I Beg to Differ! Buying Ads Just Might Be the Ticket To Better Organic Listings

Consider the following post over at SELand:

No, Buying Ads Still Won't Help You With Google's Free Listings

I know, I know. By even suggesting that I disagree with this post, I'm opening myself up to criticism. Let me say that I know, and agree, with the theoretical law of SEM, that Adwords spending will in no way influence one's natural rankings on Google. I know it, you know it, we all know it.

HOWEVER...

What if we look at PPC spending as part of the SEO effort for a webmaster? SEO focuses on increasing your site's visibility. Visibility is affected by several factors, but some major ones include internal accessibility, usability, and overall popularity.

How would you go about increasing your site's overall popularity? Why, you would do whatever you could to get your site's brand name plastered around the internet. You would talk to fellow webmasters about linking to your site, try to get listed on major indexes and directories in your industry, and just get your name out there. Why wouldn't you consider PPC ads as a way to "get your name out there"? Just imagine - someone searches for your product, and there you are, right in front of them, all because you spent a few dollars.

Basically, I'm just contending that anything you can do to increase the number of links to your site out there on the internet - that is a way to increase your site's visibility and influence your site's natural rankings. Increased visibility on a SERP will result in better branding, more link juice, and eventually, better rankings.

Now, we all know about cannibalization, as well as a slew of other issues that this post raises. I know that there are other issues involved, but all I'm saying is that it may be indirect, but PPC ads can eventually influence your natural listings, if they contribute directly to the traffic on your site.



More later.