Having a website means nothing if your target audience can’t find you and with so many websites on the internet these days, businesses need to seriously consider how they are going to promote their page and therefore their business. When searching for a particular product or service, you type what you need into the search bar and wait for the page to fill with results and the results that do appear, on page one, are a direct result of SEO and often, paid Google AdWords.

So, what exactly is SEO and AdWords and how do they differ? Let me explain:

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation, often referred to simply as SEO, is essentially the steps you take to ensure that your business appears in people’s search engines when they use words related to your business. Organic SEO builds your profile over time, gradually, based on multiple strategies that a developer completes to the backend of your site. It is what affects the visibility of your webpage and it is based on a variety of elements including, a secure and accessible website, regularly posted content, mobile friendliness, site speed, meta descriptions, key word frequency, backlinks, articles and Google business listings.

Organic SEO simply means increasing your ranking naturally over time through the use of elements listed above and consistent page interactions. If you are regularly updating your website, publishing good quality content, centred around your chosen keywords, your ranking will build over time. If you want your page to be seen, you must be consistent, disciplined and patient knowing that each click is a step in the right direction.

AdWords

Google AdWords is an advertising platform owned by Google. AdWords involves payment made to Google for your ads to be placed on specific Google search pages, every time someone clicks on your ad you pay Google for a job well done and hope that the click turns into a new business opportunity. AdWords is for Google sites and websites that use Google AdSense, while SEO is applicable to all search engines. While SEO is a slow build, AdWords is instant as it is an advertising campaign that will get you noticed and is therefore great for new businesses in particular.

Unlike SEO, with AdWords it is easy to map ROI as it is a “per click” system. SEO is long-term therefore any AdWords campaigns you have running needs to be used in conjunction with consistent SEO practices to keep the traffic flowing in case you ever choose to cancel your AdWords campaign all together, which is the goal of a good SEO campaign. With AdWords you can target a variety of keywords whereas with SEO you need to hone in on only a few. AdWords are also advertised not just on search pages like SEO, but on other google websites as well, this is known as search and remarketing, which is essentially those little banner ads that follow you around where ever you go, online.

AdWords is a great way to lift your website to the top of the stack, however, it does come at a price and, if it’s not targeted correctly that price can be high. In a nutshell the higher per click you are prepared to pay the higher your ranking.

There is no one right way to go about Google advertising, whether you choose to go organic or fork out the cash, a great deal of successful webpage promotion lies in trial and error, when done right it is an amazing tool to promote your business.