Aside from your email list (you DO have an email list, right?), search engines consistently drive some of the most valuable traffic for business websites. Users who actively seek your products or services through search engines are often ready to convert, making this traffic particularly valuable.

At VIA Studio, we recommend a balanced approach: leveraging both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Search (PPC) tactics. SEO offers sustainable, long-term growth, while Paid Search can deliver immediate results.

SEO is about improving your website's visibility organically on search engines. The process involves:


Identifying and incorporating relevant terms to attract targeted traffic.


Crafting valuable content that directly addresses user intent, thus enhancing relevance and engagement.


Ensuring your website meets search engine standards by improving site speed and structure.


Acquiring backlinks from reputable sources to enhance your site's credibility.

SEO's strengths lie in its cost-effectiveness, long-term sustainability, and ability to build authority and trust. However, SEO takes time to show results, is dependent on frequently changing algorithms, and can be highly competitive, especially for popular keywords. It may not be as cost-effective if it takes too long to show results.

Paid Search involves purchasing ads on platforms like Google Ads, prominently displayed in search engine results. Advertisers bid on keywords, which determines ad placement. Ads are clearly marked and placed prominently, typically at the top of the results page. Paid search allows precise targeting beyond just keywords, letting you reach specific audiences based on geography, demographics, device usage, and behaviors.

Paid search provides immediate visibility and traffic, high control over targeting, and scalability aligned with your budget. The primary limitations include ongoing costs, the perceived lower credibility of ads compared to organic results, and the need for continuous optimization to maintain effectiveness and ROI.

Longevity: Long-term impact, builds cumulatively

Scalability: Scalable with some technical constraints

Performance Tracking: Complex analysis (SEMRush, Ahrefs)

Longevity: Short-term impact, reliant on ongoing investment

Scalability: Highly scalable based on budget

Performance Tracking: Straightforward metrics (CTR, CPC, ROAS)

SEO is ideal if you’re seeking sustainable, long-term growth and have limited resources for paid media. It’s particularly effective for establishing your business as an authority within your industry. Effective tactics include:

Conducting regular keyword analysis and optimizations

Continuously improving your website’s technical performance

Paid search is particularly effective for product launches, new initiatives, time-sensitive promotions, or when targeting very specific, niche audiences. Strategic budgeting, constant campaign monitoring, and precision targeting can help maximize your return on investment in these scenarios.

Combining these strategies provides significant advantages. Paid search offers immediate visibility, complementing SEO's gradual organic growth. Insights from paid campaigns can refine your SEO strategy, helping you avoid expensive paid keywords by ranking organically instead. Paid search can also supplement organic traffic, reaching new or specific audience segments efficiently. Testing new messages or content ideas with paid search can inform and strengthen your long-term SEO strategy, providing a balanced, data-driven approach to growth.

specific business goals and market conditions

 should guide the balance between SEO and paid search. Begin by analyzing your current search rankings, keyword effectiveness, and conversion paths. VIA Studio can provide detailed audits and strategic recommendations tailored precisely to your objectives.

Connect with VIA Studio to optimize your search strategy.

Content Strategy

Advertising

Finding the Right Mix for Your Marketing: SEO vs Paid Search

Why did the marketer break up with the SEO specialist? 

Because he couldn't rank their relationship high enough!

OK, OK... we love our Dad jokes here, but seriously...

Search engine optimization (SEO) remains essential for website success, with organic search consistently delivering significant traffic, conversions, and brand discovery opportunities. AI has transformed traditional SEO strategies by enhancing content creation capabilities, analyzing detailed website data, and identifying trends that can inform strategic decisions.

Artificial Intelligence allows computers to handle tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as problem-solving, decision-making support, language comprehension, and data analysis. In marketing, AI has become crucial, aiding with content ideation, coding support, and enhancing content quality through tools like Grammarly. However, AI should complement, not replace, the authenticity and creativity of human-generated content.

In the marketing world, AI tools have rapidly become indispensable, aiding with content ideation, providing coding support, conducting data analysis, and enhancing content quality through editing tools such as Grammarly. Despite these advantages, it's crucial to view AI as 

 rather than a replacement for authentic human creativity and voice.

Google's AI Integration and Its Implications

Google continues to integrate AI into its core search algorithms, significantly impacting how content is discovered and consumed. Google’s continued integration of AI significantly impacts content discovery:

 Improves Google's understanding of language nuances.

 Enhances context comprehension in search queries.

 Provides immediate AI-generated answers in search results, reducing the need for users to click through to websites, thereby challenging the value of traditional SEO rankings.

These AI-driven features can reduce clicks to traditional content, altering the significance of top-ranking positions on search engine results pages. Check out our article on 

Google hasn't provided any special techniques to appear in AI-driven summaries, so brands must adhere to standard SEO best practices. Additionally, due to occasional inaccuracies in AI-generated content, always verify the information independently.

Businesses should strategically leverage AI to:

Identify content gaps and opportunities for new topics.

Predict and target conversational and long-tail keywords based on user intent, using tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Surfer SEO.

Important Considerations for Integrating AI

Integrating AI effectively involves balancing automation with human oversight and adhering strictly to Google's E-E-A-T framework (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Human review ensures content accuracy, creativity, and genuine engagement.

To effectively navigate SEO in this AI-driven landscape, businesses should strategically apply AI insights, maintain a balance with human-generated content, and continuously adapt to technological advancements to remain competitive and relevant.

 to learn how we can help optimize your SEO strategies through AI-driven solutions.

Marketing Strategy

AI and SEO: New Rules for Success

Web Design

Websites

User Experience

UX / UI

Neighborhood House Website

Custom Dev

Frontend Development

Ecommerce

Stave & Thief Society

Content strategy is the delicate art of deciding what to say, when to say it and where to say it. Contemporary audiences interact with your brand on many different platforms at different points in their journey to becoming a customer. Through our user-focused content processes, we can help you make informed decisions on what to say, when to say it and where to say it.

Content Strategy

Content Strategy: Case Studies

01

Neighborhood House Website

02

Stave & Thief Society

Content Strategy: Blog Posts

Finding the Right Mix for Your Marketing: SEO vs Paid Search

AI and SEO: New Rules for Success