Pay per click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) have the same goals: to put your name in front of people, get your business noticed, help you rank higher on search engines and increase your traffic and sales.
You’re probably already well aware of the importance of having your business, services and contact details on the Internet for people to find. Yet, with over three billion Google searches a day, it takes more than just an online presence to hit a lot of people’s radars.SEO and PPC are two of the most effective ways to stand out in this busy online marketplace. While you can use both as part of an effective digital marketing strategy, you may wonder, ‘what’s the difference? What are the pros and cons of each? And which one should I start with if I want to see results quickly?This article explores where PPC, SEO and search engine marketing fit into the picture and how Anchor can help you with each.
What is Pay Per Click (PPC)?
If you’ve ever typed a phrase into Google and discovered the first few results are all ads, you’ve witnessed pay-per-click (PPC) in action. PPC is a form of Internet marketing that involves you paying a fee every time your ad is clicked.It’s easy to set up a PPC campaign using a popular program like Google Ads. Through Google, you bid on the keywords you want and how much you’re willing to pay for them. Bidding on a high-ranking keyword can show your business in a top spot on the web results fairly quickly. You then pay Google a small fee every time someone clicks the ad. If you’re running your PPC campaign correctly, you’ll make money rather than lose it.
Benefits
Pay per click is a powerful form of advertising that’s cheap to set up and can generate huge revenue. 65% of people click on ads when making a purchase, and Google Ads delivers an average 8:1 return on investment. You’re likely to get eight dollars back for every dollar you spend, as long as you’re running your campaign the right way. In very skilled hands, the ROI can be even higher.One of the biggest benefits of PPC is ranking higher than organic search results so that you’re among the first search results users see when looking for companies like yours. The more people see and click your ad, the higher your Quality Score rises. This score gives you a sense of how your quality compares to other advertisers and how Google ranks its relevance.With PPC, you’re in complete control of every aspect of your ads and campaign: your budget, the users you target, the landing page you send them to and what you want your ad to say.
Drawbacks
Despite being an enormously helpful tool for search engine success, pay-per-click does have a handful of limitations. Many web users simply do not and will not click on ads and instead go immediately to the organic search results below. The strength of PPC ads also tends to wane over time – the longer they’re up, the less they convert. They also require an ongoing financial investment. As soon as you stop paying for your ads to be on the top of the Google results, there goes your precious placement.For those reasons and many others, the most effective strategy is to use PPC and SEO in your digital marketing.
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
Search engine optimisation means improving your site’s visibility and rankings on search engine results pages (SERPS). The higher you rank, the more likely you attract organic traffic that leads to site visits and sales. Of course, most SEO these days is focused on the world’s most popular search engine Google, but you can also use SEO for Bing, YouTube, Yahoo or any other form of search engine.Search engines use bots to crawl pages and put them in an index. Algorithms assess the pages in the index to determine where they should rank in relation to user inquiries. Unlike PPC, you can’t pay money to get to the top of Google. You have to optimise your website to rank on the first page by providing a better user experience and using the right techniques (e.g. keywords and links) in the right places.
Benefits
SEO is completely free. And while it can be a lot more work for your content to rank higher, you don’t have to keep running an ad to maintain your place. If you’re in the number one spot on Google, you’re the first organic result that people will see below the PPC ones. You’re in a position that inspires trust in web users, and you’re ready to receive a steady stream of organic traffic.SEO is a long-term strategy that offers benefits in the future. The same blog post can continue to attract new web traffic and sales years after it was first published.
Drawbacks
SEO has very few drawbacks. Sometimes you have to be patient and wait to see results. And once you get there, maintaining your page’s high rankings is an ongoing process, but it’s a process that’s well worth it. You can lose your place if competitors start using better SEO techniques if Google’s algorithm updates or users’ intent changes (e.g. a keyword suddenly attracts more inquiries for a brand new product than what it originally stood for).The ideal approach includes both SEO and pay-per-click: PPC for the shorter-term goals and SEO for the long game. A/B testing your paid ads can give you strategic insight into the pages you intend to rank organically, and you can use many of the same keywords and other elements.
Which is Better for Your Business: Pay Per Click or Search Engine Marketing?
Sometimes terms like PPC and search engine marketing get used interchangeably. But technically, there’s a difference. Search engine marketing is an umbrella term referring to any techniques that make it easier to find a webpage through a search engine. It includes PPC, social media marketing, managing paid listings, submitting sites to directories etc. It also allows for more accurate and precise targeting than SEO. Used skillfully, all of the above are excellent tools to promote your business.
Let Anchor Help You with PPC and SEO
Anchor can provide you with a plan that includes SEO, search engine marketing and PPC for the strongest, most precise and longest-lasting approach possible.SEO is continually changing, and it’s hard to keep up with the changes when you have your own business to run. Anchor makes it a priority to stay in the know so you can focus more on your immediate priorities. When we work together, we become a part of your team, boosting your message and brand exposure while maintaining your unique identity and authenticity.Anchor does not need lock-in contracts. Instead, we count on the quality of our work to motivate you to do business with us again. The solutions we provide should be enough.Drop us a line for a strategy that drives traffic to your site using the most powerful digital techniques and tools available.
