It’s an often-heard argument – which is better, PPC, or SEO? With both paid search and organic search each pulling in differing, yet equally as valuable results, it’s understandable to see anyone campaign as needing to be one or the other, dependant on what your brand is looking for at the time. What many businesses don’t always realize from the get-go, however, is that these two marketing techniques can work together to become a powerful combination.
The online marketing world has become incredibly dynamic to the point where having a single marketing avenue is arguably a risky move. For this reason, having a well-combined and integrated strategy that utilizes the strengths of both PPC and SEO can ensure more stable and consistent results, even when one of the channels may be failing. Here’s what you need to know:
Why Invest In SEO?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the process of optimizing your website to help improve the ranking position in the SERPs (search engine results pages), particularly on Google. Typically, this has previously been done through targeted keywords, a strong backlink profile, and high-quality content, but with Google constantly shifting its algorithm to keep users and their search at the forefront, the ranking factors are constantly changing. In 2019, there is an increased focus on page speed, mobile-friendliness, technical SEO, search intent and expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T).
For the above reasons, it often takes longer to implement an SEO campaign and see results compared to PPC but can also cost the least in the long-term. In a sense, organic listings for your site are free; you don’t have to pay to be there and you certainly don’t need to pay Google directly to keep you there either.
These costs produce more substantial results than PPC that will usually last longer, producing a better ROI than only running a PPC campaign may produce. With the exception of algorithm fluctuations and changes to how a search engine chooses to rank the sites within their index, SEO-produced results are often permanent, at least to an extent. If you stop investing in SEO at any point, your results aren’t going to disappear immediately. Some upkeep may be necessary to cater to competitor activity and the aforementioned algorithm changes but losing a high position won’t happen simply because you stopped investing.
SEO results are also said to produce high conversion rates, particularly when you take user experience into consideration. Of the users that click onto organic results, 15% are likely to lead to a closed deal. By utilizing CRO and UX optimization alongside an effective SEO campaign, you’ll not only gain higher search visibility in the SERPs, but you’ll also secure new customers or returning visitors in the meantime.
Why Invest In PPC?
PPC (pay per click) also offers businesses the opportunity to reach the top of Google’s results pages – but in the form of ads. By setting up an effective PPC campaign, you hold the potential to reach the top of the SERPs instantly as soon as the campaign goes live. You could see results in a matter of hours, all depending on how much you’re willing to bid for your target keywords and phrases and how you’ve set the ad up to spread.
PPC through Google Ads, Bing’s Ad manager and more offer you a more controlled reach than you may be able to achieve with SEO, which is beneficial for short-term targeted campaigns. In most cases, you can direct your ads towards target audiences by gender, location, browser, mobile device, and more.
It’s important to note, however, that, PPC ads will only work for as long as your campaign is active. Once the campaign has been stopped or paused, your listing will no longer be live and will be unable to draw in any new users. Where SEO offers a long-term result (within reason), PPC is a profitable short-term solution for reaching the top of the SERPs in order to attract leads and conversions more or less instantly.
So, How Could They Work Together?
The answer to how these two campaigns could work together is simple – PPC covers the gaps that SEO misses and vice versa. You can utilize PPC to maintain visibility while your SEO isn’t performing particularly well or while you are getting set up initially, and SEO can maintain results if you have to pause or stop a PPC campaign. When both are running successfully at the same time, you can reach an optimum number of potential customers, and you could very well see a higher ROI as a result. By dominating the organic and paid SERPs, you can greatly increase your traffic and establish yourself as a leading presence in your company’s industry.
PPC can also work as a great complementary tool for your SEO campaigns. By trying out keywords, headlines, and even meta descriptions, you can gain more in-depth and detailed insights into which perform best and generate the highest volume of traffic to your website. From here, you can implement these features into your SEO campaigns in order to improve ROI and profit there. This is all done through PPC’s highly detailed performance tracking features, particularly with Google Ads, whether that’s by cost per click, ROI, or conversion rates. For this reason, by implementing the successful listings into your website, you could see your business reaping the same, or at least similar results through both SEO and PPC.
While both PPC and SEO are strong strategies in and of themselves, when utilized together, the power and work together, there’s no denying that the two work hand in hand to produce a powerful campaign worthy of investment.
If you’d like more information about SEO or PPC, or any advice to start up your own campaign, you can contact any of the team at Digital Pilots and speak to an expert, +91 141 267 09 08 today.
