It’s no secret that having a strong online presence is critical to the success of your business. However, if you want to reap the benefits, you will need to drive traffic to your website. This is where SEO marketing campaigns differ from PPC marketing campaigns.
Businesses generally choose between SEO and PPC advertising as part of their Internet marketing strategy. However, determining which option is best for you is not always simple.
This article will look at everything you should consider when deciding between SEO and PPC campaigns.
What Is SEO?
Search engine optimization is the process of increasing the visibility of your website in search engines.
Investing in SEO is a great way to ensure the long-term viability of your site and marketing strategy because it will generate high-quality links to your site, indicating to search engines that your site is trustworthy.
And while SEO takes longer to produce results than other forms of advertising, particularly PPC, when you do it, you’re doing it on a foundational level that is more difficult to remove. So even if you stop doing SEO, you will continue to reap benefits even if you stop contributing to it.
When Is The Best Time To Use The SEO Marketing Strategy?
Under three conditions, you should use SEO in your marketing strategy.
- When you want your business website to produce consistent results.
- When you want your business website to have authority and presence.
- When you want to increase the value of your company’s website.
These three conditions are met when you already have a steady flow of customers coming in from an established PPC campaign.
What is PPC?
PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is a type in which advertisers pay publishers each time a visitor clicks on their link.
Unlike other forms of advertising, PPC produces results as long as you invest money in it. Your PPC campaign will come to a halt the moment you stop.
PPC provides immediate gratification, but I refer to it as a lead zeppelin: put energy (i.e., money) into a PPC campaign, and it will generate traffic. If you turn off that energy, the traffic will crash as the campaign ends.
When Is The Best Time To Use The PPC Marketing Campaign Strategy?
Every marketing expert agrees that the best time to use the PPC marketing campaign strategy is when you just start and need that extra push to build a good brand reputation. Aside from that, there are six conditions under which your PPC campaign must be run:
- When you need immediate results from your company’s website.
- When you want highly targeted traffic, that is 95% likely to buy your product.
- When you need an immediate boost in conversion rates.
- When you want to promote a limited-time offer, such as a sale.
- When your website is still not SEO-optimized.
- When you want your customer to see your advertisement before anyone else’s, PPC always appears at the top of the page, unlike SEO.
Although these six conditions may not be met in the same way that SEO conditions are met, PPC campaigns are an excellent way for any business to get started.
Which is better: SEO or PPC?
There are times when SEO is superior to PPC and vice versa.
Let’s take a look at some of these scenarios now.
Use SEO if
- your marketing budget is limited.
- You want to establish your brand’s authority.
- You want to maximize your long-term return on investment (ROI).
- You want to create content reaching your audience at various sales funnel stages.
Use PPC if
- You want quick results.
- Your product is novel or unique.
- You’re promoting a time-sensitive offer, such as a holiday sale.
- You want to direct your audience to a sales or landing page.
When in Doubt, Use Both
You may be in a situation where you intend to achieve long-term and short-term goals. Alternatively, you may want to be as productive as possible with your brand while waiting for your SEO strategy to take effect.
SEO and PPC can help you reap the benefits of both strategies and achieve the best possible results. This is especially effective because each strategy tends to compensate for the weaknesses of the other.
PPC ads, for example, allow your brand to be seen by a large number of people. They will not, however, assist you in ranking for high-profile keywords as SEO will. Remember that you can use both strategies at the same time. You’ll probably find yourself hitting numbers you never thought were possible!
Final Words
Many brands are now aware that there is no one or the other regarding SEO and PPC. To achieve the best results, both strategies must be used in tandem. However, a PPC campaign should always be up and running first, and SEO should be implemented gradually because they are complementary.
