BUS572-1 Searching: The Continuous Pursuit

Searching: The Continuous Pursuit

Organic and Paid for Search Results

There are two types of search results that appear when we search for something in a search engine. There are organic search results and paid search results. But what does 'organic search results' even mean? Is it a healthier version of a search result? Organic search results are just the primary results of the search engine that are displayed on the left-hand side of the search engine results page. They are not influenced by money which is the main differentiator between organic and paid search results. Paid search results, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) display paid results on the top and right-hand side of the search engine results page. Below I have examples of both organic search results and paid search results. For the organic search I searched for I Made It! Market and they do not pay for any results to come up. With the paid search results, I searched for shoes and the results at the top highlighted in yellow and the results on the right are sponsored. They are meant to be first and jump out at your more so you are more inclined to use their website since there are many shoe websites.

Organic Search Results

Paid Search Results

Search Results and Digital Marketing

So what is the importance of knowing about different search results? They have nothing to do with me. They might not now, but what if you start a business someday? Your business will need a website to survive. Knowing how to get your website to come up effectively in search engine results is critical. If you want people to visit your website, they have to be able to find it. Your website also needs to be high-ranking in order to populate in search engine results more often. Sometimes not paying for your website to come up in the paid search results is better. Research shows people actually trust organic search results since they are more relevant than the paid search results. It all depends on how well known you already are and how you want to approach your target audience. 

The website for I Made It! Market was ranked 4/10 on Page Rank. It is a good tool to use to see where your website is ranked and how to improve it so more traffic comes through.

There's More to Life Than Searching 

You can't focus completely on search engine results to make your website have high volumes of traffic. I do think it is very important to focus on the different types of search results, which one is best for your website, and the ranking, but what else could enhance traffic through your website? Maybe your website is ranked high, but still doesn't come up in search results like you want it to, where do you go from there? In your opinion, which search results are better, organic or paid? I personally always click on organic search results. I feel like I will get the most useful information that I am looking for in those websites. You'll never really know what else is out there if you never click on that second page of search results. I think there are vital keywords that people type into search engines that will bring your website up in their search results. That's how I found art in Pittsburgh that I didn't even know existed!

Reflection

I have taken information sciences classes before, but this class and book are putting things in a different perspective. I never knew how search results were ordered or what made one come up more than another. Of course it has to do with keywords, but that is all I thought it was based on. I think it's interesting that there is so much more that goes into search engines and the results they display. I didn't even know there was a website that could rank your website! These are all critical in creating and publishing a website for a business. You could have a website for years and not even understand why there is no traffic coming through. I feel better knowing this information because it is useful in everyday life.