Display vs. Search Advertising: Which Should You Go For?

When it comes to using pay per click advertising, there are two different paths an advertiser can take. The first follows the norm and uses search adverts to gain traffic while the other path is to use display adverts to gain traffic. Both have their pros and cons. But, at the end of the day, which one should you choose to use? You may find your campaign might be better suited to one form of advertising in PPC as compared to the other.
 
The simple answer to this question is that it depends what your campaign is all about. For this reason, you should choose to use a search advert if:

• You want to miss out the middle man of the search engine. In order to view display adverts, web users will have to click onto a publisher website of PPC that supports the use of display adverts. For this to happen, 9 times out of 10 (roughly) the traffic would have come organically. Therefore, if you want to prevent your campaign from having to go through the middle man of a search engine, use search adverts (so that your campaign is straight on search results already).
• You do not have a large budget. It is generally preferably for advertisers to use the search network when they do not have a large budget. The time and cost to run a search advert is lower because the design of the advert is simpler and can be more easily managed.

On the other hand, you should choose to use display adverts if:

• Words simply cannot describe your advert. Words are a good way of communicating. However, there is the common saying that an image has the potential to be worth a thousand words. If you find your advert has to include an image of, let’s say, your product because it has a visual USP that wouldn’t have been easily portrayed in an advert, then display networks might be the way to go.
• More freedom. At the end of the day, a search advert will always be limited to the structure Google AdWords adopts for them (although the use of ad extensions gives a little bit of freedom for customization).
• You want better results. This is, of course, out for people to have their opinion on. What I have found over the years is that, although search campaigns are generally cheaper to run, the success and conversion rate of them are generally not as high as display campaigns. Potentially, this could be because images make it easier for the target market to interact and engage with the campaign?

Ultimately, it really does depend what type of campaign you have. Some advertisers prefer search, some prefer display. Some prefer to use both! Therefore, experiment and brainstorm to see which one would be best for what you are trying to promote.