No one will ever deny that Paid Search is a great way to generate revenue for a company. The statistics are staggering, and for our purposes don't even need to be repeated. Everyone knows that between Google, Yahoo, and MSN that a boatload of people are searching for millions of things every single day, and that Natural Search and Paid Search are the way to reach them.

What I find a lot of business owners don't understand is the nuance of Search, and what they can really expect from the launch of campaigns. For now we'll focus on Paid Search, and the two big divisions you'll see therein

Trade Name Search vs. Generic Search

Every few months I'll have a new client ask about the breakdown in their search reports. They'll wonder aloud the value in having someone manage search when the majority of their conversions are coming from "Trade Name" oriented searches, an example for me would be the search phrase "Starling Interactive", as opposed to "online marketing".

Now, I know of a few different approaches to setting up Paid Search, and I've always favored one that segregates trade terms from non-trade terms. This gives a great insight into the power and volume of other media sources pushing the company forward. The problem this creates is that when clients see the number side by side the non-trade terms look like they convert terribly. This isn't an undue assumption, since trade terms can convert anywhere from 5% and up all the way into the range of 20-40% conversion, depending on the service/product and the keyword phrase.

By comparison you have generic search, which converts at a much more modest range of 1-3%, again depending on the service/product and the keyword phrase. Relative to a trade name query, this is indeed terrible, but once you look at the mechanics of the situation, you see that generic really isn't doing badly at all.

The key different between these two types of search are what drives them. While a consumer searching for "running shoes" has not made a brand decision in their buying efforts, someone searching for "Nike shoes" certainly has. Which one do you think will convert better? Trade oriented search also benefits from other methods of advertising, especially that of Direct Response TV advertising. When you take into effect what it took to even get a trade name search to your site, the conversion actually drops, since another advertising method had to drive the traffic, and your site is now handling the conversion aspect

That said, my personal viewpoint on Paid Search and both mediums is responsibility. Most search marketers understand that there is a ceiling to what Paid Search can do - it is by no means a "silver bullet" meant to support an entire company, but it can definitely drive highly controlled results in a short period of time.