Organic SEO vs. Paid search

When we think of search engine optimization, organic SEO is what usually comes to mind. There are other ways to optimize your website, however, and these are usually referred to as paid search methods. The type of website you run, and the stage that it is at on its journey will determine how valuable each can be. However, there are some general rules guiding how effective each can be. We’ll be taking a look at both in this post.

Organic SEO
Organic SEO is all about growing your website. It is called organic because it takes time, and is a long-term process. Organic SEO techniques are generally aimed at building you a website which works in sync with the algorithms set by search engines like Google, Bing, and the rest.

Paid search
Paid search, unlike organic SEO, is a more immediate solution to increasing traffic to your site. It includes methods such as pay per click advertising. Paid search is all about paying to have your content put before a large audience. SEO, one the other hand, is about building your site so that it slowly gains a larger audience over time.

Pros and cons of each
Paid search is great if you’re looking to make a short-term impact. Say, for example, you’re setting up a seasonal Christmas website. In this case, the idea of slowly building your site would be to miss out on the busy spell in December. Companies operating in industries with fierce competition or with similar products or services can also benefit with paid search.

The limitations of paid search include that it is relatively expensive, and also that once you stop subscribing you will lose all of the benefits gained. If you’re looking to build a website that you’re hoping to grow and grow into the future, then organic SEO is always likely to be the preferred option.