Making organic search optimization work with paid listings

Some retailers are turning to organic search as a way of lessening their dependence on paid search, says Laura Thieme, president of Bizresearch, a Columbus, OH-based search engine marketing firm.

“Larger retailers have been doing paid for a long time–three years or more–and they’re realizing the value of an organic listing,” Thieme tells Internet Retailer. “They’re realizing that they could be bringing in far more profitable business if they were able to achieve organic listings.”

Optimizing web pages to place higher in organic searches doesn’t replace paid campaigns, she says. “We’re hearing over and over from retailers that it’s to lessen their dependence on paid,” she says.

If the budget for paid listings runs out, sales drop substantially for retailers who aren’t listed high in organic searches, Thieme says. “If they have no organic search, the phones stop ringing and their shopping carts stop filling up when the paid search stops,” she adds.

Companies like Bizresearch redesign retailers’ web pages to make the sites score higher in organic searches. They also manage the purchase of keywords to place sites higher in search results or ad placements.