The Truth About PPC Ads Vs Organic Search Results

When you search for something on Google, you are presented with a list of organic results and paid ads. The paid ads may be at the top or bottom of the page, but they're always there. Some people love them, others hate them.

It’s important to understand how consumers feel about PPC ads that run alongside organic results because it will impact your ability to sell your products or services online. You also need to know which type of ad you should use in your marketing efforts so that you can get the most clicks and conversions from your budget, but we will talk about Paid Ad Types another time.

To find out more about how consumers feel about PPC ads on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), we ran an online survey across all major social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We asked a few respondents what they thought of paid ads on SERPs and whether they clicked on them before reading any organic results first. Here’s a snippet of what we found:

People prefer organic over paid results

83% of respondents said they were more likely to click an organic result than a paid ad. This is especially true for millennials (67%), but all generations agree with this sentiment. Only 17% said they were more likely to click a paid result over an organic one, though we know majority of searchers on the internet don’t care either way. Consumers don’t want to see ads next to their search results, and when asked how they felt about PPC ads running alongside organic results, 23% said they had never clicked one before – and that was true for all generations except millennials (where it was just 21%). Another 26% said that sometimes it worked well and sometimes it didn't.

Today, it's more important than ever to ensure your online marketing efforts are in line with your overall business goals. For most businesses, that means a significant focus on organic search results. Which is clearly the natural way to go. But if you're not prepared for the degree of competition that must be met to achieve even an average level of success, you'll miss out on possible brand visibility on the internet.

The reality is that paid ads and organic results are both very important for your online marketing strategy. Though many entrepreneurs (especially beginners) may think that their time and money would be better spent all on one or the other, the fact is, you simply can't do without either. Both forms of search can help you engage with potential customers, and reach that all-important first impression. Likewise, both have their own unique benefits and drawbacks, which you need to consider before making a purchase. Organic results can lead you to business opportunities, but paid search ads have the ability to take your business to new heights.

This means that if you want to be successful when it comes to SEO and Paid Advertising, you need to optimize your webpages for both so that you can achieve an ideal balance between finding success with SEO and PPC campaigns alike.