When was the last time you checked the third or fourth page of a search engine results page (SERP)?  You probably don’t very often. Most of us check the first, maybe the second page, and rarely go further.  Search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo understand this and develop algorithms to ensure quality content ranks and not the spammy sites.  Ranking is determined by a variety of factors.  Most use top secret algorithms that weigh a variety of factors including links to your site, social media mentions, content and depth of your site.  Search engine pages have ten results pages per page.  If your website is a large source of your ad sales lead generation, being ranked 11th or 21st can be the difference between whether you end up on page 2 or 3 and if you get seen.  So how do you get to and stay on the first page?

Paid search, or PPC, ads: These are the yellow ads on top and the ads on the sides of the SERP page.  Recent research shows searchers who are ready-to-buy tend to click PPC ads more than organic results 64% of the time.  PPC affordability depends on your industry and budget.  Unlike most traditional advertising companies, you only pay for PPC ads when someone clicks on their ad.  Keywords are pricy in popular industries.  The more niche you are the better.  Less clicks can actually be better with PPC

Organic search with SEO, or search engine optimization: You have less control over where you land than PPC, but you can tweak your site and increase ranking.  SEO entails crafting your website and online presence so that it increases where you rank on a search engine results page.  Creating rich content that is commonly searched for, linked to, shared and mentioned in social media is one way to crawl up the search engine page.  Backend changes to your site also enhance (or decrease) visibility.

Use either or both method.  Consult an SEO company for help and make your site a lean, mean, lead generating machine!