Organic vs Paid Search: A Guide to Understanding the Differences

Paid vs. Organic are the two ways to get traffic to your website on search engine results pages (SERPs). Each method involves different strategies, costs, and considerations.

Why understanding digital marketing is essential for doing business online.

Admittedly, when I’m introduced to a new “thing,” whatever it is, I usually dismiss it. It’s not that I’m not curious or don’t like new ways to execute; it’s more about avoiding SOS (Shiny Object Syndrome). Will this “thing” really do something measurable for my business, or will it be another time and money black hole?

But then I start observing, reading, evaluating, researching and finally comprehending. I’m also gauging what clients are doing and what they need. The “thing” I’m discussing in this blog post is digital marketing. I know, I know.

We’re a team of designers. When the word “marketing” gets mentioned, that subconsciously offended artist emerges: “We’re not marketers; we’re designers fgs!”

But marketing IS precisely what we do because we wouldn’t have a biz without it. We’ve spent the last five years refining our services and processes to provide branding, web content and design services using the Squarespace platform. We stay on top of on-page and technical SEO optimization and web accessibility best practices to the best of our abilities.

We do a lot of organic marketing for Design Powers by writing a monthly blog post and sending it to our email list. We create case studies and mockups for every client project and consistently post to our two social media channels, Instagram and LinkedIn. We actively seek validation by getting Google reviews from our clients.

We’re firm believers in the power of building on authority online through these organic methods and actively assist clients with some of the aforementioned through our membership. But organic methods take time, as in months, even years.

Sometimes, you need that “thing” to jump-start your marketing efforts.

New Digital Marketing Services in 2024

We want to help our clients get visitors to their websites and qualified leads for their businesses. What happens after that is up to them. We also know our services must align with our brand principles of design excellence and building trust.

That’s why, in 2024, we’re offering Paid Search by implementing Google ad campaigns and additional Organic Search through Review Management. Each can play a part in your marketing efforts, and we’d love to help you implement one or both services.

Why Reviews are Important, Especially for Higher-Priced Offerings

There’s a level of risk associated with purchasing something sight unseen. As the price increases, so too does the risk. So, it’s not surprising that 78% of people say that the more expensive the service, the more they read reviews. This number increases as their age decreases: Gen Z (83%) and Millennial (82%) clients.

This is the rub, though. 85% of people trust ratings and reviews as much as or more than recommendations from family members or friends. You read that correctly; we trust what strangers say as much or even more than our mom. Maybe because there is no ulterior motive–the reviewer doesn’t have an agenda and expresses their experience, whereas mom might be biased.

Ongoing Optimization is Essential

One thing is clear: reviews influence purchasing behavior. However, developing a review strategy shouldn’t be a one-time event. Instead, implementing a consistent review program can show a more measured impact.

Regarding Google ads, our first client is implementing a 6-month Google ad campaign with us. He has been our graphic and web design client for ten years and has been in business for 30+ years, so he knows his industry inside and out. And we know his business, too.

But website traffic is down, and he is not ranking for a vital keyword. He emails a monthly newsletter, but it’s not content generated from a blog on his website so it doesn’t get counted as organic search.

He wants to jump-start conversion by implementing Paid Google ads. We’re excited to help him reach his goals. We’ll keep you posted.

If you’d like to discuss our digital marketing services further, please schedule a call with me.

Keep reading to understand the difference between Paid and Organic Search methodologies.