Paid VS Organic

Since the redesign of Google AdWords in 2000, the cannibalism of organic search results has been a matter of debate that continues to be brought up. Recent changes to how the search engine works in correlation with ads have captured the attention of Marketers and those that use Google AdWords. One of the changes that were done to Google happened because it was trying to be more mobile-friendly. To do this, they took away the ad space that was in the right-side column. The concern is that even though there are more open spaces for ads to be displayed there, ads that gain organic listing are being pushed down. SEO marketers soon noticed that the click-through rates took a dramatic hit. Marketers want to know now if they must pay for keywords that they already get hits on organically. Long story short Yes, you will still be getting hits organically but, just because you are the first in organic search does not mean you will appear first on the search engine page. To get first on the search engine, it seems you must now be first organically and by paid hits. It has come as no surprise that Google has done this to increase their paid revenue on ads. 

Advertisers need to consistently change the ad to make it relevant to the page it is related to. Ads that are not an exact match but relevant may also be shown. This is to give the searcher options. However, this means that someone may click on your ad that did not intend to. Therefore, the quality score of your ad is important. The higher the quality score, the higher the chances are your ad will be shown to its intended audience. Keywords can also be linked to the quality score of your ad. If a visitor places a keyword and your page comes up that has little to no reference of what they want and they only spend a moment on your site, this counts negatively towards that keyword. The better your score is, the cheaper it will be to advertise. This is how brands “defend” their business. The key to remember is high volume and relevance to your service or product.  Ad extensions are additional pieces of information that you can include in your ad to help boost clicks or improve the user experience. Up to four commercials will appear over your organic links if rivals are bidding on your brand name. Make sure your ad is active and hasn't been rejected by checking its status in your Google Ads account.

To view how your search terms are performing in an ad, follow the steps below. 

Google Ads > Reports > Predefined Reports > Basic > Paid & Organic

  • Search term
  • Search result type 
  • Performance metrics 
  • Segmentation by day of the week & other attributes 

This way you can compare your organic and paid search terms.  To get the most return on investment out of your ad plan, keep an eye on your paid vs. organic traffic. Google analytics and the way it rates are constantly changing just, like how people search. It is necessary to find what fits best with your business. Remember, what works one month might not work the next. That is why it is critical to have someone be a part of your team that knows about Google Ads, analytics, and SEO.