Being found on page one of Google and other major Search Engines is a very important factor when it comes to your business’ website. More and more people are using the Internet to research and buy products and services, and if you aren’t positioning your business on the search engines to be found, you just won’t be found!

There is a lot of information out there about ‘being found on Google’, and it can become a little overwhelming if you haven’t got the know -how.

Should you purchase Google Ads or pursue Organic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)? And what are the benefits of doing both? Allow me to enlighten you.

Organic Search Engine Optimisation

Organic Search Engine Optimisation is the process of clearly defining your target market, and then positioning yourself on Google for the keywords that your target market is going to be searching for to find you.

It may involve rewriting your website content so that the website has your keywords within the body of your text. It may include text building and some other positioning strategies in between. But the overall aim is to create your website so that when Google’s search engine spiders go out and read your website word for word, they find it attractive – therefore positioning you.

The good news is, if you are targeting the correct keywords and you’re getting ranked high on the Search Engines, then your website traffic will increase – there is no doubt about that. Being There = Being Seen.

The only downside to Organic Search Engine Optimisation is that it can take a number of months before your high positioning on Google will appear. You may also need to come back after a year (depends on your industry) and do a bit of tweaking to make sure your positioning is maintaining its ranking.

Google Ads

This is another way to position yourself high on page one of Google. It involves a slightly different approach to getting your website on page one. The great thing about Google Ads is that you are guaranteed positioning for your keywords. The ads work on a rotational basis, making sure that every ad is being seen over time. (eg. Refresh the page and the ads may be arranged differently on the page. )

There is an ongoing cost, where you pay for each click-through that is received. Different keywords have different dollar values, so depending on these values will determine your ongoing investment. The great thing is that you can set a daily budget (eg. $10) and you will never exceed this daily amount.  The other great benefit of Google Ads is that you can sign up today and be positioned within the hour – there are no delays like Organic Search Engine Optimisation – which means you can start receiving traffic to your website immediately! You are also able to choose your keywords and regions that you wish to be found under. If you only want to target a certain industry in a certain radius/region you can do so.

Another great thing about Google Ads is that you can write different ads and test which ads are pulling in the most traffic. Your headings and your copy can greatly change the results. So through experimentation you can perfect the best ad that pulls in the most traffic.

If you don’t know already, here are some visual example as to where your website/ad would be positioned if doing one or the other… Organic Search Engine Optimisation positions your website on the left hand side of the Google search page, whereas Google Ads are found on the right hand side &/or at the the very top of the page (in the sponsored links area.)

We’ve found, from first hand experience with our own business, that by using both Google Ads and Organic Search Engine Optimisation, they can work hand in hand with each other to give your website a better chance of targeting ALL the keywords that need to be highly positioned. Wherever Organic Search Engine Optimisation wasn’t working the best on one keyword, we could still traffic the searchers through Google Ads.

However, let me also give you a real life example of how a business successfully used both optimisation strategies to get the optimum results on their website rankings.

Case Study – The Power Of Combining Organic Search Engine Optimisation and a Google Ads Campaign:

16 Strings String Quartet asked OE Design to help them increase their traffic. Through Organic Search Engine Optimisation they were able to achieve page one for a number of their keywords, one of them being ‘String Quartet Brisbane’. However, they noticed that they weren’t getting the high rankings for ‘Wedding Music Brisbane’. They really wanted to target this keyword string, because it would attract a more broader scope of potential clients. So by creating a Google Ads campaign for ‘Wedding Music Brisbane’ they were able to get an immediate position on page one.

Sample Of Google Adwords

Sample Of Organic Search Engine Optimisation

By using these two strategies 16 Strings String Quartet were able to capture more leads on their website.

So in closing, to obtain the best traffic results to your website – use the power of both SEO and Google Ads for the optimum effect.

N.B. So you’ve increased the amount of hits to your website – AWESOME. So now it’s about funnelling this traffic through your website where your visitors want to get more information from you, sign up to your blog or newsletter or buy your products or services online. For tips and advice on generating more leads from your website, please refer to another blog post we’ve written about Generating More Leads From Your Website.