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How Organic Search Rankings Can Help You Save Money on Paid Search Marketing

marketing insider group shares how search rankings save money on paid search marketing

We’re here to let you in on a little secret: organic search rankings save money. We can’t bear to watch your marketing dollars go to waste on paid search marketing that isn’t generating the results you deserve.

Sure, your paid search ads are getting your content front and center, but are they maximizing your conversion rate and revenue? Not exactly. A recent study shows that 70% of search engine users prefer learning about companies through original content instead of ads. That means it’s time to start putting your marketing efforts where they matter most.

Not only will organic search rankings save money, but they’ll also generate qualified leads, increase engagement, and enhance your brand image. Here’s everything you need to know about organic search rankings so your company can start ranking content and increasing traffic.

Quick Takeaways

  • Anyone can achieve organic search rankings for their business by maximizing SEO efforts, backlinks, and domain authority 
  • 86% of people searching on Google ignore paid ads, whereas 70% of links clicked are organic
  • Organic search rankings save money by generating qualified leads, increasing engagement, building brand image, and more 
  • Featuring video content on your page makes you 53x more likely to rank on SERPs

Here’s what you need to know about how organic search rankings save money, and what you can do to start publishing content that ranks.

How Organic Search Rankings Save Money

Search rankings save money, if you invest in the right kind. When it comes to generating traffic, you have two main options: paid search and organic search marketing.

Paid Search

Paid search marketing or pay per click advertising (PPC) is exactly what it sounds like: rankings that you pay for. This is when companies and advertisers pay to purchase immediate rankings to generate more traffic to their website.

PPC marketing is the most common type of search ad, since advertisers only have to pay when someone clicks on their advertisement.

example of paid search marketing on Google

Image Source: Google

You’ve likely seen paid search marketing when searching on Google, but you can also find them in the form of:

  • Social Media Ads. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter ads are all examples of PPC marketing.
  • Display Ads. Sponsored text, images, or video banners featured on third-party websites.
  • Native Ads. Paid marketing where the advertisement matches the form and context of its featured location.

Regardless of their form, they can get expensive and don’t guarantee sales. They also require a specific level of expertise to generate conversions.

Organic Search

On the other hand, organic search rankings are rankings that happen organically– without a direct payment. Anyone can achieve organic search rankings for their business by maximizing SEO efforts, backlinks, and domain authority.

With organic search marketing, you can drive traffic to your site naturally without draining your marketing budget.

What’s the Difference?

The main difference between paid and organic search is cost. Although organic search rankings take a little more patience to see your content on the 1st page of Google, you can achieve long-lasting results without a massive marketing budget.

graphic shows difference between paid and organic search

Image Source: Dr. Marketing

In many cases, businesses invest in both paid and organic search marketing. Although, if you can only commit to one, we recommend considering the following statistics:

  • 86% of people searching on Google ignore paid ads. 70% of links clicked are organic.
  • Organic search drives 10x more traffic than social media, and 53% of total website traffic
  • 61% of B2B marketers reported that SEO and organic search generate more traffic than any other marketing effort

At the end of the day, building a strategy that generates organic search traffic will not only save money, but also generate qualified leads and maximize revenue.

Here’s an example. This article of ours on the Top Content Marketing Trends in 2023 ranks on page 1. It “cost” me 2 hours to write it. But the ad above our organic listing in Google search results costs the advertiser a few thousand bucks. Every single month.

organic listing for content marketing trends 2023

And we rank on #1 for hundreds of keywords!

The Benefits of Organic Search

We’ve seen organic search rankings save money for every type of business – but a maximized marketing budget isn’t the only benefit. Organic search rankings also:

  • Generate qualified leads. With high organic rankings, anyone clicking on your company’s content is likely to have search intent that aligns with your products and services.
  • Increase Engagement. Along with qualified leads comes increased engagement. As long as you’re creating high quality content for your audience and maximizing your page for conversions, site visitors will be urged to engage.
  • Offer a sustainable approach to marketing. PPC advertising requires maintenance and manipulation to see success. Once you’ve gained visibility on SERPs, an organic marketing strategy keeps traffic flowing for years with minimal effort.
  • Give you a competitive edge. By now, you know that SEO is crucial to see results. Once you dominate SERPs, you gain domain authority and credibility, and ultimately stomp out the competition.
  • Build Branding. If your company is consistently showing up on SERPs as the solution to searchers’ questions, your brand is going to be remembered. Optimize the user experience, tell your brand story, and build your reputation to make sure your company’s products and services are a potential customer’s first thought.

Investing in an organic search marketing strategy is one of the best ways to generate leads, build engagement, and establish your brand image at minimal cost.

9 Ways To Build Organic Search Rankings

Almost 93% of all website traffic is generated by Google. That means generating more organic site traffic all comes down to great SEO. Here’s our top SEO best practices that walk the walk when it comes to saving money on paid search advertising.

1. Understand Google’s Algorithm

First and foremost, you need to understand how Google is ranking content. Every day, Google updates its search algorithm and ranks:

  • High-quality, helpful content
  • Content written by humans for humans
  • Content that uses SEO best practices

These are just the basics – you can learn more about creating content that ranks by reading our article on 4 Things You Need To Know About Google’s Helpful Content Update. By creating new content and revising old content that aligns with Google’s preferences, you’re already headed in the right direction.

2. Create Content Using Relevant Keywords

The main goal of SEO content is to rank for target keywords. First, you need to have a clear understanding of the content you’re going to create. Then, create a data-based list of keywords or keyphrases relevant to your company’s content. Lastly, you need to assess the amount of traffic each term generates to figure out which will have the most ROI.

image shows steps to finding best keywords to rank on SERPs

Image Source: Conductor

This can be done only by using tools like SEMrush, or you can work with a content marketing agency to conduct research for you. If you take the latter route, you’ll know exactly where your niche is and you can start publishing content that’s designed to rank.

3. Prioritize Your Blog Page

When it comes to organic search rankings, blogging is key. Companies who blog get 97% more links back to their website, making it easier for Google to crawl your content and feature your blog posts in relevant SERPs.

Blogging is also a great way to communicate with customers and teach them about your brand, products, and services. We have seen that creating a minimum of 1-2 blog posts per week, and keeping up with a consistent posting schedule gets the best results.

4. Be Consistent

It’s important to keep your content on a schedule if you want to see results. Both your audience and Google respond well to consistency because it proves that you’re committed to sharing expertise with readers.

We recommend using a dynamic calendar that outlines when you’ll write, proofread, and publish articles. This way, you can make sure you’re keeping up with content. Learn more about how a dynamic calendar works by watching the video below.

Video Source: DivvyHQ

5. Feature Video Content

It’s no secret that video content is all the rage these days, and Google is on board. Integrating videos throughout your content will help keep your audience engaged, enhancing its performance on SERPs. In fact, featuring videos on your page makes you 53x more likely to rank on page 1 of Google.

6. Outsource Content Creation

If you want Google to rank your content, it needs to be well-written. And we’re not talking about college-level literature – because actually, most Americans read at an 8th grade level. Creating well-written, readable content online means committing to a clean, simple writing structure. We recommend:

  • Using bullet points
  • Including headings and subheadings
  • Keeping sentences short
  • Using simple words
  • Using active voice over a passive voice

And what’s the best way to create quality content quickly, you ask? By hiring a writer to do it for you! Not only does it take blog creation off your plate, but it also promises consistent content optimized to perform well on search engines.

7. Update Old Content

Revisiting old blog content and giving it a refresh can increase traffic by up to 270%. Remember, because Google likes valuable information. Any old, irrelevant content on your blog page can hurt your SEO and click-through rates over time.

In our opinion, it’s best to create new content and update old content at the same time. If you post 1-2 new blog posts and update 1 old one each week, keeping your site up-to-date is much easier – and it shows Google that your content is fresh, relevant, and valuable to readers.

8. Optimize Page Titles and URLs

With your keyword research in hand, it’s important to optimize your page titles and URLs. Make sure your page titles and URLs both include a relevant keyword to maximize your content’s performance. Don’t be afraid to get specific when plugging in your keywords, because any generic keywords may cause your content to get lost in the shuffle.

Here’s an example:

screenshot shows proper use of page titles and URLS with keywords

9. Backlinking

Backlinks are links found on other sites that direct back to your website. These signal to Google that your company’s content is valuable and has authority in your industry.

In most cases, the more backlinks, the better. Although, it’s your job to make sure they are coming from reputable sources. If any spam sites are linking back to your content, it will likely have a negative impact on your rankings. Similarly, when authoritative sites link to your content, it can really give your content a boost.

Start Saving With Organic Search Rankings Today

Organic search rankings save money by eliminating the need for continued paid search marketing. They also generate qualified leads, increase user engagement, give your company a competitive edge, and build your brand image. What’s not to love?

Ready to start saving? Marketing Insider Group can help. Our team of experts knows what it takes for your company to rank organically on SERPs. Get started today by checking out our weekly blog content service, or schedule a free consultation now to learn more!

The post How Organic Search Rankings Can Help You Save Money on Paid Search Marketing appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

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Organic Search vs. Paid Search: Which is Better?

Organic search vs. paid search — it’s an ongoing debate in the digital marketing community. Which is better? Which earns more significant results? And which should brands pursue as part of their strategy?

The short answer is that it depends. There are a lot of factors to consider, like how soon you need results, what kind of traffic you want to drive to your site, and what specific goals you have in mind.

And actually, the right answer for most brands is usually both. A combination of organic and paid search marketing is the best recipe for success long term.

But you probably want more details to help you decide, and if so, you’ve come to the right place. In the sections that follow, we’re going to dive deeper into organic search vs. paid search, the benefits of each (and the benefits they share), plus how you can decide how they fit into your brand’s current marketing strategy.

Quick Takeaways

  • Organic search requires no upfront investment, while paid search does have costs to launch.
  • Paid search earns more immediate results and attracts buyers with high buyer intent, while organic search builds engaged audiences over time.
  • Both organic search and paid search provide important data insights.
  • The best approach to search marketing is a larger organic search strategy complemented by paid search initiatives.

What is search marketing and why do you need it?

Search marketing is a digital marketing tactic used to increase a company’s presence on search engine results pages (SERPs) for sites like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. It drives organic and paid traffic to websites, helping companies attract and convert new customers who visit their sites.

Today, 93% of all online experiences begin with search engines.

93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine.

Source: WebFX

People use search engines for just about everything — to ask questions, look up contact information, learn about new topics, research brands, and more. They’ve become a part of the way people navigate the world.

As a result, brands that are not earning rankings on SERPs risk being invisible to their target audiences online.

How are organic search and paid search different?

The primary difference between organic search and paid search is its cost. As you can gather from their names, organic search earns natural results at no cost while paid search pays directly for prominent SERP positions.

Organic search works like this: companies use content marketing and SEO tactics to earn SERP rankings for keywords, phrases, and topics related to their brand. Users then see that content on their own results pages when they make relevant search queries, making them more likely to click and visit the site.

Paid search pays to jump above the organic search results and appear at the top of the SERP so that users see it first. It’s usually executed with a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where a company pays the search engine every time someone actually clicks on the ad.

Here you can see how they appear on Google’s SERPs:

Positioning of paid vs. organic search results on Google SERPs.

Image Source: Ahrefs

Organic search and paid search each have their own unique benefits, and there are also some benefits offered by both. Let’s take a deeper look.

Organic Search vs. Paid Search: The Benefits of Each

Organic search

Free to execute

Organic search marketing requires no upfront investment other than time. That’s because organic search rankings are driven by consistent, quality, high-value content — think blog posts, ebooks, videos, infographics and more.

When you create and publish content on a regular basis and use SEO tactics, you build a content library that draws the attention of search engines and shows up on your audience’s SERPs.

There are some expenses companies can choose to invest in, like freelance writers or an agency to handle content creation, SEO tools like SEMRush, or social media tools like Hootsuite that can automate content sharing.

But these costs are optional, and they’re definitely not required to get started. To launch your organic search efforts, begin with the following steps:

  • Set up your company blog
  • Perform keyword research
  • Create a content calendar with a list of titles and deadlines
  • Write your content and publish regularly

I’ve linked our guides to each of these steps above so you can use them as a resource.

Earns compounding results

Content posted as part of your organic search strategy continues to earn results long after you first publish it. Over time, great content will climb the rankings and earn more views. It may also be shared by your brand and other people on social media and linked on other websites.

This is especially true for evergreen content, which covers topics extra important to your brand and has a longer shelf life than time-bound content (like news commentary or announcements).

So, which organic search marketing may take a significant time investment, you can expect it to pay off in spades over time.

Establishes brand authority

When you create high-value content covering relevant topics for your audience, it builds your reputation as an industry expert. In other words, it establishes brand authority, which occurs when a brand has high levels of trust from their audience, customers, and peers. Brand authority has a number of benefits:

  • Other brands share and link your content
  • Consumers proactively seek out your brand
  • Search engines know and rank your content

Demonstrates value

Organic search marketing content does the important job of demonstrating how your brand can add value for your target audiences. When you create content that helps people solve problems, learn something new, or accomplish important tasks, you’re increasing their belief that your products and services can do the same for them.

Attracts the right web visitors

Organic search by nature attracts visitors who are naturally interested in the content you create and the products and services you offer. They click through to your site because your content resonated with them for a reason — not because you paid for it to appear at the top of SERPs. In other words, organic search marketing builds connection with your audience that, over time, turns them into loyal customers.

Paid Search

Earns immediate results

Unlike organic search, which requires you to begin creating content and then patiently wait a few months for the results to appear, paid search earns immediate results. You can expect platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads to approve your campaign request in just a few days, and for your numbers to get a boost soon after your ads are live.

Attracts users with high buyer intent

While both organic and paid search attract relevant audiences, paid search attracts more users with high buyer intent. Think about it like this: if you’re doing some initial research on a topic or a potential purchase, you’re likely to scroll through SERP results to learn more about it. If you’re ready to buy, then you’re more likely to click the ad at the top of your SERP that shows you the product you need.

That’s why paid search is a good option when you’re looking for a quick boost in a particular area, like sales of a certain product.

Has options for every budget

While paid search does require an upfront investment, there are options available for every size budget. You can create a custom budget and set your monthly ad spend across the paid search channels you use.

Keep in mind, however, that some industries are more competitive than others when it comes to paid search, and not investing enough in your paid ads can lead to empty dollars spent. Take time to research your industry and set a budget that keeps you competitive while adhering to your budget.

Benefits Offered by Organic AND Paid Search

Earn high ROI

Remember: 93% of all online experiences start with search. That means nearly all of your potential customers are using Google and other search engines to find brands. As such, search marketing is naturally going to earn higher ROI than some other traditional marketing methods.

Organic search, for example, has been found to earn 3x the leads and 6x the conversions of other marketing tactics. Google estimates that brands earn $2 for every $1 spent (a 200% ROI) on Google Ads.

Provides actionable user data

Organic search and paid search both provide actionable data insights that help you continually refine your strategy and earn better results. You can use demographic data like age, gender, and location to create accurate buyer personas. Keyword data helps you understand what search queries to target more aggressively. Click-through rates, conversion rates, time on page, and other behavior-related data is critical to understanding the effectiveness of your efforts.

Google Ads alone provides a plethora of data you can use to inform your strategies and initiatives, like the audience report below showing demographic data breakdowns:

Google Analytics audience report showing demographic data breakdowns.

Image Source: Google Analytics.ie

In short: a data-driven approach to search marketing is a must, and you can accomplish that with both organic and paid search.

Informs other marketing and sales efforts

The insights you get from your organic search and paid search marketing efforts can inform your marketing and sales teams for better results on other initiatives. For example, you might uncover a new audience segment you weren’t pursuing before. You can use keyword data to write more effective copy for print brochures. Behavior data can help you improve your website for better engagement.

These are just a few examples, but the takeaway is that the impact of search marketing data can extend well beyond your actual search initiatives.

Which should you choose?

Now that you know the benefits of paid and search marketing, you can probably see that the answer truly does depend. Some new businesses may have no budget for paid marketing, and in those cases organic search is the way to go. Others may be operating in such a competitive industry that some paid search efforts are required to stay competitive in certain markets.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: every brand should be using organic search marketing because there is truly no downside. It’s free. It has been proven to work for companies of every size and in every industry.

If you’re just starting out with search marketing, I recommend launching an organic search marketing strategy right away. That’s step one.

Once you’ve got that up and running, consider where you might need an extra boost. Think about what you know from your keyword research, and where opportunities exist for paid search marketing to really pay off. Then, launch a paid marketing strategy to complement your larger organic search marketing efforts.

The real answer, then, to organic search vs. paid search marketing is this: it shouldn’t be a competition. Whenever possible, aim to use them as a combined strategy to find potential customers at every phase of the funnel and meet them where they already are: on search engines.

Boost Your Search Marketing ROI with Awesome Content

Today’s digital marketing landscape requires every successful marketing strategy to be rooted in great content. But content creation also requires time — time you might not have if you’re busy launching or running a business.

The team of writers and SEO experts at Marketing Insider Group can deliver you optimized, ready-to-publish content every week for one year. Learn more by checking out our SEO Blog Writing Service, or schedule a quick consultation with me to get started!

The post Organic Search vs. Paid Search: Which is Better? appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

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