Organic optimization shouldn’t be a new message. In fact it should be seventy percent organic 30 percent sponsored. Study after study has shown that about 70 percent of all search engine clicks happen on the organic results. Yet sponsored search continues to take the spotlight and the lion’s share of the budget, while for many, organic optimization seems stuck as a little understood and even less trusted tactic only fully utilized by online casinos and porn merchants.
Seventy percent researchers 30 percent purchasers. When is a consumer likely to use a search engine? When they’re ready to buy? No! It’s when they’re researching the buy. And most likely, they’re very high in the consideration phase, just checking out the competitive landscape. This varies with the type of purchase, but usually the search sweet spot is for a product where there is little familiarity, where there is a significant amount of consumer research and consideration, and where there is a lead time of a month or two before the purchase.