Buying instead of optimizing: the marketing executives’ choice

Search engine positioning is without doubt the most effective online advertising method. There are two very different ways to position oneself: buying keywords (Pay-per-click or PPC), and site optimization to appear among first results (organic). The former is based on an auction mechanism where the highest bidder is guaranteed to come first, whereas the latter requires continuous work in order to hope to be among the first results.

Taking this into consideration, it’s not surprising that most marketing executives take the first option, which does undeniably bring a lot of benefits. Guaranteed positioning - pay more and you’ll be first. Fast results - you are online in 15 minutes. Internal realization is also possible as many search engines provide tools that people can master themselves.

Due to these facts, it is obvious that more and more companies choose to completely forget organic optimization over keywords. In consequence they systematically neglect to evaluate their website’s capacity to be considered by search engines for content. However, many studies show that companies making this decision choose poorly. The following elements prove this.

1. Although initially more expensive, optimization soon becomes less costly. In fact, although site optimization is a constant task, this doesn’t mean full-time. Therefore, excluding certain extremely competitive industries, it is often possible to be among the first results in a little time.
2. The drop in conversion rates is a lot more significant for keyword purchases than optimization. During its annual survey, MarketingSherpa revealed that the conversion rate for keyword purchases decreased from 6.6% in 2004 to 3.6% in 2005, whereas it only decreased from 6.2% to 4.2% for organic optimization [1] .
3. This decrease in conversion combined with an increase of nearly 25% in the cost of keywords between 2004 and 2005 shows a dramatic decrease in return on investment. For the same campaign conducted in 2004 and 2005, the ROI would be 44% less advantageous this year [2].
4. A study carried out by Enquiro, Did-it.com and Eyetools [3] a few months ago showed that Internet users contemplate organic results a lot more and have an increased tendency to click on them compared to purchased results. This study was confirmed by Harris Interactive who maintains that over 50% of Internet users can differentiate between the two positioning types and understand that organic results are generated by an algorithm whereas purchased ones are linked to buying power [4].
5. Appearing on the first page of a search engine doesn’t just have an important effect on the number of clicks, but on the conversion rate too. In fact, a study revealed that conversion rates increase by nearly 100% in the three months following the appearance of a site on the first page of a search engine [5].

Internet users learn quickly and understand results which are presented to them a lot better than before. On this subject, a study at Cornell University showed that in spite of a strong inclination to click on the first link shown by the search engine, some users evaluate the titles and displayed information a lot more deeply before clicking on their choice [6].

Taking an increasingly significant portion of the budget, search engine positioning requires a strategy that will be advantageous in the short as well as long term. The increase in keyword prices, decrease in conversion rates and development of Internet users makes us believe that organic optimization should be part of a good positioning strategy and will continue to be a strategic credit to organizations that use it.

[1] MarketingSherpa, septembre 2005

[2] ROI = return/cost X100. Income fell (conversion rate fell by 55%) whereas costs increased by 25% = 44%

[3] http://www.eyetools.com/inpage/research_google_eyetracking_heatmap.htm

[4] Harris Interactive for icrossing, june 2005. Result for Google

[5] Target Google’s Top Ten to Sell Online, OneUpWeb, 2005

[6] Accurately Interpreting Clickthrough Data as Implicit Feedback, Cornell University, 2005