STRATEGY CALL
Is SEO better than pay-per-click advertising services? Or does PPC deliver better results than SEO? We hear these questions a lot, and the answer is they both have their distinct pros and cons. But what really matters, in our opinion, is how well they can work together.
Smart WSI Marketing provides pay-per-click advertising services that position your company at the top of search so it can be easily found by prospective customers. We also create SEO-rich content that matches the intent of your searchers. We believe an integrated approach that includes SEO and PPC advertising is the best way for you to increase sales and grow your business. Why? Because PPC and SEO are two sides of the same coin: search. Call us today to learn more!
The primary differences between SEO and pay-per-click advertising services are:
While marketers often refer to SEO as a marathon and PPC as a sprint, the truth is marketing is a triathlon, with each unique part requiring various approaches.
If you want to attract more website visitors, increase your leads, and boost revenue, getting your SEO and PPC campaigns to work together is the way to do it. Here are five ways these two unique marketing methods can be combined to yield maximum results.
Anyone who uses Google (and who doesn’t?) is sure to have noticed how much noisier and more cluttered the search engine result pages have become. Unfortunately, hoping to take the first spot with your target keyword is no longer enough. Today, businesses hoping to get seen must occupy as much digital real estate as possible.
Organic traffic (53%) and paid search (27%) make up the majority of all website traffic. With over a trillion Google searches performed annually, it’s vital to adopt a marketing plan that integrates both strategies. Here’s why. Google’s first result earns about 30% of all clicks. By optimizing for both pay-per-click advertising services and SEO, you can:
SEO and PPC each require a large amount of data to perform A/B testing and make necessary optimizations. Some businesses already possess sufficient data to fuel their PPC campaigns, but many, especially those new to SEO, find it challenging to gauge their efforts’ effectiveness. By combining pay-per-click advertising services and SEO, you can share data between the channels.
Many digital marketing tools rely heavily on Google’s Keyword Planner; combining them provides more data and better insights for both SEO and pay-per-click advertising services. Using Google’s search console, you can view how users are searching for your content and then write organic content and ad copy accordingly.
As noted above, 53% of all website traffic is organic, while only 27% is from paid search. Does that make SEO “better” than PPC? No, it doesn’t. It can take months for your optimized website to start seeing results. With pay-per-click advertising services, on the other hand, you can start getting leads immediately. Paid search also lets you “retarget” users who’ve already visited your site, a strategy with a much higher click-through rate than standard PPC ads.
Another question we hear is, “If my competitors aren’t bidding on my keyword and I already have the top position organically, why should I spend money to get clicks when I’m already getting them for free?”
It’s a reasonable question, but there are good reasons for committing to an SEO+PPC approach. For one, you can save money by only bidding on keywords that have competition and where your content isn’t ranking in the top position organically. You can then use the money you save to target competitor keywords and swipe some of their traffic!
Using SEO and PPC together requires more effort than just using one or the other. So you’ll need to invest some time to get good results out of a combined strategy. Working with a local digital marketing agency can take the burden off your shoulders and help you reap the benefits of an integrated approach. Smart WSI specializes in pay per click advertising services and SEO strategies that improve reach and brand awareness. To learn more about all the digital marketing services we offer, contact us today.
Lynne is known for her strategic approach to marketing communications, technologies, and lead generation. She has a passion for education, keeping up with current marketing trends and practices, and helping clients keep ahead of their competition.
