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  • Paid vs. Organic Search Study, Compares Conversion Rates


  • 09/29/2006 -
    Paid vs. Organic Search Study, Compares Conversion Rates
    San Diego, California - September 29, 2006 - According to a recent study by on-demand Digital Marketing and real-time enterprise analytics solutions provider, WebSideStory, Inc., paid search has only a slight 9 percent edge in conversion rates over organic search.

    In the study of leading business-to-consumer (B2C), e-commerce sites, during the first eight months of this year, paid search -- keywords bought on a pay-per-click basis at search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN -- had a median order conversion rate of 3.40 percent at business-to-consumer e-commerce sites using the company's HBX Analytics technology. This compared to a conversion rate of 3.13 percent for organic search results, defined as non-paid or natural search engine listings, during the same January-to-August timeframe, according to the WebSideStory Index, a compilation of e-commerce, site search and global Internet user trends. The study analyzed more than 57 million search engine visits. Order conversions occurred during the same session.

    Ali Behnam, Senior Digital Marketing Consultant for WebSideStory explained, ''For both paid and Organic Search , you have highly qualified traffic that converts far above the overall conversion rate of about 2 percent for most e-commerce sites. In the case of paid search, marketers have better control over the environment, including the message, the landing page and the ability to eliminate low-converting keywords.''

    Heather Lloyd-Martin, an author and the President and CEO of SuccessWorks added, ''There is a strong synergy between paid and organic search. The bottom line is that marketers need to optimize both to achieve maximum results.''

    Mr. Behnam added, " With conversion rates 50 percent or higher than overall site conversion rates, both paid and organic search remain a very important acquisition source for online marketers. However, it is important to note that these are not typical results. Our clients are steeped in web analytics best practices and understand better than most how to truly optimize their search engine marketing campaigns and conversion rates."

    HBX Analytics is an award-winning on-demand web analytics solution providing actionable analysis of online visitor and customer behavior. HBX Analytics is part of the WebSideStory suite of integrated, on-demand digital marketing services, including web analytics, site search, web content management and keyword bid management. More than 1,500 enterprises worldwide use one or more applications within the suite.

    According to the report, more than 57 million search engine visits to nearly 20 major business-to-consumer e-commerce sites using WebSideStory's on-demand web analytics technology. The sites generate an estimated $2.5 billion per year in online sales. Order conversions occurred during the same sessions. About WebSideStory, Inc.

    Founded in 1996, WebSideStory, Inc., a provider of on-demand digital marketing and real-time enterprise analytics solutions that improve online marketing, sales and business operations. Its Active Marketing Suite consists of web analytics, site search, web content management, and keyword bid management. WebSideStory also provides enterprise analytics solutions through its wholly owned subsidiary, Visual Sciences, LLC, a provider of streaming data analysis and visualization software. WebSideStory is headquartered in San Diego, California, and has European headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.



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