Organic vs Paid Search: Which is Right for Your Business?

When driving traffic to your website, you may be deliberating which side to favour in the organic vs paid search debate.

Both strategies have unique advantages and challenges, but the right choice depends on your business goals, budget, and short and long-term vision.

In this blog, we’ll break down the key differences between organic and paid search, and explore the benefits and drawbacks of each to help you make an informed decision.

Organic vs paid search: What’s the difference?

Before deciding whether organic or paid search is right for your business, first, you need to understand the difference between the two available options.

What is organic search?

Organic search comprises unpaid, natural results generated on a search engine results page (SERP) when a user enters a query.

Results are ranked based on relevance to the search term, defined by the search engine's algorithms.

Organic search results aren’t affected by paid advertisements but are driven by factors such as keyword relevance, website authority, content quality, and user experience.

The goal of organic search optimisation, (search engine optimisation (SEO)) is to improve your website's visibility and ranking in these unpaid search results to drive traffic, increase credibility, and attract potential customers.

What is paid search?

Paid search, often referred to as search engine marketing (SEM), is a form of online advertising where businesses pay search engines like Google or Bing to display their ads at the top or near the top of search engine results pages (SERPs).

These ads are triggered by specific keywords that users search for and are typically marked as 'sponsored' or 'ad.'

Paid search operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, meaning advertisers pay a fee each time someone clicks on their ad. The main goal is to drive traffic to a website, generate leads, or increase sales by targeting users actively searching for relevant products or services.

This approach can deliver highly targeted visibility because ads appear when users are already seeking related information.

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See first-hand how we've helped companies execute successful campaigns using organic and paid search.

Organic vs paid search: Pros and cons

Organic and paid search strategies each offer their own set of advantages and challenges.

In this section, we’ll explore the pros and cons of both organic and paid search, helping you determine which strategy—or combination of strategies—suits your business goals.

Pros of organic search

One of the greatest advantages of organic search is its cost-effectiveness. Unlike paid search, which requires an ongoing financial investment, organic search involves no direct costs aside from the time and effort of copywriters and subject matter experts.

By focusing on creating high-quality, relevant content, businesses can achieve lasting visibility without the need for continuous spending.

Organic search is inherently tied to content marketing, where valuable information, guides, and insights are shared with your target audience. This helps position your brand as a trusted resource.

When potential customers see you as knowledgeable and helpful, they’re more likely to view your business positively, which can lead to increased brand loyalty and customer advocacy.

Unlike paid search, which only delivers results if you continue paying for ads, organic search has long-term benefits.

SEO efforts build authority, meaning that as you consistently produce quality content, your website will rank higher for key search terms. This results in sustainable, ongoing traffic that remains once the budget runs out. The more relevant content you create, the more opportunities you have to rank, making organic search a powerful long-term strategy for driving traffic.

Cons of organic search

Organic search isn’t a quick win; it’s a long-term strategy that requires patience.

Though content repurposing can alleviate your workload, building content that resonates with your audience and ranks well on search engines takes considerable time and research.

Unlike paid search, where results are almost immediate, SEO can take months before you see a significant impact. This is worth considering if you’re looking for a quick outcome.

In competitive industries, ranking for the most relevant keywords can be extremely difficult.
For example, competing for keywords like ‘marketing services’ in the digital marketing space can be tough due to the sheer volume of competitors targeting the same terms.

This means you must invest heavily in high-quality content and long-term SEO efforts to have a chance of ranking against more established competitors.

One of the inherent risks of organic search is its dependency on search engine algorithms, which are continually evolving - what worked five years ago may not be effective today.

Even the most optimised content can be affected by unexpected algorithm changes, potentially lowering your rankings. To mitigate this, it’s essential to regularly monitor SEO trends, update old content, and adjust your strategy to stay aligned with the latest best practices.

Pros of paid search

One of the key advantages of paid search is the ability to achieve immediate visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).

While organic search can take months to yield results, paid search allows you to rank instantly for highly competitive terms by simply paying for the placement. This is particularly valuable for businesses that want to quickly gain traction in their market and reach potential customers without the wait associated with SEO.

Paid search offers precise control over who sees your ads, allowing you to directly target your core ideal customer profile (ICP) based on demographics, location, interests, and search behaviour.

This ensures you’re always in front of the right buyers at the right time. Additionally, paid search provides flexibility in budgeting, allowing you to allocate spending based on performance and scale up or down as needed.

One of the major benefits of paid search is the ability to track and measure return on investment (ROI) with a high degree of accuracy.

While content marketing can make it challenging to attribute revenue directly, platforms like Google and Bing Ads provide detailed analytics on individual ads, landing pages, and conversions. This means you can see which ads drive leads, sales, and revenue, allowing for data-driven decision-making and optimisation of future campaigns.

Cons of paid search

While paid search offers immediate visibility, the cost can escalate quickly, particularly when targeting competitive keywords with high commercial intent.

Industries like finance or digital marketing often see fierce competition, and bidding for popular terms can drive costs up significantly. This can make paid search less viable for businesses with limited budgets, as maintaining top ad placements can become prohibitively expensive.

Another drawback of paid search is its lack of sustainability. Unlike organic search, where rankings can continue generating traffic over time, paid search only delivers results as long as you keep paying. Once the budget runs out, so does the traffic.

This makes it crucial for businesses to have a consistent advertising budget to maintain visibility, or risk seeing an immediate drop-off in leads and sales when ads are paused.

Despite the reputation of paid ads, many users are inclined to trust organic search results more than paid ones. Organic results are often viewed as more informative and credible since they’ve earned their position rather than paid for it.

This can make paid search feel intrusive, as some users may view ads as interruptions to their browsing or shopping experience. As a result, organic rankings often hold more long-term value in building trust with potential customers.

Read Our Case Studies

Learn how we've supported our clients to reap the benefits of organic and social search, whilst avoiding the pitfalls.

Organic vs paid search: What’s the answer?

When driving traffic, the real answer isn’t choosing between organic or paid search but rather using them together.

If you’re looking for an immediate boost, paid ads can quickly drive visitors to your offer or homepage. However, by investing in SEO and building a solid content marketing strategy, you can create a sustainable flow of traffic where people find you naturally—without needing to pay for every click.

Combining both methods goes a long way in delivering both short-term results and long-term growth.

Maximise your reach with a balanced search strategy

There isn’t a definitive ‘winner’ of the organic vs paid search debate - it isn't about picking one over the other.

Rather, you must find the right mix that aligns with your business goals, budget, and timeline. Organic search offers long-term sustainability and builds trust with your audience through valuable content.

Paid search, on the other hand, provides immediate visibility and precise targeting, allowing you to reach potential customers quickly and effectively.

By combining both strategies, you can enjoy the immediate benefits of paid ads while investing in organic growth that delivers ongoing results. Combining the two makes you visible to your target audience when they need you most and builds ongoing relationships.

At Axon Garside, we've helped businesses achieve outstanding results by incorporating the strengths of both organic and paid search.

Explore the success stories of companies we've supported, across various industries.