SEO is a specialism, but if you are apportioning your budget, which works best – natural search or paid search?
Recent Performics and ROI research came out with the folllowing statistics:
Do you know the difference between natural and paid search results?
- 63% said Yes
- 37% said No
The age groups of those who knew the difference between natural and paid search results:
- 18-29 – 80% said Yes
- 30-39 – 59% said Yes
- 40-49 – 63% said Yes
- 50-59 – 58% said Yes
- 60+ – 52% said Yes
How often do you click on natural and paid search results?
Natural results:
- 37% Always
- 42% Frequently
- 15% Occasionally
- 4% Rarely
- 2% Never
Paid results:
- 5% Always
- 15% Frequently
- 43% Occasionally
- 29% Rarely
- 8% Never
Why are users searching?
- 83% use search engines to find specific products or brands.
- 78% did informational search queries after seeing an ad for a product or brand
- 80% use search engines to research a specific product or brand before purchasing online.
- 76% use search engines to research a specific product or brand before purchasing offline.
- 78% said that they used search engines to find the best price for specific products.
- 74% used search engines to find where they can purchase a specific product or brand offline.
This research backs up the belief that organic SEO is crucially important. Consumers not only trust natural search results more than paid search, but are also more responsive to brands and businesses appearing high in the rankings. It also casts a caveat over paying too much attention to ROI directly from your website – behaviour shows that users are as likely to research online but respond offline.
