If you are in the process of looking into promoting your website, you will probably have heard so much about SEO you feel like crying. After all, search engine optimization is the best way of promoting your Web site online… or is it? We all hear so much about SEO that people inevitably wonder if it is as necessary as the experts say, especially when it seems like there is a perfectly viable alternative.
SEO is all about getting your website to the top of rankings with search engines, particular the big three of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s new Bing. With good SEO, you increase the visibility of your website when people search for a company or service like your own, and this in turn translates to good customer potential. Excellent, that’s the sales pitch. But, one cannot help but wonder, what about sponsored links? After all, one can instead pay Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine to feature your website right at the top of their search results. Doesn’t that do the same job – in fact, doesn’t that do the same job more effectively?
On the outside, it’s easy to see why people think that SEO and sponsored links are just versions of the same thing. Both cost money, both get your website to the top of search rankings. So surely, one must surmise, they have the same effect. What’s more, one doesn’t need to engage a company to do work for you for a sponsored link; you can do it and pay it yourself.
It’s tempting, it must be said, and sponsored links do result in a good success rate. No one is going to claim they are a thing of the devil, but it should be stated that these are not the answer. Paying for links with search engines does have considerable drawbacks.
Most sponsored links are done on a by-click basis, meaning that when someone clicks the link, you will pay a nominated fee for that visit. This can seem less expensive than a good SEO package, yet it does have a drawback. What if, for example, a user clicks your link with no real interest in purchasing? They might just be browsing or, worse yet, doing market research for a business similar to yours – and you’ve had to pay for the privilege! With SEO, you will rank normally and will not pay for clicks, so any searches of this type will have a null effect on your business.
The most important consideration, however, is appearance. Many internet users distrust paid links, for various reasons. Some even have their web browser configured so they can be blocked, so your sponsored link would not even appear to those users – yet one produced due to thorough SEO and a normal ranking would. Strike two.
The third problem with sponsored links is that anyone can get one, whereas good SEO and normal rankings are far more difficult. Oddly but truthfully, this means people are more likely to trust a normal link achieved with good SEO. That’s three strikes! In sponsored links vs SEO, SEO wins every time.
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