PPC and SEO Head-to-Head
Which should business invest in? Pay Per Click advertising? Search Engine Optimisation? Is there a right answer? Could it be both? To make the right decision for you, it’s vital you understand what each method is and when they should be used.
Have you used Google today? Maybe you were looking for a product to buy, or a café to visit at lunch time, or to find out which marketing method is better, PPC or SEO. There are over two trillion Google searches a day, so how on earth are you going to get such a powerful search engine to notice your webpages and rank them above your competition?
There are two ways you can achieve a high ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs). When it comes to driving traffic to your website and lead capturing, you basically have two options:
- 1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- 2. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)
It’s one of the most popular questions asked by businesses looking to generate traffic and conversions, “Which is better for my business? PPC or SEO?”.
Which method should your business use? What are the key differences between the two options? Which will I generate better results from?
Both SEO and PPC are part of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) but there are key differences businesses should know about before making any decisions.
What is Pay Per Click Advertising?
It’s a form of internet marketing in which businesses pay a fee every time a user clicks on one of their ads. It’s a way of buying visitors to your website, rather than generating traffic organically. The clicks you pay for will result in conversions or qualified leads.
The great thing is you only pay for the clicks, it can provide a substantial amount of traffic for a calculatable amount of money.
It can be used on …
- – Search engines mostly on Google and Bing
- – Social Media primarily Facebook and Instagram)
To show an ad on search results, advertisers bid on specific keywords and phrases for which they want their ads to be displayed on during an Ad Auction. During your ad auction, you will agree the maximum cost-per-click you are willing to pay. You will pay the search engine for every time a user clicks on your ad – no matter how many times your ad has been shown.
If a user clicks on your ad listing, they will be directed to your landing page. You will then be charged an amount for that click.
What is Search Engine Optimisation?
It’s the marketing method of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search results.
When you enter a search query into a search engine like Google, a list of web pages doesn’t just appear out of thin air.
Google score their search results mostly based upon the authority and relevancy of the web pages it has crawled. Google (and Bing too) do this so they can provide users with the best answer to their query.
Therefore, search engine optimisation involves making your website accessible, free of technical issues and relevant to the keyword terms that your pages use words that people type into search results. Google also take into consideration your user experience and the authority of your website.
When Should I Use PPC?
When You Want Immediate Results
Businesses can see results from Pay Per Click advertising as soon as their account is running. The moment your campaign has been given the green light by the search engine, your ads instantly go live and are displayed for your target audience to see. As a result, traffic to your website will come just as quick.
So, if you have a product launch or you want to promote a service, then paid advertising can be an excellent way to generate leads and conversions.
When Your Website is Not Purposed for SEO
For search engine optimisation to work for your website, it needs to be content rich and regularly updated. Uploading new, informative content to your website is the only way to remind search engines that your website is relevant and that your content is most valuable to users.
To Be At The Very Top of Search Results
As you know, PPC ads are displayed above organic results. Pay Per Click advertising puts your ads at the centre of attention – in the most prominent position.
If you really want to outshine your competitors and maximise your click-through rate, then Pay Per Click advertising is certainly something to consider.
To get a free PPC review and no obligation consultation, contact us:
Book a meeting: michaelgoldman.co.uk/
Telephone: 0161 706 0004
Email: contact@differentgravydigital.co.uk
When Should I Use SEO?
1. For Consistent Results
SEO has a longer growth period than PPC. Ranking on the first page of search results certainly won’t happen overnight. In fact, it’s likely to take weeks or months to see a positive improvement on your search result ranking.
While the journey to ranking at the top of SERPs through SEO takes a long time, (once you do achieve good organic listing) it’s most likely you will stay there and generate a sustainable, consistent amount of traffic. As long as you regularly monitor and improve your SEO campaign when required, you can enjoy the long-term benefits.
2. When You Want Raise the Value of Your Website
If you want your website to have high authority, then you must first increase its value.
There are many features that help increase a site’s worth:
- – Website authority
- – Link popularity
- – Ranking on search results
- – Traffic
All the above fall under the SEO umbrella, to build a respected site, regular SEO is required.
3. To Build Website Authority
Authority websites are large, content driven platforms with several traffic channels. It’s a website that is trusted by users, industry experts, other websites and most importantly – search engines.
SEO allows you to gradually build up your reputation – and the only way to do so is through clever content planning.
It’s important to note that just because Paid Advertising are ‘paid clicks’ it doesn’t mean that SEO generates ‘free clicks’ to your website. Configuration of the initial SEO efforts can be instilled during the building of the website, but they need to be maintained and updates as search engine algorithms evolve.
How Quick Do You Want Results?
How long are you prepared to wait before you see an increase in traffic and leads? Do you need conversions instantly? Or are you prepared to play the long game and wait at least a few weeks?
Pay Per Click advertising can give your website and immediate boost in performance. But – once you stop investing in PPC – your traffic and leads will probably go back to as they were before you invested.
What’s Right for Your Website?
No website is the same, so there’s no one answer fits all. There are a few key points that must be considered:
- – The design and content of your website
- – What products and services you want to promote
- – The website’s currently organic visibility
- – Your paid search history (if there is one)
- – Your objectives and goals
- – Where your site traffic comes from
- – How your brand and product / service fit into the buyer’s journey
- – How competitive your sector is and how well established your competitors are
Like most things in business, your recommended steps will much depend on the individuality of your company, website and objectives.
Can You Afford to Ignore Pay Per Click Advertising?
As we’ve said, it could be weeks or months before you see any ROI from your SEO efforts – but Paid advertising delivers immediate traffic.
At the end of the day, your goal is to grow your business and make as many sales as possible. To do this, you need targeted traffic to your website. Search engine optimisation and paid advertising can both help you achieve this.
If you rank near the top of search engine result pages for every strong keyword within your industry, then you’re incredibly fortunate and PPC may just add the cream on top or it could possibly be something you don’t need to invest in. This won’t be the case for most businesses – so paid advertising can be an asset to boost traffic and increase sales.
What We Recommend
Both are important to maximise the success of a business, and they complement each other very well. There are some circumstances where you might prefer one over the over – but both methods can be used in conjunction.
If you want fast results – then Pay Per Click is certainly the route to go down. It’s very scalable – do you need more leads? Increase your budget on ads and you will get more clicks.
What you put in is what you get in return (if your campaign is managed by PPC experts – like us!)
What’s Best for Your Business?
To get a free PPC review and no obligation consultation, contact us:
Book a meeting: michaelgoldman.co.uk/
Telephone: 0161 706 0004