I’ve had so many conversations with clients explaining to them what paid and organic reach is, that I thought it’d be cool to write it down as succinctly as possible. Every time we work on a website design and development job, this conversation invariably comes up.

We live in the wonderful online world of Google. It helps us look up answers to prove our friends wrong and helps businesses be right at the top to help customers find them.

That coveted position right on top of Google is a hard-fought and continuous battle. That is the crux of this post. There are two ways of being on top: organically or paid. The organic method is purely Search Engine Optimization (SEO) unless, of course, you’ve got a domain that is the main keyword of your business e.g. LuxuryHomes.com.

This is a complicated and extremely technical process that usually takes a few months to get off the ground (depending on the kind of site we are dealing with) and requires continuous attention. SEO when done correctly propels any website to the top of Google for the most important keywords to that site. SEO targets these keywords and optimizes the site to be recognized as the most important when these keywords are typed into Google, therefore being the first few links you see when you search for those keywords.

Paid reach is through Google AdWords, a wonderfully complex and useful tool. Many marketers may disagree with me when I say it’s complex. That is because they’re either professional users or haven’t a clue what they’re doing. It took months of experimenting, tutorial videos, and head banging to figure out the basics of what I needed to do to use it effectively. I’m still constantly learning but it’s gotten a lot easier and my campaigns are way more effective.

Under the AdWords umbrella, there are Display Ads, Search Ads, and Youtube Ads. 3 very distinct platforms are used for a variety of purposes by brands. Here we’re mainly talking about Google Search. If you want to be RIGHT at the top of Google, you have to buy that space. The top 3 links and the entire right-hand side and sometimes, even at the bottom, are Google’s paid Search Ads. Through a complex bidding process, Google determines which advertiser shows up where, but when done smartly, you show up at a decent position for all your most important keywords.

To surmise, both endeavors require a bit of investment but when done right (even when done simultaneously) both payoffs are pretty great! Always remember to find someone who knows what they’re doing and can guarantee you the top spots!

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