Natural SEO vs. Pay-per-Click (also known as SEM).

The majority of web surfers;  around 70 per cent, click the optimised natural listings on the first page of a search engine as opposed to sponsored links.

Natural listings are more trusted than paid ads and, unlike pay-per-click traffic – which typically dries up once you stop spending –SEO is the gift that keeps on giving.

But the basic pitch – put the effort into building your natural listings in the search engines and customers will keep coming – proves a hard sell for marketing departments under pressure to produce fast results.

In a sector still in its infancy and devoid of a dedicated industry body or minimum professional standards lack of expertise among practitioners has also harmed SEO’s reputation.

The increasingly complex nature of SEO has led to a shakeout of inexperienced operators.
Companies have been burnt. A lot of our companies have previously worked with two or three companies before settling with their current providers.

We at SEO-Tips believe a mix of media including SEO and paid search works best.

Key Points

•    Search engine optimisation is a cost-effective marketing strategy
•    Search marketing spend reached $900 million in 2009
•    Many businesses are grasping the potential of this new marketing avenue