Relevance pays off: The nuts and bolts of SEA and SEO

When we search for something - whether information, service or product - we use Google. The search engine not only knows our search terms, but also knows better and better what we actually want to find.

The direction of the flow of information in advertising has changed fundamentally. Fewer and fewer people watch TV and are reached by TV advertising that supposedly has a wide reach. Fewer and fewer are turning onto this communicative one-way street. Instead, people are surfing online in search of specific information.

For example, a few days ago they saw an advertisement for a product that interests them today. Unfortunately, they don't remember what the product or brand was called. With nothing more than a few vague product characteristics, they go searching. Just feed the search engine we trust with the available info and the problem is solved. Google shows the pages first whose content is most relevant to the search. Only paid Google Ads ads still appear on the SERPs above content that ranks high organically. Google Ads, Google Shopping and other bookable ad spaces now crowd closely above the actual search results, drawing attention with images and direct purchase options.

SEA: Paid visibility

The problem with this paid placement: once the advertising budget is used up, visibility dwindles. An organic ranking on page 1 of Google search results is significantly more stable and sustainable in comparison. In order to advance to this position, it used to take a massive amount of information on a particular topic. The website with the largest amount of information was classified as relevant by outdated algorithms and therefore displayed far in front in the search results.

Google's quality-conscious algorithm

In the meantime, the much more complex algorithm behind the search engine defines relevance quite differently: now, quality takes precedence over quantity. But what does "quality" mean for Google? Google classifies high-quality content as content that is treated as such by users. How many links from other pages refer to the content? Is the content also highly traded in social networks, i.e. frequently recommended by real people, and have they given it a Like?

If you manage to have your offer rated as relevant by enough users on the web, your website will almost certainly be high up on the results pages. If the user now clicks on your offer, you have taken the first step - congratulations!

We will explain which hurdles await your customers in your online store in another blog post. If you already have questions about which strategy you can use to increase the visibility of your online offer in the relevant search results, feel free to contact our expert André Reß.