• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, January 19, 2022

Terakeet has released data from its latest study examining the value of organic search as a driver of revenue and insights. The report compares the impact of organic search to paid search, as well as other marketing channels.

Despite a lower-than-average investment, organic search cost 87.4% less than paid search when it comes to delivering consumers to brand. Audience insights and transparent data driven by the organic search channel far exceed those available from other marketing channels, such as digital advertising, public relations, and email marketing, according to the findings.

Terakeet determined the average customer-acquisition cost difference between organic and paid search by comparing the channel cost and conversion percentage of both channels for its current customers.

The report -- The Compounding Value of Organic Search Report -- compares organic search with two channels: paid search and other, which includes television, print, and radio advertising; partner and affiliate marketing; events; digital ads; and email marketing.

Terakeet Director of Marketing RJ Licata believes the audience combined the growing lack of transparency, banner blindness, and general distrust in online advertising, has helped organic search become a significant business opportunity for brands looking to reach consumers. It’s all about trust driving conversions.

Organic search results are highly trusted, per the study, so it attracts the majority of clicks. Consider that 93% of all web traffic comes from search engines. Then, consider that Google’s organic search results generate nearly 20 times more clicks than the paid ads on desktop and 10-times more on mobile

Organic search also outperforms other channels. Nearly one-third of the budgets spent on online advertisements is lost to fraud. Non-organic search channels offer minimal or inaccurate audience targeting and conversion tracking.

Many companies allocate a significantly larger percentage of their marketing budget to paid media over organic search, and 93% of all online traffic originates from search engines.

Why don’t the majority of U.S. businesses prioritize organic search as a marketing channel? The data suggests that only 10.5% of marketing budgets are allocated to organic search.

For every $79 that customers spent acquiring new business through the paid-search channel, they could have achieved the same results for only $10 through organic search. In one case, the organic search customer acquisition cost was 97.9% lower than paid search, per the study.