Free vs. Paid Search Engine Listings

All of the major search engines now offer both free and paid listings on their search results pages. On Google's search results page, for example, paid "AdWords" listings often appear above and/or to the right of Google's free listings.

Free search engine listings are often called "natural" or "organic" listings since they come from each search engine's unique web page index and ranking algorithm. While free listings are an excellent source of regular, targeted traffic to your website, it takes time, effort and patience to attain good visibility in free search results. While you may rank well for one particular phrase or on one particular search engine, you may find you rank poorly for other key phrases and on other key search engines.

Paid search engine listings - often called "sponsored" or "pay per click" listings - typically charge a small fee each time someone clicks on one of your search engine listings. The fee charged per click often depends on a competitive bidding process - i.e., the higher you bid for each keyword, the higher you'll rank in the results for searches for that keyword. The two most popular pay per click search programs (by far) are Overture and Google AdWords.

We recommend using at least some paid search engine listings for the following 3 reasons:

# 1: Paid listings let you target more search phrases << details >>

# 2: Paid listings let you list your site quickly and easily << details >>

# 3: Paid listings offer you more control and flexibility << details >>

While paid search listings can be highly profitable, it's essential to track your listings continually to see how they contribute to your bottom line and whether they're worth your investment. All EdRandall.com paid search engine clients receive monthly statements showing response generated by their paid listings.

For a free consultation on how your business can profit from search engine marketing, please fill out our online form or call 917.574.5623.