Eyeballs (Adviews):

Mulley Communications released an important study last month entitled “Google Search”. One of the key findings of this study was that 70% of the sample group look at the top result first whether this result was a sponsored link or not. So if your sponsored link is in position no.1 on the left hand side of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) you are in the most viewed position on the page.

Fingers (clicks):

Our internal stats for the first 6 months of this year across 20+ adwords accounts show that average Click Through Rate is 4.6% when an ad is in the top 2 positions (left or right of SERP) for a relevant search. Click through rates decrease as your ad moves down the positions on the page.

When the search term is specifically relevant e.g. “laser eye surgery Dublin” matching keywords have click-through rates upwards of 20%.

€€€ (Conversions):

Our internal studies have also shown that people who click on sponsored links are more likely to enquire or buy. Here are recent Google Analytics stats from our own site, the goal is an enquiry:

As you can see the top converting traffic source was Microsoft Live, but with one enquiry the data is not statistically significant.

When you compare Google Organic to Google Cost per Click (AdWords traffic) we see that AdWords traffic is twice as likely to enquire as it’s organic counterpart. This is a trend we have been seeing again and again over the past 2 years.

We believe the reason for this is that people looking for information on a subject will click on the organic list. Whereas a shopper, who want to make a purchase or enquiry and they want to make it now, is more likely to click on the sponsored links, it’s logical.

Conclusion:

The top of the Search Engine Results page is prime position for ad views with 70% of searchers looking at the top listing.

When a sponsored link is in the top 1-2 positions it benefits from a CTR of about 4.5%. Considerably lower than the 70% ad views, why?

This is because the majority of searchers are info seekers. So the wiki’s, forums and news sites on the organic list best suit their informational requirements. However the minority of searchers are shoppers, who want to make a purchase or enquiry and want to make it now, so they are more likely to click on the sponsored links and convert from there.

From an advertisers point of view:

Organic Clickers = Tyre Kickers

Sponsored Links Clickers = Shoppers

For info on our Google Adwords PPC services click here.

For info on our Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services click here.

The question I get asked more frequently than any other is “I have a new website, I want to rank well in Google and I have a limited budget. Should I invest in SEO or Pay Per Click advertising?”

This post lays out the differences between the two, factors which help determine which is most suitable for you, and how they can be effectively combined.

The main diferences between PPC and SEO are:

PPC SEO

Ad appears in Sponsored Links Description appears in Natural List

You pay-per-click or site visit Clicks are free, you pay for the SEO activity.

Visibility is instant SEO is medium to long term (3-9 months)

Visibility is guaranteed There are no visibility guarantees

Keywords are unlimited Keywords are limited

Clicks are limited by budget No limitations once you have rank

Market Size as a determining factor

If your target market is small e.g 1,500 searches per month and only would cost €30 to send 2% of this traffic to your site at €1 per click. Then PPC is a pretty effective way for you to tap into this small market and a low monthly outlay.

If your target market is large, lets say you are already spending €8k per month on PPC and you are only getting 50% Impressions Share (50% of the people who search your keywords see your ad due to insufficient budget) then you would probably consider investing in SEO which would move you up the Natural Results in the medium term at a much lower monthly spend. The added bonus is with a good natural rank you are visible for 100% of searches not just what your budget will allow.

PPC as a building block for solid SEO

We recommend using PPC as the starting point to SEO. SEO is a longer term strategy and you can only optimise your site for a limited number of keywords. What can happen is 6 months in you realise that the keywords you have been optimising for are’nt as profitable as you had initially believed. The benefit of a PPC campaign is you can start with 1,000 keywords, and simply see what generates the most conversions (sales, enquiries etc). Armed with this information you can commence your SEO efforts from more solid foundations.

The optimal situation is you have a high rank in both PPC and the Natural List. Studies show that you will benefit from more than double the traffic when you have a double listing because it has quite an impact on the searcher. They are more likely to visit your site, spend more time there and increasingly likely to enquire or purchase there. Our own experience shows this to be true.

For info on our Google Adwords PPC services click here.

For info on our Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services click here.