In one of my earlier posts I wrote that companies shouldn’t ignore natural search.  In a study conducted by WebSideStory of data from January through August of B2C e-commerce sites, the statistics bear this out.  Natural search had a median conversion rate of 3.13% versus a paid conversion rate of 3.40%.

Interestingly, Rand Schulman, CMO of WebSideStory, attributes this to how searchers perceive listings.  Searchers view natural results like a newspaper editorial and paid search as a front-age advertisement: the advertiser does not control the editorial so the content has to be compelling to warrant a place in the paper.  But paid ads have their place because they contain calls to action, offers, and other elements that move the searcher towards a purchase. 

Waaaay back in 2003, Fredrick Marckini wrote about how companies were overlooking the “big numbers” of visitors brought to sites by natural (organic) search engine marketing campaigns.  In the bada-bing-for-the-buck thinking, most of the attention is on pay-per-click campaigns.  In his article, Marckini provided some very big numbers — 2,734,632 and 9,478,416 and 20 million — the numbers of visits to selected sites through natural search.  Why bring this up today?  Because a lot of firms are still missing the big picture: a really successful marketing campaign must include both paid and natural search engine marketing. 

Pay-per-click marketing gets all the limelight because it’s predictable - it’s cause and effect - with costs known up front.  Natural search is anything but predictable and the cost can only be calculated after the campaign — and some benefits come long after the end of the campaign.  Oh yeah, and natural search requires changes to the deep underbelly of the web site — a scary proposition for someone who has just spent tons on a newly-designed web site.

Here are the salient points Marckini made in 2003 about why a company needs both natural and paid search for the best ROI — these points still hold true:

Marketers must target the behavior of the search not just the clicks.  The search query is the most powerful customer indicator of how people are finding your site.

A limited monthly budget may cause your site to disappear for part of every month; a limited daily budget may cause your site to disappear for parts of every day.  A natural search campaign ensures your listing is available 24/7 - appearing high in natural search results means your site is in front of the searchers.

Your PPC results are based on the amount you — and your competitors — pay for selected keywords.  Natural search results are based on a wide range of keywords that cost you nothing as they are used day after day, week after week, month after month . . .  

So, as Marckini indicates, both natural and paid must have equal voice in your Internet marketing.  The task is to find the balance for your industry, your products, your business model.  So if you haven’t visited your natural search campaign lately, dust it off and get it working for you.