Basics of Search Engine Optimization for Education - Tip #2 - Pay-Per-Click Links

Printer-friendly version

Tip #2 - Pay-Per-Click Links - Yes, it is true that this is an extension of tip #3, off site optimization, but this deserves its own individual mention. I have often been asked if the larger companies out there have ever bought their way into the organic searches. Google and Yahoo both have official stances that this is not possible and against their policies. Perhaps if you are among the paranoid or have just lost complete trust in Corporate America, you may be convinced that there are some shady deals going on behind the scenes. I can only tell you what I know, which is that without a doubt, if you spend money on a Pay-Per-Click campaign through one or both of these search engines, you will significantly improve your placement in organic search engine placement. However, rather than go the route of conspiracy theories, let me suggest a logical explanation that doesn't result in calling Google liars and having our web site erased from the web. This all goes back to the linking-from-other-web-site factor mentioned in tip #3 Google has some of the most popular places on the Internet for their Pay-Per-Click ads, no just through search engines, but through their content partners as well. When you have an ad on one of these popular pages liking to your webpage, it creates the same effect as if you had sent an email to the owner of that web site and requested that they link to your web site. So in essence, the more you spend to place ads through Google, the higher you will place. But to be fair to Google, it doesn't seem to be due to any sinister activities on Google's behalf, it is more likely due to the affects of ad placement on the natural algorithms of the search engine crawler.