Is Your Website a Waste of Cyberspace?

29th January, 2009

PPC versus SEO
Google dominates the UK search market. In 2008 its market share was measured as nearly 90% (source: Hitwise). By creating the most popular search engine they have also produced the best pay-per-click (PPC) advertising channel. Google were first to put the most relevant adverts for every search at the top of the list. They also use a ‘quality’ score that includes the ads click-through-rate which means that searchers can actually vote the better ads up.

But does it work?
Well arguably yes, as you only pay when someone clicks through to your site but how many people actually use the sponsored links over those that appear in the main list naturally?
PPC can work well to generate traffic to your web site and keep the brand front of mind for searchers but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. To ensure that your website is visible to potential customers make sure that you invest in search engine optimisation (SEO).

Search Engine Optimisation
SEO takes more time and effort and does not yield instant success but it can ensure that your website features on the first page of search results for a sustained period. There are various methods of improving your website's visibility to search engines such as regular fresh content, repetition of keywords and link building.

Your website can be the most effective tool in your marketing kit bag but if no-one can find it then it’s just a waste of cyberspace!

Jason Edge