Business of all sizes understand the importance of marketing, especially through search engines. People are more likely to go to your website via a search engine like Google than going directly to it. In fact, according to Jupiter Research, a Forester Research company, 81% of people found their desired search term through a search engine.

Done correctly, (SEO and Paid Per Click Adds) both can get you on the front page of the search engines for your desired customer or client. However, each has its costs and benefits. SEOmoz, a great SEO resource, recently published an article by the team at Enquisite quantifying the effectiveness of SEO vs. Paid  Ads, PPC.

This makes it clear that it’s very important for you to have a presence in the search engines, making sure that you’re in front of your target customers or clients. But do you use use SEO(Search Engine Optimization, or naturally ranking high in the search results) or PPC (Pay-Per-Click ads with Google) to get in front of your customers or clients?

The article details that organic results are 8.5x more likely to be clicked on than paid search results! That’s a bit of a difference and is likely because the searchers knowing the difference between normal and sponsored results, and recognizing that normal results are typically the more respected resource. Researchers have used heat maps  that show searchers’ eyes focus on the top normal results, with people hardly noticing the ads.

However, Paid ads holds a slight edge in conversion rates, as paid search results are 1.5x more likely to convert clicks from the search engine. The SEOmoz article attributes, to the fact “text and landing page is custom optimized by the advertiser.”

Looking at these numbers, it can be seen that ” organic search is 5.66x that of paid search.”

So, the choice of ranking high normally or having great paid ads – the overwhelmingly logical choice is normal. However, we all know it’s not that easy to Rank #1 in Google. True SEO takes time, not get rich quick schemes.

Paid Ads, PPC’s true strengths are its speed. With a paid ad , PC campaign, you can be on the 1st page for many key terms within a day. However, the terms can cost many dollars per click; also, for a Paid ad , PC campaign to be done correctly, it’s usually best to hire a firm that can manage it full time. This can mean that Paid Ad, PPC campaigns can get very expensive, very quickly – especially when done correctly.

SEMPO, the Search Engine Professionals Organization, estimates that 87% of search engine dollars are spent on PPC vs. 11% spent on SEO efforts. That’s more than $10 billion spent on Paid Ads, PPC vs. just $1 billion spent on SEO. That means the strategy that’s over 5x more effective, SEO, is only receiving 1/8 the media spend in the market! It’s hard to justify the expense of a Paid ad, PPC campaign, knowing that SEO is more successful and the overall better long term value.

There are times to use Paid Ads, PPC – when you’re first launching your business, it’s a great way to get your name out there and build brand awareness. For a limited time offer or special event, Paid Ads, PPC is an effective way to get exposure that SEO wouldn’t have time to contribute to.

Also, Paid Ads, PPC is more effective for products than it is for service businesses; for example, we focus SEO efforts on terms such as Financial-Coach.com.au , however, we do not engage in Paid ads, PPC advertising for these terms, because they’re usually a waste of money for a services firm like ours. Yet we have an incomeprotectionquotes.com.au client that runs a Paid Ad, PPC campaign focused around its specific product offerings, and this strategy makes sense for their market.

When it comes to the long term internet marketing, the result is clear – SEO offers the better value in search marketing. You won’t rank #1 overnight, but SEO is more affordable and the long-term benefits have been proven. All of these facts demonstrate that your business should spend more of its time and resources increasing the businesses website SEO vs. Paid Ads PPC.

What are other people’s experiences in this realm? Anyone think that Paid Ads, PPC is the more value-driven choice than SEO?  Let us know your thoughts!