If you’re a business owner looking to grow your business, you’ve probably heard of the SEO vs. PPC debate. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and PPC (Pay Per Click) are popular marketing strategies that businesses use to drive more traffic to their website, land more sales and increase their revenue and brand awareness. While both strategies are effective, there are some major differences between them and the one you choose will depend on your individual business circumstances, strengths, and limitations.
Read on to discover the advantages and disadvantages of each method and determine which one might work best for you.
What is an SEO Strategy?
SEO is considered organic lead generation and it involves optimising your individual webpages to get your website ranking higher on search engines. This can include using targeted keywords, inbound links, blogging and more. The higher your position on the search page, the more traffic you can drive back to your website.
The Advantages of Using SEO
- It’s a cost-effective method with an affordable start-up expense
- It’s a long-lasting method that lets you sustain a top position in the search engine results for a long time and continue to generate web traffic
- An SEO position is more stable than PPC and will generally hold even if you need to take a break
The Disadvantages of Using SEO
- It can take time to see results – sometimes months
- It’s ongoing and requires you to continue optimising and updating your website to keep your high ranking and authority
- It is a time-consuming method that requires significant effort to set up and maintain
Is SEO Right for Your Business?
SEO may be right for you if you want consistent results and are willing to put in the hard work to see them. It’s also beneficial if you want to be the go-to website in your niche and increase your website value.
What is a PPC Strategy?
A PPC strategy is a form of advertising. It involves bidding or paying for certain keywords that relate to your product or service so that your website link appears at the top of the search engine results page when a potential customer types it in. Each time a user clicks on your ad, you pay a fee.
The Advantages of Using PPC
- You’ll see instant results with no waiting, including increased web traffic, clicks and more conversions
- You’ll have more control over a PPC strategy and its scalability. You can set your budget at the beginning and stick to it
- You don’t have to concern yourself with Google’s changing algorithms to stay on top of the search results page. You’re bidding for a position at the top of the page, so you won’t risk losing rank if you don’t follow the current standards of best practice
The Disadvantages of Using PPC
- It’s more costly than an SEO strategy. You need to pay each time a user clicks on your ad and the more you pay, the better results you’ll see. As competition for popular keywords gets fiercer, you may also end up paying more for them down the line to continue seeing the same results
- It can be very time-consuming. You need to carefully research the keywords you will bid on, manage your budget, measure your ROI and make adjustments accordingly
- It only works when the campaign is running. Once the PPC campaign is switched off, you stop seeing results
- Competitors can drive up your clicks with fraudulent manual clicks which can end up costing a fortune
Is PPC Right for Your Business?
PPC may be right for you if you want to see results immediately, such as with a product launch. It may also be the right strategy if you want a very targeted stream of customer traffic, if you’re promoting an event with an expiration date, or if you want to dominate the search results for your chosen keyword.
Need More Help?
When it comes to SEO vs. PPC, Digital Surfer are experts in helping business owners choose the right marketing strategy to skyrocket the success of their business. We specialise in organic SEO and paid ad management and can help you tailor a targeted strategy that works for you. Contact the digital marketing company Gold Coast or Call us today to discover how we can help.
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