Pay-Per-Click vs. Search Engine Optimization
Some may ask “Well, which one is best?” Does Pay-Per-Click or Search Engine Optimization result in a better return on investment? We can sit here and debate all day between focusing your efforts on Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing or Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
However, let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of Pay-Per-Click marketing compared to Search Engine Optimization. Then we’ll have a better understanding what may work best for where your business currently is.
Pay-Per-Click Pros
You Control The Traffic
Like a switch, you can turn website traffic on and off with Pay-Per-Click campaigns. You control how much traffic you want to receive through adjusting your ad spend, budgets, and setting a max CPC.
You Direct The Traffic
Specify landing pages and control the pages that visitors enter the website through. Be sure to setup tracking to use statistics that show which visitor landed on the relevant landing page and converted to sales at a higher percentage, then directing more visitors to the appropriate landing page to significantly impact sales.
Instant Results
Pay-Per-Click campaigns generate instant results. New businesses do not have to wait for Google to index and rank their site, or attempt to get a large number of websites linking back to their website before seeing any traffic through link-building campaigns. You can instantly acquire traffic through Pay-Per-Click advertising.
Perfect For Testing
Pay-Per-Click campaigns are relatively easy to track and measure. You can easily determine what keywords or phrases convert to sales. Then, you can optimize your landing pages for the phrases that have the highest conversion rates. PPC campaigns are essential when it comes to doing any A|B split testing.
Pay-Per-Click Cons
You Are Paying For The Traffic
Ah, that’s right… let us not forget that Pay-Per-Click is not free. While businesses and digital marketers retain control of their ad spend, it can get expensive if your ads are not converting and getting a positive ROI.
Click Fraud Can Skew Your Results
Businesses must accept the fact that, on some level, they will pay for illegitimate traffic. Be it one click or one hundred clicks, click fraud can skew results and be costly to small businesses. Bots or competitors may click your ads, resulting in inflated traffic numbers without conversions.
Not A Solution For Inexpensive Products Or Services
Pay-Per-Click is not always effective for inexpensive products or services.
Search Engine Optimization Pros
Only Costs Time (Unless You’re Paying Someone)
Search Engine Optimization mostly takes “time”, and is relatively inexpensive when compared to the potential return. Many businesses can succeed on SEO alone, but it’s always a risk to have a single traffic source that can be lost at any time.
Long Term Results
The results from Search Engine Optimization can be long lasting. While constant SEO maintenance is suggested, some businesses report long lasting results from minor optimization and adjustments.
Search Engine Optimization Cons
It’s Time Consuming
Search engine optimization is time consuming, and it may take many months to see how minor changes effect rankings. This can be frustrating for even the most patient businesses, because it becomes very challenging when you’re looking to measure results.
A Single Change Can Impact Results
A single minor change can cause drastic changes to search engine rankings. Simply put, a single change may cause a flood of high-quality traffic, or result in significant traffic loss.
SEO Is A Moving Target
Search engines are constantly adapting and changing their algorithms, so what works one month may not the next. There’s two main focuses… to be relevant and popular. If your efforts are always gears towards hitting those targets, you’ll be good on your rankings.
All Search Engines Are Different
Optimization that is effective on one search engine may or may not be effective on another search engine. Businesses need to walk a line to optimize for all search engines or the major ones. However, your customers may likely use one search engine over another. If you can identify which produces that higher conversion, it may be advantageous to work towards ranking for the one that works best for you.
There are No Guarantees
SEO is not always within anyone’s control. Whether it’s the business itself, a SEO marketing agency, or the person you know that’s really good with computer. Those who guarantee rankings are probably able to rank low volume keywords or phrases that do not convert into sales.
Most businesses have come to the realization that both PPC and SEO have a place in their marketing campaigns. It is important to find a balance between the two, as both can be beneficial. If your businesses is somewhat seasonal, it would be key to utilize a controlled increase in traffic to capitalize on attracting new customers during this time.
