Simple Facts Non-Profits Must Know About Search Engines

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If you are unfamiliar with search engine marketing, this may be the quickest way to clear up what tends to be the most confusing aspect of all - the difference between organic searches and paid advertising on search engine pages. The screenshot shown below shows what happens when you enter a search phrase into the google search engine. In this case, I entered the term "playground equipment."

The three regions can be used to highlight and explain the difference between organic searches and paid advertising. Most search engines have similar interfaces.

1. Organic Search - This area is created by Google's search engine application. Google is basically saying that the most relevant web sites they found on the Internet relative to your search phrase are listed here. These web sites did not pay directly for this placement, they were just found to be the most relevant based on a wide variety of factors that I have discussed in previous posts (see "Basics of Search Engine Optimization" blog entries) .
2. & 3. Both areas 2 & 3 are places where paid advertisements are typically located on a search engine results page. These folks are bidding a certain amount per-click to be listed on that page based on the search term used. The higher they bid, the higher on the page they will be located, with the top location in area 2 going to the highest bidder(s). This is possibly one of the best examples of supply and demand in action that I have seen.

You may ask what I mean by "pay-per-click." This simply means that when an ad is placed in this format, you only have to pay when someone clicks on the ad and goes to your web site. No more sleepless nights wondering if that $15,000 you spent per ad in the Wall Street Journal is paying off. These ads only cost you money when they do pay off. Of course, it is up to you to convert that click-through into an actual student. In fact, the conversion is the real challenge. Unfortunately, education is one of the highest revenue sources for search engines with bids going as high as $40.00 per click! The good news, in terms of paid advertising on search engines is that Adaptive Campus has developed techniques to bid significantly less than this, typically measured in cents, rather than dollars. We also specialize in ways to convert the click-through that has been generated into an actual student. It is difficult to outline these strategies in a blog post though, because it is very specific to each campaign. But I will continue to provide general advice through this blog in the upcoming months that should still provide helpful techniques for improving your outreach efforts.