SEO and PPC Strategy
When first venturing into the world of search engine marketing (SEM), you’ll often find a deluge of information comparing pay per click (PPC) marketing to search engine optimization (SEO) marketing. You’ll find lots of information on the pros and cons of each vertical and some very enthusiastic opinions about why you should choose one over the other. However, choosing one method of SEM over the other is oftentimes not the most effective choice, and can actually be damaging to your overall marketing efforts. In most cases an SEM plan should include a combination of both short and long term initiatives and allocation of resources should be accordingly applied.
By combining the short term possibilities of PPC with the long term possibilities of SEO you can oftentimes achieve a higher ROI than by individually using either one.
Both online marketing methods have their advantages and disadvantages and chances are your business will lend itself better to one or the other. It’s important as a business owner to understand how both of these methods can help your business, and how they can work together to give you the most bang for your buck.
By combining the short term possibilities of PPC with the long term possibilities of SEO you can oftentimes achieve a higher ROI than by individually using either one.
Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing – PPC, often referred to as cost per click (CPC) marketing or paid search marketing, is the act of purchasing ad space on search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing. You place customized content on the search engines and then pay each time a visitor clicks on your ad and visits your web site. The cost of each click is determined among other things by the competition on the term, the history of the account and the amount you are willing to pay. Each time someone searches on one of the terms you identify, the term goes through an auction process behind the scenes. The search engine then reviews the metrics previously mentioned and your ad will be displayed in the corresponding position within the paid search area in the search engine results page (SERP).
Pay Per Click Marketing is the act of purchasing ad space on Search Engines. When someone searches on your keywords, your ad displays.
Advantages to Using PPC
- The speed at which you can launch a campaign and generate traffic for your site
- The ability to see immediate results and optimize accordingly
- The ability to turn campaigns on/off instantaneously due to bandwidth or technical issues
- The ability to promote certain products/services that are temporary or seasonal
- The opportunity to test the market before launching a large scale campaign
- The ability to easily set and manage your budget
Disadvantages to Using PPC
- Cost, especially in highly competitive industries
- Competition
The main advantage to PPC Marketing is the speed to which campaigns can be launched and optimized to quickly drive targeted and relevant traffic to your site.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – SEO, sometimes referred to as organic or free advertising, is the act of developing a web site and its pages in a manner that pleases the search engine algorithms. SEO involves manipulating the design, layout and content of each page within a website as well as managing the interaction between your site and others. If a correct SEO strategy (correct according to each search engine) is implemented, the search engine will give your site preferred positioning and placement. The increased visibility in presence and positioning will drive more traffic to your site.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the act of developing websites that please the search engines, ensuring your ads are displayed when relevant terms are searched.
Advantages to Using SEO
- The ability to develop a long term plan, with benefits continuing after the bulk of the work is complete
- Limited direct costs, other than paying for someone to do the work
- Increased brand recognition and credibility
- The ability to beat the competition by outsmarting not outspending them
- Attracting a broader customer base as your efforts also affect social media, etc.
- If done properly, an SEO optimized website will also be a user friendly website
Disadvantages to Using SEO
- Time consuming to implement
- Delayed results
- Changes to algorithms can tank overall results
The ability to invest in a long term plan with minimal upfront costs is the main advantage of SEO Marketing
Benefits of Using Both PPC and SEO
As you can see, each method clearly has its advantages and disadvantages depending on your business and your goals. In most cases, by using a combination of SEO and PPC to a varying degree, you can take advantage of the benefits of both, absorb the disadvantages of each, and see better overall results.
Utilizing both PPC and SEO simultaneously provides a much greater benefit than using either alone.
- You can set and achieve both short and long term goals. By using both methods, you can get traffic quickly through PPC while you are building a strategy to take advantage of long term, more continuous traffic from SEO. You can also take advantage of promoting seasonal products or promotions immediately, while not sacrificing your long term goals.
- Diversity. It’s never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. In online marketing it is not uncommon to experience hiccups in your traffic supply. By putting effort into both verticals, you will be covered if your PPC campaigns encounter a glitch or if the search engines decide to change their SEO algorithm (like what happened with the Penguin or Panda updates).
Multiple sources of traffic to your website yields greater control over the number and quality of visitors coming to your site.
- Consistency. Having two distinct sources of traffic allows flexibility when it comes to the daily traffic flow into your site. If you are experiencing a lull in your SEO traffic you can turn up your bids and attract more visitors via PPC. This makes it easier to manage and maintain a level of consistency in the number of visitors coming to your site.
- Increased Visibility. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition. The more times and places you can get your advertising in front of potential visitors, the better. By using both PPC and SEO you can essentially own a SERP. PPC ads will show up in one area and SEO will show up in another area on the webpage. Not only does it create a sense of confidence for users to see an advertiser appear in more than one location, it allows you to attract users who may respond differently to a search. Additionally, there is some evidence that search engines give preferential positioning to those advertisers utilizing both methods.
Achieving the highest ROI can often optimized with a combination of marketing channels, including SEO, SEM, and PPC working together.
- Research. In many cases, the keywords that perform the best in your PPC efforts will also be the terms that you will target in your SEO efforts. If you are actively using PPC, you can continually leverage the data to enhance every aspect of your SEM plan.
- Achieve a higher ROI. The ultimate goal of almost all businesses is to achieve the greatest ROI. The way you achieve the best ROI is by being smart and methodical about how and where you put your advertising dollar. Both PPC and SEO are legitimate marketing avenues that together can contribute to that goal.
Who We Are
Tessera Marketing is an internet marketing agency that specializes in creating custom marketing programs for our clients utilizing PPC, SEO, affiliate marketing and more. We get to know our clients and their businesses on a personal level and create custom programs for them based on their individual goals. If you’d like to learn more about how Tessera Marketing can help your business please give us a call at 303-379-9501, or visit our website at www.tesseramarketing.com. Consultations are always free.
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