Organic vs Paid Search: The Ultimate Comparison 2023
Over 90% of online experiences begin with a search engine, resulting in around 3.5 billion daily searches on Google alone. Type a query, and boom! The SERP explodes with millions of results. The results include both organic and paid content.
In our experience as a provider of the best SEO services Kolkata, both organic and paid search have their benefits and serve different purposes. Paid search, for example, is an excellent way to promote a new service. In contrast, as organic SEO experts in Kolkata, we know that organic search may be better suited for existing products with low demand. However, there’s no clear winner when comparing organic and paid searches.
In light of that, this blog provides an in-depth comparison of paid and organic searches to help you make sense of the fundamental differences between them. So let’s get started right away.
Organic vs paid search: Key differences.
- Meaning: Organic search improves your website’s natural rankings on SERPs by optimizing your titles, meta descriptions, tags, URLs, keywords, and content like landing pages and blogs.
Non-organic SEO refers to paid advertisements that marketers pay for to appear at the top of search engine results pages when users type in queries containing their keywords.
- Intended Audience: Our organic SEO experts in Kolkata use organic search effectively to target top-of-funnel users.
Paid search is targeted toward people who have transactional intent.
- SERP Placement: Organic search results appear below the paid ads.
Most paid search results appear above organic search results or in the sidebar of search engine results pages, while some appear at the bottom.
- Accessibility: By optimizing your website, updating information, and adhering to the best SEO practices, your page is guaranteed to rank high. Given that SEO results last a long time after you reach the top, the efforts of our organic SEO experts in Kolkata are well worth it.
Paid search campaigns last only as long as you are spending money. After that, your page will not appear in the SERP until more budget is allocated.
Organic vs paid search: A comparison of benefits.
Benefits of Organic search
- Costs nothing
There are zero upfront costs associated with organic search. However, your company could hire an organic SEO expert in Kolkata, such as us, or a consultant. You could also invest in paid SEO tools, like Ahrefs or SEMrush.
- Delivers benefits that compound
As part of our best SEO services Kolkata, we create SEO-friendly, shareable content to help you earn backlinks, which help spread the word about your brand. These contribute to increased traffic, revenue, leads, and rankings.
- Boosts credibility
When it comes to the best SEO services Kolkata, we follow the saying, ‘The best place to hide a dead body is page two of Google.’ Hence, when you appear at the top of organic search results, your brand becomes a trusted source of information and products/services.
Benefits of Paid Search
- Generates instant results
Although most advertising platforms approve ads within 24 to 72 hours and make them live, the results can be tracked instantly, such as views, clicks, and purchases.
- Provides SEO-relevant keywords
Paid search yields valuable data, including keywords, location, age, etc. You can create targeted content using keywords from your paid campaigns. For example, if you earn significant clicks and conversions for the keyword “best SEO services Kolkata,” you might want to create a dedicated service page.
- Suits every budget
You can set a customized budget for each advertising platform. However, not investing enough might negatively impact your campaign’s performance and ROI. Ensure you research the industry average CPC before launching your campaign. Keywordtool.io and KeywordsFX are two free tools we recommend for keyword research. Then, start small and increase your budget based on your campaign data.
Organic vs paid search: A comparison of drawbacks.
Drawbacks of Organic search
- Results take time
SEO’s turnaround time concerns business owners new to organic search. As organic SEO experts in Kolkata, we understand that it can take up to three to six months for your SEO efforts to yield results, especially if your goal is to rank on page one.
- Struggles to dominate the SERPs
Search engines are focused on user experience. Therefore, websites must compete not only with rivals but also with elements such as featured snippets, video and image carousels, and local search packs for top positions in the SERP.
- Needs SEO experience and skills
You’ll need to invest time in developing SEO skills through free courses, online guides, or expert training from a consultant. However, due to budget and time constraints, many companies, even small- to medium-sized ones, hire an SEO agency.
Drawbacks of Paid search
- Making money costs money
PPC requires you to pay each time someone clicks on your ad. Search engine algorithms and the competition in your industry influence pricing. To ensure advertisers meet its standards, Google uses dynamic ranking scoring. Thus, getting a top spot on the SERP requires balancing making a competitive bid and creating high-quality ads.
- Demands constant maintenance
Almost all online advertising specialists recommend that companies check their paid ads at least once a week. However, research states that 30% of companies do not review their campaigns monthly. Neglecting your paid ads can result in lost conversions and sales and excessive ad spending.
- Provides short-term success
Your paid search campaign will deliver results as long as you invest in it. As a result, you become dependent on the revenue generated by your paid ads, which compels you to continue spending to sustain the strategy.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, the above information helped you better understand the differences between organic and paid searches.
Ultimately, paid search is better for quick results, but the answer becomes blurred when it comes to making the most of your money. Generally, organic search is more cost-effective in the long run. However, with the right tweaking and attention to landing page optimization, paid search can also be very profitable.
You may count on TechShu, organic SEO experts in Kolkata, to help optimize your website for organic search or plan your paid search campaigns. We have provided our clients with the best SEO services Kolkata and custom strategies to help them grow by leaps and bounds so that their companies can reach new heights.