Two of the most common acronyms you’ll run across in digital marketing are SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay-per-click ads). Both refer to advertising strategies designed to draw traffic to your website, business services, and, ultimately, more sales.
Which approach is better: SEO or PPC? We’ll review what those are and explain how they can help market your business online.
What is PPC?
PPC gives business owners the chance to buy advertising space on Google’s search engine results. This is where you’d pay Google a predetermined figure to run ads based on the number times someone clicks on them. Like SEO, it has a lot to do with keywords, since you would bid on specific ad words that will appear when someone searches for that term.
PPC often involves a “landing page,” which is where potential customers “land” after clicking on the ad. This isn’t the service or purchase page itself, but rather an intermediate page that’s supposed to help further encourage a sale.
Savvy marketers will use landing pages as part of a well-designed ad funnel to increase the chances of full conversion. You might also hear of the term, click-through-rate (CCR), a metric that tracks how well the ads, landing pages, and other components lead the consumer to the finished line. This is vital because it allows you to construct effective ads, and discard the ones that don’t work.
What is SEO?
SEO is all about programming and modifying your website to ensure it lands on the top page of Google’s search results.
Let’s say, for example, you operate an automotive dealership in Sarasota, Florida. Your SEO goal would be to have one of the first results whenever people search for “new cars in Sarasota” or “used cars near me.” You would accomplish this through the written, photographic, and programming content on your website.
There are many ways to make your business website more SEO.
- Creating original content that targets the needs/interests of your ideal buyers.
- Strategically inserting internal links to other areas of your website.
- Integrating social media accounts with your website.
- Building a website with a solid volume of videos and high-resolution images.
So, the entire purpose of the SEO strategy is to improve your website’s visibility to increase brand visibility. This will allow Google’s algorithms to search your website and identify it as a site to show people in the search results.
Which is Better for My Business?
Although there is no silver bullet solution that works for all businesses, we recommend a blend of both strategies. A mixture of SEO web design and thoughtful PPC ad campaigns is often the key to success.
Of course, how extensively you pursue one or both depends on your budget. Finally, you can expect faster results with PPC ads, but many businesses find better long-term benefits from first focusing on an SEO website.
We hope you enjoyed this quick review of SEO vs PPC. You can learn much more about these topics and hire one of our experts for comprehensive assistance when you work with DigiSphere Marketing. Contact us anytime to discover how we can optimize your web marketing by calling 941-803-4141.
