Paid and Organic Traffic: Which Generates More Results?
A study conducted by BrightEdge found that 68% of all trackable search traffic comes from paid and organic traffic.
With that in mind, our questions are:
Do you know how to differentiate one from the other?
Would you know which one to choose for a marketing strategy?
In general terms, both types of traffic refer to how your potential customers find your company’s page when searching for similar products or services on search engines (such as Google or Bing).
As we will show, it is important to understand the difference between paid and organic results to ensure better outcomes.
So, take a few minutes to read this article.
What is the Difference Between Paid and Organic Traffic?
To be as straightforward as possible, we start by presenting this comparative table about organic and paid traffic.
But don’t worry, we will dive much deeper into the content throughout the article.
This table is just to give you a little taste of what’s to come!
Breaking it Down… What is Paid Traffic?
Paid traffic means investing in ads on specific platforms to attract visitors to a website, store, or profile.
Later on, we will discuss which platforms these are, but for now, we will focus on the concept.
Other terms used to refer to paid traffic include SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and PPC (Pay Per Click).
Its main premise is to offer website owners (advertisers) the opportunity to pay a fee so that their page, as well as information about a product or service, appears in top positions in search results.
Have you ever searched on Google and seen the first results labeled as “Ads”?
Whenever someone clicks on one of these ads, they are directed to a website.
Thus, we say that the user arrived at this page through a paid result.
Therefore, here you can understand something important about this type of traffic: it requires a financial investment.
Why Invest in Paid Traffic?
To fully understand paid and organic traffic, we need to grasp why these strategies are important.
That’s why we’ve listed two main advantages of investing in paid advertising:
Short-Term Return
Since paid search is quicker to implement, its return also tends to be faster.
This is because, as we will see, organic traffic requires a considerable amount of time for search engines to find the site.
Meanwhile, paid search campaigns can be set up and activated within a day or two.
For this reason, some businesses choose to invest in this strategy as a more aggressive first step to kick-start their marketing efforts.
Qualified Traffic
Between paid and organic traffic, one thing is certain: generating qualified leads (people who are actually considering becoming your customers) can be easier with ads.
This is because they appear in top positions on search engines.
Moreover, these ads usually provide direct answers to users’ specific queries, something that search engines highly value.
Additionally, it is possible to define a specific segmentation for your paid media campaigns, directing your ads only to the audience with the potential to become customers.
Read more: Paid Media: The Complete Guide
How to Run Paid Traffic Campaigns?
Here, we will discuss two ways to execute paid traffic strategies using Google Ads and Social Ads. Check them out below.
Also read: 50 Validated Ad Examples to Generate Leads in 2022
Google Ads (+ YouTube)
Google Ads is Google’s advertising platform.
It is also the most widely used by marketing professionals.
Remember when we mentioned that one of the advantages of paid traffic is a qualified audience?
This happens because, with Google Ads, businesses can segment their target audience based on factors such as interests, location, age group, and more.
The steps to create a campaign on Google Ads are:
- Create an account on the Google Ads page.
- Set up the campaign type (search network, display network, Gmail, Google Shopping, etc.).
- Define the campaign name and start and end dates.
- Perform segmentation.
- Set the budget.
- Choose keywords.
- Structure the ad, including the final URL, headlines, and description.
Google Ads also allows the creation of video campaigns on YouTube.
Also read: Google Ads vs Facebook Ads: Which is Best for Lead Generation?
Social Ads (Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter / TikTok)
Social Ads are advertisements placed on social media platforms.
The tools for these ads are provided by the platforms themselves.
Although not directly related to search engines, this strategy can also be used to drive paid traffic to your site.
Starting with Facebook, the world’s most used social network, the prerequisite for creating an ad is that the business must have a page rather than a personal profile.
Facebook Ads also provide access to other platforms such as Stories, Instagram, and Messenger.
LinkedIn is recommended for those looking to target decision-makers.
Twitter has an ad editing and analytics platform called Twitter Ads.
Through this platform, businesses can create segmented campaigns, such as targeting users watching a specific TV program.
TikTok, a rapidly growing platform, can be an option for those seeking a fresh and innovative way to advertise.
How Much Does Paid Traffic Cost?
The good news is that you don’t need to invest a lot to create ads.
The cost varies significantly depending on the platform used.
Before we dive into that, it’s important to understand that there are two common pricing models:
- Cost Per Click (CPC): The advertiser only pays when a user clicks on the ad. The cost can be set manually or automatically.
- Cost Per Mille (CPM): The advertiser pays when the ad reaches 1,000 impressions.
Since CPC means the advertiser only pays when someone clicks the ad, it is crucial to target the right persona.
After all, you wouldn’t want uninterested users consuming your budget, would you?
On the other hand, CPM is a great option for businesses aiming for brand awareness or increased reach.
In both cases, the campaign will stop running once the allocated budget is used up.
It is possible to start with an initial investment of R$5.00 per day on Google Ads.
The same applies to Facebook.
LinkedIn can be slightly more expensive, depending on the case.
Currently, the minimum daily budget is R$20, and CPC or CPM bids must be at least R$4.00.
For Twitter, campaign costs are determined through an auction model, meaning there is no fixed rate.
Regarding TikTok, the platform requires a minimum daily budget of US$50.
What is Organic Traffic?
Organic traffic refers to visitors who arrive at a website through unpaid search results.
In other words, it is the opposite of paid traffic.
Organic search results appear just below the list of ads.
This type of traffic heavily depends on search engine algorithms.
We will discuss these algorithms in more detail later, but first:
Why Invest in Organic Traffic?
According to a BrightEdge study, B2B companies generate twice as much revenue from organic search than from any other channel.
Undoubtedly, this type of traffic provides long-term benefits.
The main advantages are:
Building Brand Authority
As we will show later, organic traffic is primarily driven by content creation strategies.
Through this approach, a company publishes materials that help customers answer their questions, solve problems, etc.
By doing so, the business demonstrates its expertise in the industry and, more importantly, shows its commitment to assisting its audience.
Stable Long-Term Growth and Results
One of the important questions between paid and organic traffic is how much these strategies help a company grow.
On one hand, a paid strategy can be a good option for short-term results, but on the other, it will not allow for scalable growth.
In other words, to receive more paid traffic, it will always be necessary to increase the investment in these channels.
This is because paid traffic focuses on the present, while organic traffic starts in the present to achieve future results.
How to Generate Organic Traffic?
For good organic traffic, it is essential to focus on the business persona.
The better their experience interacting with the company’s website, the more prominence the company will gain.
Speaking of algorithms, especially Google’s, keep in mind that they determine your page’s positioning in search results.
Therefore, your company’s ranking in search results is very important, as it will be responsible for your website’s traffic.
To improve it and create a high-quality organic strategy, we have listed some actions.
Read also: UTM: Learn What It Is, How It Works, and Its Parameters
Content Marketing
In short, this is an online content creation strategy aimed at getting the persona into the company’s funnel.
It is known as one of the most effective actions to drive traffic to a website.
Creating articles for blogs, sending email marketing campaigns, and posting on social media are all examples of content marketing.
Remember that when adopting this strategy, high-quality information is essential for success.
Read also: Top of the Funnel: Strategies and Content for This Sales Stage
SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is about the process of improving a website.
Its goal is to increase the page’s visibility when people search for products or services on search engines.
The relationship here is very simple: the better a website’s visibility in search results, the higher the chances of attracting good leads. That’s why marketers always aim to optimize SEO.
Some strategies you can start implementing right now include:
- Checking your website’s usability;
- Mapping out keywords used and ensuring they align with the persona; and
- Investing in content marketing.
Social Media
It is also possible to gain organic traffic through social media.
Some ways to do this include creating posts with tips, starting conversations, showing step-by-step instructions in images, sharing information relevant to the persona, among others.
Social media is where content goes viral, so focus on creating materials that can attract as many people as possible to your profile.
From there, they will want to learn more about your business and will inevitably be directed to your website.
Don’t forget that the more visits your page receives, the more Google will see it as relevant.
Remember that the content published on the website can—and should—be shared on social media to further increase its reach.
How Much Does Organic Traffic Cost?
As you might imagine, there is a cost behind good organic traffic that generates leads.
For example, it will be necessary to invest in qualified professionals for content production, website optimization, and SEO.
There are also marketing tools that can help optimize and automate some process phases.
In other words, although it does not involve ads, organic traffic also impacts the marketing budget.
How to Sell Through Organic Traffic?
Consumers’ purchasing decisions are becoming increasingly complex today.
Therefore, even though companies still use strategies based on the traditional sales funnel, this process is changing. The middle of the funnel is becoming more complicated to understand—knowing what customers want at this stage.
With this in mind, if you want to sell through organic traffic, it is important to invest in the quality of your content and the various channels where it can be applied, such as:
- Blogs;
- Email marketing;
- Social media;
- Landing Pages;
- Infographics/Whitepapers;
- Banners.
If you have any questions or want to increase your knowledge on the subject, the CMO and co-founder of Leadster, Gustavo Luby, explains how to turn your company’s blog into a sales channel. Check it out!
Which Generates More Results?
First of all, remember that there is no ready-made formula when it comes to digital marketing. We always deal with many variables and different scenarios.
So, here’s an early tip for you: choose both strategies—organic and paid traffic.
Besides the main difference between the two being cost, the strategies for both types of traffic vary according to your business objective.
And most importantly: they complement each other.
While paid traffic is seen as a great way to direct customers with a higher likelihood of conversion, organic traffic is ideal for ensuring sustainable long-term results.
In other words, this is how organic and paid traffic can be complementary—because the former optimizes website visibility and search rankings, gains authority, serves as a reference, and builds relationships.
And the greater the visibility and brand authority, the better the results with ads, as consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that appears trustworthy.
Comparing the Cost Per Organic Lead vs. Paid Lead
We know that with paid traffic, if there is no investment, over time, it will be difficult to see any progress in lead acquisition. We detail this further in the table below:
In organic traffic, the initial cost per lead requires a larger investment compared to the previous situation.
However, this cost decreases over time due to the already published content, which generates visits and leads, impacting growing numbers. See in the image below.
How to Measure the ROI of Both Strategies?
The first step is to know the strategy’s objective.
It could be getting sign-ups for a webinar, increasing website visits, converting leads, closing sales, and many others.
For organic traffic, Google Analytics can help evaluate website visits, the most accessed articles (for blog posts), and the most clicked links, for example.
It is also possible to determine where this traffic is coming from—whether from an ad, social media, etc.
For paid traffic, platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads also provide conversion information.
This will help define the ROI of each campaign, which, in summary, is:
Total campaign revenue – marketing investments for the campaign
/ marketing investments for the campaign.
Understanding paid and organic traffic is essential for planning a marketing strategy that truly delivers results.
Since both serve different objectives and needs, each fulfills a specific requirement.
However, we emphasize that, in general, it is not about choosing one or the other.
Instead, it is about developing a strategy to improve SEO while also gaining visibility more quickly.
Always remember that everything will depend on factors such as the available budget, persona behavior, and marketing objectives.
To better understand and continue exploring this topic, read also: Why You Should Create a Marketing Strategy Combining Paid Media and Conversational Marketing.
