Balancing Natural Search (SEO) and Paid Search (PPC) Life is all balance and so is search. The most effective search marketing strategy is to deploy both search engine optimization strategies and a paid search campaign to achieve the best results. Stephen Murphy invited to present at Search Engine Room 07. http://www.searchengineroom.com.au/
Stephen Murphy Director PayPerClick

This session raised the issue:

"Does running a paid search campaign and natural search campaign together create more value than running them in a non-integrated manner?"

Or put another way - Does 1+1=3?

Supported by some of the latest eye tracking studies based on user behaviour on a variety of keywords and keyword length we were able to highlight and the effect of conversions through search positions based on both natural (SEO) and paid search campaigns (PPC).

Researching consumer behaviours
ü Search plays a dominant role.
ü Search used - early or mid research phases.
ü Research (search engine usage) - a month or two in advance.
ü Budget is a factor.
ü Organic or sponsored position is ESSENTIAL.
ü Over 60% of click throughs happen on first 3 positions.
ü Side sponsored & lower organic listings perform better on second visit.
ü Over 60% make their decisions about which listing they will click on in a few seconds.
ü Effective balancing of organic and sponsored strategies ESSENTIAL.

How much can you afford to pay per click (PPC)?
Get your conversion TRACKING defined and setup
ü Set up, manage and track natural search campaigns using the same metrics as a paid search campaign.
ü Execute a positioning report on all paid search terms against your domain.
ü Determine how much you can PayPerClick per keyword.
ü Spend time focusing on keywords that will deliver maximum return.
ü Consider pausing high traffic poor converting phrases.
ü Focus attention on yield conversion metrics.