When a company is ready to implement an SEO campaign to optimize their web presence, they have to what tactics they want to pony up to their SEO stable. Should a company implement natural SEO, PPC or paid search, or both? This could depend upon your business or budget, but most SEO firms will strongly recommend using both SEO and PPC. But to decide, you must first look that the differences between the two and what demographics are being targeted by each tactic. Please take these numbers with a grain of salt, for they are a few years old. Internet usage is growing so fast, these usage numbers are changing daily. The behavioral statistics are the focus here.

According to an iProspect Search Engine User Attitudes Study of 1,649 people, 56.3 percent of the participants use search engines at least once a day and 56.7 percent use the same search engine. Among the participants, 81.7 percent responded that they will try a new search if they haven’t found what they are searching for within the first three pages. It was also found that the younger the internet browser, the more likely it is to get past the SERP (search engine results page). This number isn’t surprising, as the older population have been slower to adopt technology than the younger generations. Also, male browsers are more likely to go past the SERP than females.

The study also showed that the search engine used can play a factor in the type of results they found relevant. Google and Yahoo! users engaged with natural search as a more relevant result to their activities. Users who used MSN found that paid search advertisements were more relevant to their search. AOL users found both natural and paid search to be equally relevant. As MSN transitions to Bing, we could see this behavior change dramatically.

Gender also had its role to play in search. Both men and women favor natural results. However, 43.1 percent of female participants responded to paid search as relevant, while only 34.6 percent of of men found paid search results to be relevant to their search. Education and employment also factored in to behavior and preference. The more educated and employed someone was, the more they favored natural search results as a relevant solution to their search. Non-college graduates and unemployed participants favored paid search.

When considering the variables of your SEO campaign, take in consideration your target audience. Are they more male or female, educated or unemployed, older or younger? These will all play a role in your decision-making process when considering natural search versus paid search. Volacci prefers you use both, because they can work together as a team with larger reach and more lead generation potential and traffic.

Volacci is the leading Drupal SEO company and very passionate about your online success in the future of SEO. If you don’t have the time or capacity for SEO, you should invest in the services of a solid SEO firm. By the end of your contract with Volacci you will have at least as much additional business from your web site as you spend on our services... or we'll work for free until you do.