There's paid search and organic search. Too many companies see these as separate animals. But really, search is search. They work together or they don't work. When a new Web site launches, the organic rankings won't be instantly strong. It takes time to grow in popularity-meaning it will be a while before other, more reputable sites will link themselves to you in a process called back linking. Even if you come out of the gate with highly optimized content and sound architecture, which are pillars of success with organic search, patience will be required to see results. It can take months to rise through the competition, longer if you're competing in a popular industry. This is where paid search can fill in. While waiting for the return on your organic search investment, paid search ads can be up quickly and get immediate results. The formula for success in search is:

• Content + Popularity + Money

The High School Analogy

Gaining success in search is like gaining popularity in high school. When you're the new kid, you're unknown and on the outside of all the cliques and lowest on the social hierarchy. There are a couple of ways that you can gain popularity. One quick way is with money- buy everybody lunch every day for a week. You'll have a host of instant friends. It may not last long, but the results will be immediate. Then there is the good old fashion way of making friends one by one. Prove you're a good and interesting person and eventually one of the more popular kids will take notice and bring you into the popular crowd. This takes time, but is lasting and cumulative.

In this five-part blog series, we'll discuss this formula at length, beginning with the importance of research in building your search strategy.