SEO and PPC are the big beasts of any digital marketing strategy. But knowing how to tame them and get them to work for you is essential for success.
So should you find an SEO consultant to make your website roar? Or cut to the chase by asking your digital marketing agency to focus on a PPC campaign? So here's what your business needs to know about using PPC and SEO in Exeter to be king of the digital jungle.
So what are SEO and PPC anyway?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It's a process that involves optimising your website so the search engine crawlers can easily index and move it up the results page. As a result, you generate traffic because people want to visit your site, and you'll rank high for authenticity and trust.
PPC means Pay Per Click. It's a strategy that lets you pay for targeted adverts whenever anyone clicks through to your website. You'll bid for relevant keywords and leverage search engine traffic fast, giving your startup a healthy bit of rankwhoosh.
To put it another way, one is organic and cost-effective, while the other offers speedy results at a price.
So which one should you choose?
Spoiler alert: you need them both.
Here's why. Both strategies will deliver engaged visitors to your site who are ready to convert. But prioritising them will depend on your business and the results you want.
Knowing the advantages and drawbacks of SEO and PPC can help you create the dream scenario where both work together to boost your website traffic and drive you towards that coveted number one spot.
The benefits of SEO
SEO is cost-effective, and it's built to last. Long after the last click has been tapped on a PPC campaign, SEO will keep delivering traffic to your site. Plus, it's more stable over the long term, whereas PPC results can fluctuate according to bidding tactics.
It's worth taking your time to properly optimise your site with great content, authoritative link building, and well-targeted keywords and metadata. Get it right, and your site can keep climbing the rankings even if you go on holiday.
Ultimately, your marketing goal is to maximise RoI. And ranking organically:
- Raises brand awareness
- Builds trust and authority
- Grows your sales.
Unfortunately, the fact is, 92% of people get ad blindness and can skip over your PPC, however well-targeted it is.
The advantages of PPC
While you're busy with the never-ending task of optimising your website, you could be generating a 200% RoI with PPC.
The effects of a well put together campaign are instant, with an immediate uptick in traffic and a boost to your rankings that can take months with SEO. And you'll have complete control of your budget to keep a tight rein on your marketing spend.
Bidding on ad words lets you accurately target your customers right down to location and say of the week. You'll give them enticing visual clues through your product ads. And because you're bidding for top spots, changes in the Google algorithm can't dent your ranking.
So when should I use SEO and PPC?
Of course, there are flipsides to SEO and PPC.
SEO can be time-consuming, and it takes a while to see results. In the meantime, PPC can get super expensive, and when your budget runs out, so do the clicks.
So when should you think about using SEO, and when is PPC a better choice?
- You're selling an innovative product: Social media targeted PPC gets it to the attention of your potential customers fast.
- You're targeting informational keywords: If you're targeting learning keywords with a low conversion rate, concentrate on creating engaging content and SEO.
- You're launching or promoting a product: PPC and influencer marketing is the best approach for one-off and time-limited events.
- You're marketing budget is non-existent: Cost-effective SEO builds brand awareness and delivers long-term results.
You've probably noticed that where SEO is strong, PPC is weak and vice versa. But, like fish and chips, or tea and biscuits, they go together perfectly.
So when you're planning your digital campaigns, it's worth remembering that using them together is the most effective way to boost your rankings and increase sales over the long and short term.
SEO & PPC: the dream team
Are you looking for total results page domination? Here's how to make the dream team of SEO and PPC work for you:
- Trial your keyword strategies in PPC before integrating with SEO by transferring keyword and conversion data from your PPC campaigns.
- Make initial contact through organic SEO, then remarket with targeted PPC to stay top of mind with your customers.
- Use your PPC data to optimise meta descriptions and titles.
After all, ranking for keywords and running ads on those keywords means you can capture 100% of the audience.
Ready for some rankwhoosh from a digital marketing agency on your doorstep? At Nettl of Exeter, we can boost your business up the search engine rankings, so get in touch with the Nettl team today!
