AdWords isn’t a simple shortcut to SEO
I’ve worked with so many clients who ignore my suggestions to optimize their content for better search-engine ranking. They argue that they don’t need the organic search — because they have an SEM plan that uses AdWords. (cue the angels singing)
I think AdWords is great. Used correctly, it can definitely help generate traffic. But it isn’t the magic bullet many folks think it is.
New York Times blogger Adriana Gardella pointed this out recently in a post about the difficulty of tweaking AdWords to get a decent return on investment. A fledgling retailer sank thousands into AdWords spending and made several adjustments — picking different search terms, tailoring display hours, setting spending limits — but still got very little in terms of conversion. Then she realized that one of the keys to getting better traffic was better content. (Too bad she didn’t engage a content strategist straight off the bat — would’ve saved her a lot of time and money.)
She improved her keyword placement on her pages, began interacting with industry blogs, and started using social media. The result?
In June, the company spent just $30 on marketing, but had sales of $6,053 — up more than 50 percent from the previous June when Ms. Hill spent almost $14,000 on marketing.
Goes to show: there’s no shortcut to SEO, and content is always a sound investment.
Read the full post:
Trial and Error with AdWords and S.E.O.
C.C. Holland 