I've been using Adwords for over a year now to increase traffic to my online store, and I'm happy with the program's performance. However, I've also noticed a significant improvement in my site's natural search engine rankings, and I'm wondering whether this means I should disable (or bid less for) some of my keyphrases. For example, searching for a very specific Keyphrase X on Google shows my site as the #1 sponsored link, AND as the #1 organic link. Presumably people who are interested in what I sell would click that organic link anyway; is it worth paying $.50 for some of these clicks just for a little more visual prominence? What if my site is the #3 or #4 organic link for a certain keyphrase? What if it's #10, which probably requires some scrolling to see? What if it's on the second page? I know this is a pretty big question that has no definite answer, but any advice would be much appreciated!
Step 1) track a week's worth of traffic with things the way they are Step 2) disable the advertising for 1-2 phrases you're ranked well for organically Step 3) track a week's worth of traffic Step 4) compare week 1 to week 2 as far as traffic from those keywords from Google This should give you an idea of whether turning off the advertising makes a difference. If it DOES make a difference, you've got to further evaluate the difference and decide based on what you see.
Good advice given there by leif, I've often wondered about this when I have seen the top organic link as the top paid for one as well. I know that when i do see it I tend to click on the organic one - I think that comes from being an advertiser myself.
Some searchers only look at sponsored ads as they are more targeted. Also with adwords your ad should be designed around a specific keyword so that it is targeted with laser point precision. As long as the term is performing for you I see no reason to stop it but you could test as stated above.
Opinions may vary but I always maintain AdWords for terms I rank orgnaically for. Among other reasons organic rankings change - AdWords helps insulate you from those changes.
It's been proven that people are more likely to buy from you if you have your listings in the organic section as well as AdWords. People figure if you're on the results page twice, you must be relevant. Use Google Analytics to track sales coming in from google's organic search, as well as PPC. As long as you're at breakeven or profiting through Adwords, keep using PPC to gain exposure. Keep split testing ads and landing pages and your competitors will soon drop out.
I have read having a ppc ad by your organic listing has a 1+1 = 3 effect. I would attribute it to having an ad by an article about the same company in a newspaper. The user/reader gives more credit to the ad, and pays more attention to it by seeing the organic listing.