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SEO vs PPC: Which Should Come First

January 9, 2016 By Adegboye Adeniyi

seo vs ppc

The main advantage of SEO is that it’s a more cost-effective marketing strategy than PPC. In the long run, organic traffic will continue to grow and provide more value, unlike PPC traffic which will stop as soon as you stop paying for it.

Key Takeaway:

  • SEO is more cost-effective
  • SEO converts higher than any other form of traffic
  • PPC is fast and can deliver instant result

If you’re looking for a new way to drive traffic to your website, chances are you’ve come across two main options: search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, namely Google Ads.

The problem is that many companies aren’t sure which is the best option for their business. In this post, we’re going to help you decide whether SEO or PPC is the right marketing channel for you.

While both these marketing channels have their strengths, they also have their weaknesses. By the end of this post, you should be able to decide which is best for your company.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.

SEO is a technique used in web publishing to increase web page visibility and traffic for a higher ranking in search engines and more readers. Writing an article using Search Engine Optimization requires good writing skills to make the article interesting and easy to read. In this way, it is optimized for search engines and more likely to place higher in the search results for the topics it covers.

There are many aspects to SEO, from the words on your page to the way other sites link to you on the web. Sometimes SEO is simply a matter of making sure your site is structured in a way that search engines understand.

Advantages of Organic SEO

The core advantages of SEO are:

  • Increased Visibility
  • An Improved User Experience
  • More Credibility
  • Greater ROI
  • Better Keyword Targeting

Drawbacks to SEO

I will cover a few of the key challenges and drawbacks to SEO.

  1. It takes time.

One of the main challenges with SEO is that it takes time to start seeing results. Unlike paid search, you can’t turn on your SEO strategy overnight and get instant traffic and leads. Organic rankings are earned through consistent effort over time — so be patient. As with any marketing strategy, you won’t see results right away, but over time, you can expect to see an increase in organic traffic and leads as your website gains more visibility on the SERP.

  1. You have to keep up with algorithm updates.

Google likes to change its algorithms often — sometimes several times in the same day! Just when you think you know what works well for search engines, everything changes. Because of these frequent changes, SEO is a field that requires constant learning and adaptation to new techniques and strategies.

  1. It’s competitive — especially for competitive terms.

If you’re running an ecommerce business or selling a highly competitive product (like insurance), then chances are there are many other websites trying to rank for the same terms as you are. Because of this competition, getting your website to rank in organic search can

What is PPC?

PPC stands for pay-per-click, a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Essentially, it’s a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to “earn” those visits organically.

Search engine advertising is one of the most popular forms of PPC. It allows advertisers to bid for ad placement in a search engine’s sponsored links when someone searches on a keyword that is related to their business offering. For example, if we bid on the keyword “PPC software,” our ad might show up in the very top spot on the Google results page.

PPC is an online advertising model in which advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their online ads. The term “pay-per-click” has been popularized by search engines such as Google and Bing, where advertisers pay to have their ads appear alongside search results for certain keywords.

 

Advantages of PPC:

  • You Only Pay When Someone Clicks Your Ad
  • You Can Reach A Discriminating Audience
  • you can get very easy and fast results by just paying for it.

 

Drawback to PPC

PPC advertising is a great way to drive traffic to your site and generate qualified leads. However, it’s not right for every business. Like any marketing channel, there are certain challenges and drawbacks to PPC. In this post, we’ll discuss the drawbacks to pay per click advertising.

It’s important to remember that many of these challenges can be mitigated with proper planning, research and management of your campaign.

Costs

PPC advertising is generally affordable because you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. However, if you don’t have an effective campaign strategy in place, you may end up wasting money. You need to have a clear understanding of what makes a good ad and what doesn’t work as well. Then implement this strategy throughout your campaigns by creating keyword lists that funnel people down a specific path towards conversion (to a lead or sale).

For example, with AdWords, you can create very specific ads based on certain keywords or phrases that people search for. Because they searched for it, they are more likely to convert through the ad because they were already looking for the product or service.

 

Differences between SEO and PPC

SEO is cost-effective. SEO’s inbound nature helps businesses save money as opposed to outbound strategies like cold-calling. While cold-calling can still be an effective strategy, the leads generated cost 61% more than leads generated by an inbound strategy like SEO. And since SEO also targets users who are actively looking for products and services like yours, the traffic resulting from SEO is more qualified than many other marketing strategies, resulting in cost-savings for companies

PPC is a direct response channel – it’s great if you know what you’re doing and if you have the time and resources to manage a campaign

PPC campaigns (if well optimized) can drive traffic fast – this is great if you’re just starting up or if you’re looking to gain traction quickly

PPC is highly measurable

PPC allows you to see on a daily basis how well each keyword performs, how many clicks you get for each keyword, which keyword converts (this one is huge), where are

Knowing Which To Invest In (SEO or PPC? or SEO and PPC?)

If you are a small business and don’t have much of a marketing budget, then you will want to focus on SEO. This is really the first step for many businesses that don’t have a lot of money to put into marketing. If you are just starting out with your website, then be patient and make sure that you do this properly. It will take some time for your website to start ranking in the search engines, but once it does, it will be worth it.

If you are trying to figure out which one you should invest in, you should consider what your goals are.

Your goals should dictate whether or not you hire an SEO company or focus on PPC advertising. If your goal is to get traffic that converts well, then go with PPC advertising. If your goal is long term traffic that comes back repeatedly and builds brand loyalty, then go with SEO. You should also think about how much time and effort you want to put into this process before making a decision

Summary

The eternal battle: SEO vs. PPC. Both are powerful marketing strategies, but they’re also very different methods to use. Even though some people may think of them as one in the same, they couldn’t be more wrong.

The goal of search engine optimization (SEO) is to get your website to rank organically on the first page of Google Search Results, so that you don’t have to pay for each click on your site (as opposed to Pay-Per-Click).

When it comes down to it, there’s no clear winner between SEO and PPC; both have their own merits and drawbacks, depending on your company’s needs and budget.

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Adegboye Adeniyi

Adegboye Adeniyi is an SEO Specialist. He creates and implements campaigns for clients, endlessly discovering new prospects and strategies for growing their business online. Outside of the Internet realm, his other passions include reading and playing chess.
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