In a recent survey, Marketers said they would pick paid search over Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Meanwhile, consumers still prefer organic results.
We’re in the time of marketing budget freezes and redeployments. Now, marketers are wondering which marketing channels to use for the most significant impact.
To answer this question, two separate groups surveyed marketing professionals and small business owners. The researchers wanted to compare the merits of SEO and pay-per-click (PPC).
Here are the findings from the study.
Marketers Would Pick Paid Search Over SEO
In its survey, BestSEOCompanies.com asked 1,000 marketing professionals and consumers about the effectiveness of SEO vs. Google Ads. The researchers considered several measures.
According to the result, roughly equal numbers of marketers found both PPC and SEO to be effective. Ninety percent of the participants said Search engine marketing is effective, and 87 percent picked SEO.
When asked forced to choose one or the other, 64 percent of the marketers picked Google Ads. They, however, admitted that SEO is more affordable and sustainable than Paid Search.
Here’s why the result is surprising.
A previous study from BrightEdge suggests that SEO drives more referral traffic than paid search. According to the data from last year, organic search accounts for 53 percent of site traffic, while paid search drove only about 15 percent.
Consumers Prefer Organic Results Over Paid Ads
The survey asked consumers about how consumers trust and engage with various SERP features. It also asked about their inclination to click on organic results vs. paid ads.
It turns put that consumers respond more to organic results.
Eighty-four percent of the participants said they frequently clicked on organic results. Meanwhile, only 45 percent said they preferred paid search ads.
Findings from the survey suggest a sort of disparity between marketers and consumers. The ability to track return-on-investment could be one way to explain this gap.
Fifty-two percent of the marketers said they could measure ROI with paid search. On the other hand, only 36 percent could say the same about their SEO efforts.
In other words, marketers in the study may prefer PPC because it provides a sense of control.
With that said, the BestSEOCompanies.com survey had a relatively small sample size. As such, the result may not apply to the entire industry.
Read More: The Best Tools to Help Marketers Find Competitor Keywords
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