SEO vs. Paid Advertising: Finding The Right Strategy

Increasing visibility is what every business desires but how they get there differs. Often, the question of SEO vs. PPC comes up and wondering which strategy offers the best results. The answer? It all depends on what aligns more with your company and its marketing goals. Though there is no clear-cut answer to which one works better, here is some information on how each can help attract consumers on their journey to becoming a customer.

What Is SEO?

Search engine optimization is a marketing tactic to get your business to the top of a search results page. How is this done? By providing relevant, authoritative, and useful information on your website that both users and search sites like. This is an organic way to gain website traffic.

What Is PPC?

Pay-per-click is a form of advertising where your business name and what you offer show up on the top of search engine result pages because you pay for it. When your ad’s keywords match the searcher’s intent, you pay a fee if they click on your ad. This fee helps your business quickly grab the attention of qualified searchers.

Looking at SEO vs. PPC

As you can see, both methods help you gain website traffic so both are useful when marketing your business. SEO takes time to generate interest whereas PPC can be instantaneous. Do you have time to build your customer base through organic traffic or do you need to see advertising results because of a deadline?

Small business SEO services and PPC management services are offered by digital marketing agencies who can carefully craft a strategy that works with your goals.

The Dilemma

SEO is like a long-lasting or infinite relationship. It helps attract and nurture your customers steadily over a long period. PPC is like a fling that only lasts as long as you continue to pay for your ads. After the PPC campaign, the customers you gained still need continued support to maintain their interest. Incorporating valuable content through articles and blogs keeps them returning to your website.

Using a combination of SEO and PPC is the perfect mix. You can benefit from immediate attention with PPC ads then switch the ads off when your SEO is working well. Analyzing the results of both strategies helps to see where your customers are coming from, and you can determine if the benefit outweighs the cost.  

What SEO and PPC Have In Common?

Both marketing tactics use keywords that searchers use when trying to find a product or service. Keywords and phrases should be relevant to your web content to connect your business to customers’ queries. You can increase your visibility by using both SEO and PPC strategies on various platforms including search engines and social media channels.

It is important to be as specific as possible with your keywords to target the right audience. After all, you want to gain a customer from the interested searchers by solving a question they have or informing them about a product you offer.  

How SEO and PPC Work For You

Find ways to elevate the benefits of SEO and PPC.

• Seasonal Promotions – Add content into your searches or ads that speak to specific seasons and something you are selling at the time like “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas tree ornaments”. This helps you get the attention of people buying for a specific reason.

• Social Media Incorporation – Create content for social media that targets something popular in the search engines. You may notice an increase in searches for “1-hour hot stone massages” so if you offer this, let it be known by creating an ad and posting it to Instagram, Facebook or both. Your digital marketing team will know which days and times the ad should appear for the best interaction with your target audience.

• Re-Target – If you notice changes in the keywords people are searching for or if your ad is not getting much traffic, change your SEO or PPC tactics to match what is currently trending. Reviewing your analytics regularly gives valuable insight into how well an ad is performing. Staying up to date and adjusting your tactics improves your click-through rate thereby improving your chances of gaining a customer.   

And So…

When it comes to PPC management services and small business SEO services, Digital Monk Marketing offers both. Contact us for help with getting your business seen by search engines and potential customers. We will devise a strategy that works for you and further explain the benefits of SEO vs. PPC.