SEO or PPC: Which is For You?
WEDNESDAY,
JULY 02, 2014
There are two ways you can enhance your presence on the web – PPC (pay per click) and SEO (search engine optimization). Both approaches have their advantages. This blog attempts to answer which of the two is a more effective tool for your internet marketing campaign.
SEO
When users search for “local spas” or “best Father’s Day gifts” on Google (or Bing, or Yahoo!), the search engine looks into its database and pulls out a list of websites that it thinks are most relevant to the user’s query. It uses a program (algorithm) to sort web pages. SEO is the art of making your content search engine friendly so that search engines place your website on top for certain keywords.
There are many advantages of making your website SEO friendly:
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Content written from SEO perspective shows up higher in organic search.
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A higher rank brings traffic to your website.
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Compared to PPC, SEO is less expensive.
Cons
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SEO is time consuming. It can be months, or even a year before you notice results.
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Google’s algorithm is constantly changing. If you fail to adapt to this incessant change, your website rank may take a hit.
PPC
Google also lets you run paid advertising campaigns. When you make a search, you notice that the first two or three results are shown against a light yellow background. Those are paid results. You pay Google some amount for every click you receive on your ad copy. As long as you continue to pay, your ad will stay there. Paying Google for top position in search results is called PPC marketing.
There are advantages to include PPC in your internet marketing strategy:
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Results are instantaneous. You do not have to wait for Google’s bots to visit your website and include it in the search engine database where Google’s algorithm can find it.
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Ads take precedence over organic results. Therefore, users are more likely to click on them.
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Visitor-to-conversion ratio is high as only those interested in your product or service are likely to click on ads.
Cons
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It is costly. One click for highly competitive keywords can cost upwards of $50.
Which is better for you?
Both have their place. When you are new, you can use PPC while focusing on SEO for long term. After a few months, you can start receiving stable traffic from SEO. At this point you can put more focus on SEO.
