There are several ways to generate traffic to your website. The best source of traffic is free. The best source of traffic is organic traffic.
Organic traffic is the result of the patience and hard work you have put in to generate rankings through content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).
Paid traffic on the other hand may some merit, especially if your website is up and running and you are already generating your organic traffic.
There are three types of paid traffic:
- Pay per click
- YouTube (video)
Pay Per Click
The image shows a typical search engine results page (SERP). A SERP is generated when using particular keywords to generate a search.
Organic search are the webpages which appear in area C and are the result of content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). Results in area C are the most credible and trusted.
Pay per click advertising includes clickthrough ads (area B) and banner ads (area A). There is no difference between ads in A or B except the price paid by the advertiser (i.e. you).
Paid ads appear based upon the original keywords used to generate this particular search. The advertiser chooses the keywords for which the ads should be displayed.
YouTube
Using similar techniques, YouTube presents video ads to the viewer based upon the keyword used to find video content and based upon the subject of viewed videos.
Pay per click and YouTube ads use very similar methods of presenting ads.
Facebook Advertising
Facebook boosts may provide the best method for “laser targeting” an audience, that is, your ability to display your ads based upon your exact criteria (age, zip code, preferences, etc.). Facebook uses a combination of demographic information, behaviors (what you and your contacts do on FB) and contact information (your friends) to give the best targeted attention compared to other platforms.
In short, Facebook advertising gives you better methods to target your audience.
Paid Advertising vs. Organic Search
Without out a doubt, consider paid advertising, or paid search, only after your website is already generating organic traffic (you are writing articles and using SEO). Also, paid advertising may be better for advertising goods compared to services.