Search engine results

Most search engines show two kinds of results:

1. Organic results
2. Paid results

Organic results are sorted by relevance of web site as determined by the search engine. SEO - Search engine optimization is aimed at improving organic results of optimized sites. They are usually located in the centre part of the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Paid results, often called sponsored links (Google) or sponsor results (Yahoo) appear together with the organic results. They are served by PPC (pay-per-click) advertising systems of search engines like Google AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing. They are usually located on the right side or at the very top of results pages. Paid results are marked by different colour background of by title.

Building organic positions for a new website can take years in the more competitive fields. In cotrast, with a sufficient budget, a website can appear in paid results literally within minutes.