When to Choose Pay-Per- Click (PPC) or Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing?
We are often asked which is a better investment, pay-per-click marketing (like Google Adwords or Microsoft Adcenter) or organic search engine optimization (SEO). Businesses should not choose between PPC and SEO based on a single factor; rather, they should examine all their needs and goals. PPC, SEO or both can be good investments depending on your time frame, budget, market factors, and overall business strategy. This is very similar to the renting vs. buying argument. First, we will define a few key terms and then examine factors that can help you decide between PPC and SEO marketing.
Keywords or Keyword Phrases:
Keywords are words or sets of words that a searcher enters into a search engine. The goal of search engine optimization is to appear on the search engine results page (SERPS). Positions in the “sponsored” section of SERPS are bid on in search PPC advertising.
SEM:
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) encompasses several subsets, including pay-per-click (PPC), off-site search engine optimization, and on-site search engine optimization. SEM is any type of promotion that involves using search engine traffic to market a product or service. SEM is sometimes used in reference to PPC. When using SEM to refer to PPC, the term “paid search engine marketing” is commonly used.
PPC:
Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC), a subset of search engine marketing (SEM), is a form of display (text or image) online advertising where the advertiser only pays if the advertisement is clicked. In traditional web advertising, the advertiser pays for impressions, the total amount of times an ad is viewed. Sponsored search engine results are usually sold on a pay-per-click basis. Sponsored PPC search engine advertisements usually appear at the top and on the side of search engine results pages (SERPS). When executed properly, PPC can give an advertiser quick, effective results. Ad testing and click through rate optimization is very important to running an effective PPC campaign.
On-Site SEO:
On-site Search Engine Optimization typically includes front end code changes, content optimization, URL re-structuring, page title revisions, heading changes, robots file modification, meta tag updates, and image optimization. Search engines crawl your site looking for clues to help determine what your site is all about. Once search engines know what keywords your site content is focused on, there is a higher likelihood your site will be ranked for those keywords. On-site SEO does not guarantee search engine rankings, but it does build a good foundation for later off-site SEO.
Off-Site SEO:
Off-site SEO is strategic link building for the purpose of making your site appear more relevant to search engines. Links are usually built by submitting press releases, articles, directory listings, blog posts, forum posts, and site maps for a specific group of targeted keywords. Ideally, search engines will find these links pointing back to your site and assume your site is relevant to the content on the linking site. The effectiveness of each link is influenced by the site quality, page rank, domain age, and keywords used in and around the link. If on-site SEO is the foundation, then off-site SEO is the house.
Pros and Cons:
PPC Pros:
Quick, Measureable Results
Flexibility
Highly Targeted
Easy Geographic Targeting
PPC Cons:
No Long Term SEO Benefits
Traffic Volume Proportional To Ad Budget
Organic SEO Pros:
Long-Lasting Effects of Link Building
Sustainable Traffic
Perceived Repeatable Source Relating To Targeted Keywords
Creates Alternative Traffic Sources Through Referring Site Links
Organic SEO Cons:
Results May Take Months
Less Flexible Keyword Groups
Cost Is Not Proportional To Traffic In The Short Term
When to Choose PPC:
PPC campaigns often work well for time sensitive promotions or messages. If a business has short-term promotions, overstock products, or a fast-changing inventory selection, PPC is a good choice. PPC is especially ideal for generating traffic to a new website. If you are having difficulty determining the best keywords for a long term SEO campaign, PPC can quickly tell you which keywords are most effective. The keyword effectiveness could be defined by factors such as: time on site, conversion, click through rate, or competition.
PPC is also a great traffic supplement while you are letting your organic SEO traffic grow. As SEO traffic grows, PPC budget can decrease.
When to Choose Organic SEO:
SEO is a long-term strategy and needs to be approached in a very strategic manner to be successful. This involves lengthy keyword testing and planning. SEO is most effective when a group of keywords is chosen and the site is continually optimized over a long period of time.
This strategy works well for established businesses that have fixed product types or services. When a business has certain products or services that they need to continually promote, an organic SEO strategy will pay off in the long term.
There is no single answer to PPC vs. SEO. We encourage you to discuss your options with an SEO professional and develop a strategy that will work best for your specific business.
VisFire is an Atlanta digital marketing agency specializing in design, marketing, and development. VisFire has several search engine marketing packages for both organic SEO and PPC campaigns.
Photo Credit, Matt Skiles – Twitter @mattatdvq