Why not just use Overture and Google's AdWords and forget about SEO? Let's look at some basic realities of web search. People do not go to search engines for paid listings. If they did, Overture would be the most popular search engine in the world, rather than pulling in less than 2% of all search portal traffic. Google is the most popular search engine, and, not coincidentally, they have never compromised the quality of their search returns. Any sponsored links are clearly identified and are removed from the main search listings. People go to search engines for relevant, unbiased search results.

Consider search engine optimization the same as you would word of mouth advertising, media exposure or public relations. It's exposure that comes with a very high degree of credibility and trust. Traffic coming from traditional search listings tends to have high conversion rates.

There's another advantage to traditional search listings. They are considered unbiased and non commercial. We have seen traditional search perform very well at certain points in the buying process. When consumers are gathering information about a purchase, they show a marked preference for traditional search listings. When they are ready to buy online, they seem to have less bias against paid placement listings and the likelihood to click on one of these listings increases.