CAN RESULTS BE GUARANTEED?

Although search advertising and search engine optimization share a common goal -- improving search engine visibility and results -- they are really two very different things.

Pay-per-click advertising is like any other form of media buying. It's predictable, measurable and sustainable -- as long as your budget can accommodate current market rates. It's also controllable and fast. Marketers write their own ad copy, and ads can be up and running in a matter of hours.

Search engine optimization, on the other hand, does not involve buying media or paying for guaranteed results. It's more similar to public relations in that you are trying to accurately communicate what your business and website are all about. You're trying to influence the way search engines represent your site. SEO is based on ever changing, non-published algorithms and depends on crawlers finding your content. For these reasons, SEO is not fast, predictable or necessarily stable over time.

The most successful search engine marketing programs involve both optimization and paid advertising. This allows marketers to capitalize on the relative strengths and weaknesses of each approach and typically yields the best results.