Does paying for AdWords improve your organic SEO?
Daria Isanska - 3 May 2016
At Wagada we are passionate about helping our customers achieve great organic SEO. This means that clients can get high up in the search engines without having to pay Google for the privilege. However there has always been some controversy around whether paying for Google AdWords can actually improve organic SEO too. This question has been much debated in the SEO world and we think it is actually one of the longest running SEO myths that we have seen!
So let’s take a look at this rumour and see if there is any truth in it or not…
What Google says about AdWords and organic SEO
When Google have been challenged on the subject they have always denied that AdWords helps to improve your organic SEO. In fact in their Google support documents, they make the clear statement that, “Investment in paid search has no impact on your organic search ranking. Google maintains a strict separation between our search business and our advertising business”. So that seems pretty clear from their perspective, but why are some people still sceptical?
What SEOs say about AdWords and organic SEO
Most SEOs know that optimising your website for success in the search engine rankings is a fine art. In fact, at Wagada we often compare it to baking a cake as there can be many variables involved in getting on the coveted first page of Google. So, like baking, you may need to tailor your ingredients to get the best result, and we have seen that there are in fact many benefits to AdWords that can indirectly lead to a boost for your organic SEO.
The secondary benefits of AdWords for organic SEO
Whilst Google is clear that there is not a direct correlation between the two we have noticed that an AdWords campaign can boost organic SEO in a number of ways. Firstly an AdWords Campaign can raise your online profile. Increased traffic leads to more brand searches and often customers who find your site the first time via AdWords may come back later to the site and click on an organic advert.
An increased brand profile also means that you might be more likely to get a sale from a potential customer who has previously seen your product or service before in AdWords. In addition to this if your AdWords campaign includes reference to interesting and relevant content then people may pick up on and you may see an increase in your social shares. Another website owner may spot an interesting article on your website after finding the website on Adwords and decide to link to you – which would provide a fantastic link building opportunity that could boost your organic website ranking.
AdWords is also a great way to boost traffic in the short term and we have found that it works particularly well to kickstart new businesses. Once customers have found you, they could return again and again therefore boosting your organic search traffic.
So as we can see there is in fact an element of truth in this SEO myth that AdWords can help improve your organic SEO too! AdWords can help to provide a short term SEO boost. If you have a good quality website with relevant and fresh content the people who find your site via an AdWords campaign are likely to return to your site, share your content and link to your site – all of which will really help your organic SEO. As a Google Partner, we are able to deliver a tailor made and up-to-date service to our clients. Find out more about how Wagada could help manage your Google Ads account.
