerce we can work with you on a two-pronged approach to drive immediate traffic to your website and also help you build up more organic traffic over time

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About the author
Internal Marketing Manager

Spencer Flaherty is an eCommerce blogger who loves exploring the latest trends and technologies in the industry. From chatbots to virtual reality, they cover it all.

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