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Search engine optimization and keyword advertising are the yin and yang of Web traffic generation.  According to Chinese philosophy (and Wikipedia), yin and yang are the "antitheses or mutual correlations that create a unity of opposites - or a complementary aspect of one phenomena" (such as, getting more people to your Website).

1. Yin-Yang Are Opposing.

Search engine optimization is free.  Keyword advertising costs money.  They are, in effect, opposites.  Yet, both work to get more "eyeballs" to your site and your issue.  As the name suggests, keyword ads work by displaying a sponsored text advertisement when a Web searcher enters a related keyword into a search engine.  Search engine optimization works by displaying free information about your Website, ideally at the top of a search engine when someone enters a keyword.

2. Yin-Yang Are Mutually Rooted.

SEO and keyword advertising represent the key online methods available to reach a Web searcher in the act of looking for content about your issue on a search engine.

As a paid form of advertising, keyword advertising is highly targeted.  Not only are keyword ads "contextually" targeted to the specific content of the search, they are easily geotargeted to display ads only when Web surfers from the right ZIP code, city, or state enter they keyword in the search field.  This makes keyword advertising ideal for legislative and political campaigns, where organizations or candidates wants to reach supporters in key districts or precincts.  At the American Association of Political Consultants conference in March, it was reported that the McCain campaign has included literally thousands of keywords in its keyword advertising buy.

As an "earned" form of advertising, search engine optimization can also be targeted, contextually - and to a lesser extent - geotargeted.  While it's not possible for an organization's issue only to display for people in a specific ZIP code, it is possible to optimize your site so that it is easily found by people living in key communities.

3. Yin-Yang Mutually Transform.

According to the third law, when one reaches the maximum effect of one quality (such as earned search results), it is followed by a transition toward the other quality (such as pay-per-click results using keyword advertising).  For anyone interested in maximizing traffic to their site using search, this transformation is nothing short of preservation - do as much as you can to boost your site's relevance using SEO and then do more with paid search results. 

4. Yin-Yang Mutually Wax and Wane.

If your goal is to boost Website traffic during the month by 20 percent, your desired result is constant.  The strategies you apply are dynamic; as the results of SEO increase, your need to pay for search results decreases.

How Much Yin for Yang?

On Google and on most search engines, keyword advertising is placed on a "bid per click" or "cost per click" basis.  This means, your organization pays for what it gets.  If an organization bids for its text ad to display when a user enters a search term, such as "Election 2008," it agrees it will pay 75 cents, for instance, whenever someone enters the search term and clicks on the text ad.  It's important to note that the organization doesn't pay for the ad to appear - only when someone actually clicks on the ad.  

Keyword ads can be a great way to get more exposure for your organization and issue, but like many tools they won't work well unless you know how to use them - part of this means choosing the best keywords. Popular keywords can be very expensive and may not be as successful as a less popular but more relevant phrase. For example, a healthcare campaign has decided to advertise through Google AdWords, and has to decide between two keywords. They could pay for the keyword "Medicare," a very popular keyword with a lot of competition. Alternatively, they could choose a much less popular phrase "Medicare reform." The latter keyword would most likely be the better choice because it's targeted to the issue, and for the same budget they could obtain three of four times the degree of exposure.

Determining the most cost-effective keywords and optimizing keyword advertising over the life of a campaign takes time and effort.  If you'd rather turn to a firm that specializes in getting the most from your traffic-driving budget, call on 720.  We'll use your yen to create traffic-driving Zen for you - and your Website.

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