Posted on September 19, 2017 by admin
SEO Vs PPC: Know What Works for Your Website
Don’t want to read the article? Watch the video to know.
Google’s advertising revenue has continuously increased in the past years, and the bulk of Google’s $75 billion revenue comes from its proprietary search Ads. Launched in 2000, the AdWords has grown into a multi-billion dollars’ industry. Google dominates the search ad industry, but there are other Ad or Pay Per Click (PPC) platforms including Apple ads, Bing Ads, Yahoo Ads, Android, Facebook Ads, etc.
Parallel to the paid ad industry, the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has grown to become bigger and better in the last two decades. Even though SEO can be traced back to as early as the 1990s, it became a prominent internet marketing strategy in early 2000s, and in 2016, the worth of SEO industry is totaled at $65 billion.
As both SEO and PPC are internet marketing strategies with proven results, a question which is often asked from a digital marketer is ‘SEO Vs PPC, which one is better?’. The local digital marketers offer both the services to businesses. For example, if you are a small business in Bay Area and thinking about launching a digital marketing campaign, a Bay Area SEO company can provide you both SEO and PPC services.
So, which one should you choose? Should you go for SEO or should you launch a PPC campaign? But, in a precise answer, there is no one answer to this question. Both SEO and PPC have their advantages and disadvantages.
This article will help you to explore main differences in SEO and PPC to understand which one is the best for you. Or maybe, by the end of this article, you are thinking along the lines of an integrated approach.
What is Pay Per Click?
Pay Per Click is a digital marketing model in which the business pays a specified cost to the host website every time the ad is clicked. For example, Website A has an advertising space on its web page and Website B places an ad for its product on the space. A visitor visits website A and clicks on the ad of website B, the website B pay a specified fee to website A for every click.
The search advertising works in the same way. People search for a keyword on the search engine. The search engine displays some sponsored/advertised link to the visitor. When the visitor clicks on the link, the advertised website pays the cost of the click to search engine.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
The search engine optimization is an internet marketing strategy in which the website earns organic traffic through higher visibility in search engines. SEO improves website’s visibility by displaying it on higher positions on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
For example, if a person searches for ‘sports shoes’ in the search engine, the websites that make up top results have higher chances of being clicked. So, SEO enables the website to rank higher in SERPs to receive more clicks, traffic, and leads.
As you have understood the major difference between paid and organic traffic, it is time to explore what works for you.
Long Term Vs Short Term:
Like always in the marketing, some of the digital marketing efforts are short term with instant results while some of the techniques are long-term. PPC is a short-term strategy in which you start to get clicks early on, while SEO is a long-term strategy and it takes the time to improve website’s search ranking.
So, if you are looking for short-term sales goals, PPC may work for you. But, if you are looking for sustainable traffic, SEO is more effective in the longer run.
Fixed Cost Vs. Variable Cost
In a PPC campaign, A fixed cost and fixed budget are involved. You buy paid traffic, so depending on your budget, you can buy a particular number of clicks with the budget, and you are already aware of the cost per click.
However, SEO does not have a fixed cost per click. The organic traffic does not involve a fixed cost or budget. But, it does not mean that SEO is for free. SEO has a variable cost that you invest over time to improve your website’s ranking.
Targeting Customers
The PPC provides laser focused targeting opportunity to the businesses. It allows you to set keyword categories, negative keywords, location, date, and even time of your Ad. It allows you to only display the Ads to relevant demographics, at a relevant day and at a relevant time.
On the other hand, you can target specific keywords in the SEO campaign, but it is not laser-targeted. It means that if your Bay Area SEO company is optimizing the website for “Nike shoes in Bay Area,” it can also appear in the results of “Sports shoes.”
SEO or PPC Vs. SEO and PPC
There is no one formula for SEO or PPC. It varies according to industry, scope, budget, target audience, and company’s marketing objectives.
A better approach to digital marketing is to have an integrated campaign in which both SEO and PPC work together.