SEO vs PPC Advertising: Which is Better?

What Exactly Are SEO and PPC?

In short, both SEO and PPC are online marketing campaigns. However, in order to make the best decision for your business, you will need to have a strong understanding of both strategies.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the process of performing assorted tasks that increase the likelihood your website will show up higher on Google’s search results. One of the most common techniques is integrating keywords into the content that your audience is searching for.

This will help your chances of reaching the top of Google’s first page. Plus, this will also ensure that you are able to provide relevant content to your audience.

The term PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. This refers to a marketing model where advertisers pay a predetermined fee every time a user clicks on one of the ads. When utilized appropriately, this can be a highly effective method to drive relevant traffic to your site. For example, targeting the right demographic will boost your site’s daily activity.

Paid ads will appear at the top of a search engines page. This can be a great way to grab users’ attention quickly.

Next, let us explore the advantages that both SEO and PPC campaigns can have for your business.

SEO Advertising

Prioritizing your site’s SEO value can drastically increase the amount of organic traffic you lead to your business’s site. Although improving this metric can seem daunting at first, it is not as difficult once broken down into key factors.

In fact, in many cases, it is a relatively straightforward process. Notable aspects of an SEO strategy include:

• Thoroughly researching your target audience to ensure you incorporate relevant information
• Reducing loading times as much as possible
• Properly formatting your website for mobile devices
• Integrating keywords in areas outside of your content (titles, meta descriptions, etc.)

The second point is particularly important, as a site that loads slowly can easily cause users to navigate away from it.

The third point is a very valuable, but often overlooked aspect of SEO. A website should be properly formatted in order to be user-friendly on all types of devices, including cellphones and tablets. The mobile user interface is the groundwork for mobile marketing.

Over time, you will begin to establish a foundation of content on Google’s search results. This will drastically improve both your brand awareness and the volume of users from your target demographic. Increasing both of these aspects, inherently leads to more business and greater profits.

Once you get to this point, it is very likely your organic traffic levels will be exponentially higher than they were in the past. If you rank high on Google’s first page for multiple keywords, you will typically have many more visitors per day.

Additionally, there is no direct cost associated with SEO like there is with PPC strategies. Businesses with a limited marketing budget can benefit greatly from integrating SEO strategies.

PPC Advertising

For those people who need immediate results, PPC ads are a viable option. These types of ads enable you to direct a large amount of traffic to your business’s website within a much shorter period of time.

There is a cost associated with this method (which you will incur every time someone clicks one of your ads). But, each click means that someone is interested in the product or service that you offer.

This means that PPC strategies can easily have a significant ROI under the right circumstances. As you begin to fine-tune your target audience, it is not uncommon for your return on investment to reach 200%, 300%, or even higher.

Other benefits of PPCs ads include:

• In-depth analytics to help you optimize your campaign
• Increased brand awareness
• Control over every dollar that you spend

Put simply, spending a bit of cash can help you generate a substantial amount of revenue when this method is handled correctly. Paid ads are a great option for new businesses trying to break into their respective industry.

SEO or PPC, Which Is Better?

The answer to this question will depend highly on the duration of your marketing strategy. In general, you will find that SEO is best for long-term goals while PPC ads are ideal for goals you need to satisfy in the near future.

More specifically, SEO is great for companies that want to work toward establishing a long-term presence for their brand online. The more content you are able to help reach top spots on Google’s search results, the better your site will perform over time.

However, not every brand has the time to wait for SEO tactics to take effect. In many cases, they need results within a month (or even quicker than that).

In this case, a PPC ad may be the ideal solution. Once launched, PPC ads can provide results rather quickly.

Pros and Cons of SEO and PPC

When in Doubt, Incorporate Both

You may be in a situation where you have both long-term and short-term goals that you intend to accomplish. Or, you may want to be as productive as possible regarding your brand while you wait for your SEO strategy to take effect.

Using both SEO and PPC can allow you to reap the benefits of both strategies and get the best results possible. This is especially effective since each strategy tends to cover the other’s weaknesses.

For example, PPC ads enable your brand to appear in front of plenty of users. However, they will not help you rank for high-profile keywords as SEO will. Keep in mind that you are able to use both strategies concurrently. You will likely find that you hit numbers you never thought were possible!

It’s Often Difficult to Choose Between SEO vs PPC

But it doesn’t have to be.

Understanding the above information about SEO and PPC is an imperative first step towards a successful digital marketing campaign. Know each strategy’s strengths and weaknesses, and you will be well on your way toward making the decision that is best for you. And don’t forget you can always take advantage of both!

Want to learn more about how we can help? Feel free to get in touch with us today to see what we can do.