A high, "natural" or organic site ranking is imperative to your site's success. There is another option, however, to increase site traffic: paid per click ads. Let's look at how these forms of advertisement differ from one-another.

Surf to google.com and search for something of interest-chances are, you'll see relevant, natural results on the left. Look to your right, and you'll see paid searches as well. Visibility, here, is the first difference between natural and paid search results.

Which results "pop" out to you the most? Most viewers have the distinction and tradition of reading left-to-right, and chances are, you just did. An individual accustomed to this tradition will therefore always read natural searches first.

Web sites build reputation just as brick-and-mortar businesses; and as any entrepreneur will tell you, reputation requires repetition-often a lengthy process. Search results are no different; here, paid advertisements have the clear advantage.

Natural searches usually take months to years to reach the first page of search results (depending on how completive your keyword search is). This is no guarantee either; as previously discussed, your site's quality of content is crucial. With paid advertisements, months compress to mere days; and as they say, time is money. If you're just starting out, both ads are essential, but a paid search is more practical in the short-run.

In addition, today's market place is more informed than ever, and most have developed a keen sense of trust concerning web sites. As a rule of thumb, a high "natural" search result will seem trust worthier than paid searches due to reputation.

As we've seen, paid ads tend to produce quicker results at a higher price-and receiving a top search result is no different. It is often very difficult to earn a high "organic" rating. At a high enough bid, it can be easy to gain a top paid result.

We've looked at the aesthetics, rapidity, trust, difficulty and costs, but the fundamental question remains: which produces a greater traffic volume? With "organic" search results, receiving a greater traffic volume is a function of the quality of the site; namely, the positioning of keywords. Both types have the potential of producing high traffic volumes, but paid ads tend to produce a more reliable volume in the short-run.

You may be apprehensive about the cost of PPC ads, but if you're just starting out, this may be the only way to generate a decent level of traffic to your site. PPC ads allow a business' site time to evolve into a "natural" search powerhouse, allowing a sufficient traffic volume to sustain your business.

PPC ads generate moderate to high traffic at moderate to high costs-typically $1500 to $3000 a month; in the short-run, this is most likely a necessary expense.  A "natural" search result normally generates low to moderate traffic at a very low cost.

You may need to outsource site development as business increases. Outsourcing SEO begins at about $1500 per month for the first few months but increase to $10,000 or more, dependant on site size and competition for key words. In the end, natural search results are more cost effective, lowering average costs per sale and help to ensure a sustainable business.

Though a combination of a good natural ranking and paid search results are largely desirable, there are instances where paid searches should not be used.

Firstly, breaking even may be difficult if the price of products is too low, or if traffic is through an affiliate's site.

Secondly, PPC will not be cost-effective if your landing pages aren't yet optimized for a high conversion rate; I recommend split-testing software for accuracy.

Finally, do not use PPC services if your site already has a high natural ranking; increased PPC traffic does not guarantee an increase in sales.

If you're considering using PPC ads to boost short-term sales, experience is expressive; it will take several weeks to tweak key words for optimal ad effectiveness. A trial of two or three months will usually provide enough data to determine its success.