Is it Easier to Use Google AdWords?

By Sarah Giometti | Advertising

Aug 12

You can generate traffic by placing ads with an online platform such as Google AdWords and get right to the top of the page on certain search results.  Remember that you are always competing for those positions with other companies that have the same idea, and some keywords are easier to do this with than others.

If you decide that it is easier to just purchase ads on Google AdWords, let’s take a look at a scenario where you do just that but your competitors decide to work on their SEO strategies instead.  We’ll compare the results of “Your Company” with those of your competitors based on a search that generates 1,000 searches each month.

Your Company – your company produces Wild and Wacky Widgets.  You discover that people search for “wild and wacky widgets” 1,000 times each month but you never show up in the search results.  You decide to use Goolge AdWords to get you to the top of the search results.

Competitor 1 – this company also produces Wild and Wacky Widgets.  They hired somebody to do SEO for them and their website now appears at the top of the organic search results when somebody searches for “wild and wacky widgets.”

Competitor 2 – this company also produces Wild and Wacky Widgets.  They decided to do SEO on their own because they understand it pretty well, and their website now appears in the number 2 position in the organic search results when somebody searches for “wild and wacky widgets.”

Competitor 3 – this company also produces Wild and Wacky Widgets.  They decided to do SEO on their own because they understand it almost as well as Competitor 2, and their website now appears in the number 3 position in the organic search results when somebody searches for “wild and wacky widgets.”

Competitors 4-10 – these companies also produce Wild and Wacky Widgets.  They decided to do SEO on their own because they have a basic understanding of it, and their websites complete the remainder of the first page of search results when somebody searches for “wild and wacky widgets.”

Let’s look at the next page to see how these companies rank and where the 1,000 searches will end up each month.

Generally, only about 4-6% of people will click on the ad at the top of the results (we went with 4% – 40 people).  The remaining 96% (960 people) will click on the organic results.  48% of them will click on the first organic result, 12% will click on the 2nd organic result, 8% will click on the 3rd organic result, and the remaining 32% will distribute their clicks between the 4th and the 10th organic result.  It doesn’t matter how much you are willing to pay – if there are only 1,000 searches for “wild and wacky widgets,” you will only ever get 40 clicks while your competitors take the other 960 of them.

 

About the Author