Fellow small business owners often ask us, “SEO vs PPC: which one is better?” This is a tough question because each has their own pros and cons. The answer will depend on what you want to achieve, your unique timeline, the competition, and the scale of your business. However, this question is certainly worth asking, regardless of your industry. Let’s explore SEO vs PPC as well as some of their unique advantages and disadvantages.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long-term strategy for improving organic traffic to websites and webpages. This ongoing digital marketing method aims to optimize online content for search engines, making it more likely to be shown for relevant search queries. SEO involves many complementary aspects including on-page page best practices and various off-page techniques.
Search engines are often the first place most new or potential customers will go to learn about your business. So, if your website isn’t optimized, it will be difficult to easily find online. Optimized websites load quickly and contain many high-quality backlinks, meta tags, and relevant keywords. They’re useful and intuitive resources that quickly provide internet users with the products, services, and information they seek.
SEO is an incredibly cost-effective way to build a brand online and boost organic website traffic. With a great SEO strategy, almost any website can rank near the top of various search engine results pages (SERPs). This lends tremendous authority and credibility to the business while also providing a significant return on investment. SEO best practices include consistent website and Google Business Profile Updates, local SEO, and keyword research, plus website structure and mobile optimization.
Optimized websites don’t happen by accident. They take time, forethought, and careful attention to minor details. That’s why we always recommend partnering with a reputable web developer when designing a professional website. The best developers will take the guesswork out of optimization so you can focus on what you do best.
This approach takes some time. Even the best SEO strategy won't attract enough attention in the short-term if you're hoping to spotlight a new product launch or an upcoming event. It’s more of a holistic strategy for slowly building and maintaining a steady level of long-term website traffic.
Pay-Per-Click
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is another valuable digital marketing strategy for small and large companies alike. What makes PPC distinct is that you only pay if a user clicks on your ads. Therefore, additional organic impressions from the ads are essentially an added bonus.
While SEO takes time to implement, PPC campaigns can be created and launched in a relatively short amount of time. Plus, they can be scaled up or down at will with a few minor tweaks. This digital marketing strategy is often ideal for ecommerce websites, event announcements, and time-sensitive promotions.
If you have something to promote that your customers need to see immediately, then PPC is the likely one of the best digital advertising options available. Whether you're conducting creative campaigns, launching a new product, or just looking for instant feedback, PPC can help you quickly gather useful data and analytics.
PPC campaigns also allow for precise bidding and targeting of specific keywords. Because of this, ads can be hyper-focused around a particular theme, topic, or even demographic. This often allows for the most efficient short-term use of funds.
Most PPC campaigns involve various types of Google Ads. They range from Search, Display, and Video, to App, Discovery, Shopping, Smart, and Performance Max ads. Each serves its own specific purpose, but Search ads are most similar to SEO in form and appearance. You’ve probably seen them if you’ve ever searched for a product or service on Google.
Google Search ads allow you to artificially rank near the top of organic search results for relevant keywords. These text-based ads are great ways of driving qualified traffic to your website by targeting users based on search intent. We recommend them for service providers and B2B companies that are looking for more leads, sales, traffic, downloads, or newsletter signups.
SEO vs PPC: Which Is Better?
These two forms of digital marketing are wildly different animals. While they may accomplish similar goals, it’s tough to make blanket comparisons between them. In our opinion, the best overall approach is to use both SEO and PPC in order to compensate for each other's weaknesses.
When considering SEO vs PPC, first calculate your marketing timeline. If urgency is a factor, then PPC is probably the ideal short-term option. However, if you’re simply looking to set your website up for long-term success, SEO will give you a true advantage. Plus, it has the added benefit of improving your website visitors’ user experiences, which is always a good thing.
Ideally, companies will leverage both strategies simultaneously. PPC campaigns provide particular keyword and conversion data, which can eventually help to improve your SEO efforts moving forward. Keywords that are valuable in a brief PPC push may also be targeted long-term through various SEO strategies. PPC will help get a new campaign up and running, while the momentum from SEO builds more slowly in the background.
Remember that choosing an approach depends on your specific budget, timeline, and marketing goals. If your goal is to achieve instant results, then it’s best to focus on targeted PPC campaigns. However, if you have a more extended timeframe, try implementing SEO strategies to drive organic traffic to your website.
Unfortunately, circumstances may prevent small businesses from taking advantage of both methods at once. In such cases, it’s important to be strategic with your marketing efforts in order to avoid wasting valuable resources.
This is where a digital marketing agency can be especially beneficial, especially when first developing your website. The best ones will use their expertise to your advantage, allowing you to feel confident that your budget is spent in the most efficient way possible.
Ask Us about SEO vs PPC
We understand that learning the specifics of SEO vs PPC can be challenging. In all honesty, digital marketing may be one of the last things on your radar. That’s why we’re here to help.
The truth is digital marketing isn’t going away anytime soon. This is clear if you simply take a look at a few website traffic and SEO statistics. The internet, search engines, and mobile devices are more popular than ever, and this trend shows no signs of slowing.
If your goal is to grow your company in the 21st century, then please don’t discount the enormous potential of different digital marketing strategies. Websites, blogs, email, MMS, mobile apps, social media, and digital advertising are rapidly changing the business landscape. Companies that don’t adapt to this change risk falling behind their competitors and losing touch with their loyal customers.
That’s why we’re stepping up to fill the gap between education and execution. It’s our goal to be a valuable resource for small businesses that wish to remain competitive in the information age. We gladly light the way forward to help others successfully navigate these rocky digital seas.
Feel free to contact us for more details on SEO vs PPC or digital marketing in general. We’d be happy to sit down together and design your unique business goals at your convenience.
Originally published on March 11th, 2021
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