SEO and PPC are two of the most common strategies employed by start-up companies and SMEs, and understanding the pros and cons of these marketing techniques is essential when it comes to getting the best for your business.
And of course, you also want to be sure that your funds are being used in the most effective way possible and that any marketing tactics you use will generate the maximum profit. If you are uncertain whether SEO or PPC would be a better approach for your business, read on for a closer look at both of these strategies.
SEO
It’s essential that you have some clear understanding of what SEO, or search engine optimization is, what local SEO is and what the results might mean for your company. The consensus is that SEO is more useful for companies in different industries as customers looking at search engine results are over eight times more likely to click on organic results than in a PPC ad. However, if you are faced with an extremely competitive target market, getting organic search results can be a challenge as well as an often lengthy process.
However, being able to stay ahead of the curve is a must if you adopt SEO as a strategy, as algorithms often change, and many see this as a drawback. It’s also important to realize that effective SEO is more about being able to keep your position in the search engine rankings once you have obtained it.
PPC
Firstly, you will need to budget more for PPC, as it can be very costly to maintain. PPC, or pay per click, is a paid search advertising approach, in which you are paying a small amount whenever a customer clicks on your campaign. There is a much lower chance of getting your company’s name noticed in those all-important search engine results, although PPC offers a much higher conversion rate, with customers about 1.5 times more likely to convert.
So Which is Better?
Your company’s digital marketing budget will be a significant factor in deciding whether PPC or SEO is a better strategy for you. If you don’t have as large a budget as you would like, and the target keywords are very competitive, it can become very costly to use PPC, even though you can impose small bid limits on each campaign.
With SEO, you shouldn’t expect to see positive results immediately, as it really should be seen as a true invested, yielding results over the long term. In general, you can expect to enjoy better results the longer you invest in SEO. One benefit is that you tend to know fairly accurately just what you are getting for your money, as a monthly retainer can be used. The bottom line is that you need to be somewhat patient; if you are the kind of person that expects instant results, then you may find that this isn’t the right strategy for you and your company.
One recommended step is to find out the average cost of the CPC’s in your specific industry to help you determine whether PPC really can be an effective marketing tool for your company. To help decide whether the budget constraints that you have would support an SEO campaign, you should make a point of finding out just how competitive the SERPs are in your particular industry.
There are some questions you should be asking yourself if you are trying to decide if a PPC campaign or a strategy that relies more on SEO would be a more effective solution for your company. As you can see, there are pros and cons to both of these marketing methods, and you want to be sure you choose the strategy that works for you. And of course, the available budget is also something that has to be considered, and whether a PPC strategy justifies the extra expense.
If you aren’t sure which strategy would work best for you or if both strategies may be best, talk to the SEO experts here at Coronation Internet Marketing. We can provide you with a free SEO analysis for your business website.
