Natural search results are always better.  Why getting natural or organic search results are more effective.   By John Bolduan RealWebMarketing.com

If you've seen a search results page lately, you know that there are several ways to find what you're looking for. The pages from the main search engines like Google have sponsored listings on the top and on the side with natural, non-paid listings in the middle. The "natural" or "organic" search results are the ones that most people click on most often and not just a little, a lot more. To get your website listed in the natural search results is always better for a couple of reasons. It technically doesn't cost anything per impression and searchers generally trust natural search results because they aren't paid for.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for paid search which includes sponsored results or a pay-per-click ad. It's just that they're less effective than natural search results. This assumes that your website has a legitimate offering and is not some affiliate site or just a link farm. There is nothing effective about that no matter if it's listed high or not. A paid strategy will make sense when the correct coverage on natural search results is lacking. That is the optimal strategy for that type of advertising. 

Natural search results can make a small business compete with a giant that has deep pockets. It makes that much of a difference. That trust of the natural results also gives your website legitimacy that it wouldn't have with paid results only.

What exactly are natural search results?

These are the results that the search engine has in their database that were listed based on relevancy and was done automatically through a search engine algorithm. These are based on what the page is about, the links to it and it's popularity. It's not something that can be done overnight! It takes a lot of time and effort to make a website a desirable, relevant place to go. These are in the middle of the search engine results page. Anything that is labeled as a sponsored site was paid for through an ad campaign.

What does the future hold, will everything eventually go to a paid basis?

In a word, no. This is the worry of many people who don't understand the search engine's need for revenue yet also the perception of objectivity. Search engines will always show natural search results even in the future because that is what makes them desirable. People want to find results that are as objective as they can be. Search engines know this and have competition themselves for the most relevant results. It relates to ad revenue because a search engine that gets relevant, objective results will have more people using it and be able to make more money on ad campaigns. It's a strange symbiotic relationship between free information and making money, but it's a formula that seem to be working well right now and in the future.

So what makes sense to work on today? Is it the instant gratification of ad marketing? It could be if your marketing a new product or trying to increase exposure in a certain are of your offering. But for most businesses large or small, it's better to take a long term approach to getting natural search results. You will be rewarded with more receptive visitors to your website who will have a higher level of interest. You will also gain credibility as a company that has an invisible, objective stamp of approval. It's very subtle, but that's what make natural search results better, always.