Getting Found

Being number one doesn’t make you first on the page!

Being found in Google’s Organic Search is important, however, over recent months, it’s importance in comparison to visits generated from AdWords has diminished. There is a legacy attitude among business owners that they want to be ‘found in Google’ and that being in the organic results will guarantee them traffic and sales.

This misconception of business owners colours their opinion of how to use Google, often to the detriment of their company’s growth. The perception that the ‘free’ ranking on Google will generate sales and a reluctance to accept that Google has evolved into one of the most effective advertising sites ever created limits their thinking.

There is always a cost of doing business and Google is becoming one of those unavoidable business expenses, one however that is controllable and for which results can be seen on the investment being made.

A Typical Google Results Page
As you can see to the right. This is a typical search results page from Google. This is a search for ‘Web Design Hamilton’.

The red area represents Google Adwords, the blue is Google Local Search, and the yellow is the organic search results.

As you can see W3 Design is number one in this search result, but, we are nowhere near the top of the listing with regards to what the viewer first sees when the results come back from Google.

The organic result is still used by viewers, but they are more likely to respond to the AdWords or be tempted by the Local listings than to scroll all the way down the page to the Organic Results.

Organic SEO is important and should be part of an active digital marketing mix, but it should not be relied on as the sole source of traffic to your website.