Organic vs. Paid Search: Is One Better?

WebSideStory has finished a study that compares organic search returns to paid search returns. The big surprise? The conversion rates were nearly identical.

by Kristina Knight

The study tracked 20 business to consumer e-commerce sites’ traffic and conversion data from January – August 2006. The most notable results noted that paid searches had a median order conversion rate of 3.4%. Organic searches conversion rates were 3.13%.

"On the one hand, because you control the message of paid search, you'd expect higher conversions," Rand Schulman, WebSideStory's CMO, told ClickZ. "On the other side, because people value the 'editorial integrity' of organic, you'd expect higher conversions. Ultimately you need to do both. I think the eye-opener here is that neither side has a significant edge."

The benefits to paid searches are that the marketers have more control. Control over the landing page, the message and keywords. The biggest benefit to organic searches is that users feel more independent. They created the search so the results must be tailored to their specific search. This can increase click through, but not controlling the specific landing page can decrease conversions.

Another benefit to organic searches is that the volume of clicks is about 1.5 times higher than paid search.