Organic vs. Paid

On my last post, we went over the Google ranking system. The Google Ranks is part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). These search results are considered "organic," meaning that those who stumble upon these websites do so because their search matched the results offered by Google.

In contrast, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) deals with the "paid" advertisements that pop up on one's search results. SEM is also known as pay-per-click (PPC) and the biggest platform for SEM at the moment is Google AdWords.

In this course, we will focus on SEO and content development, but it is important to make the distinction between search engine optimization and marketing.

Take the picture below as an example of search results for MacBook Pro on Google.

The top links have been paid for (or sponsored) by the seller while the results enclosed in green are the organic search results of my inquiry. Also, note that the organic search result has bolded the words in the description that match my search ("MacBook Pro").

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Google ranking depends on several ever-changing factors, one of them being how your webpage matches search keywords and content related to such keywords.

As the semester goes on, we'll learn how to optimize your web and search results to increase the organic traffic to your site.

Other Resources:
Introduction to Search Engine Optimization, book by Todd Kelsey
Marketing in 60 Seconds: What are Google Ads?, YouTube video by Todd Kelsey

What is AdWords?, YouTube video unlisted