SEO vs PPC: Which Digital Marketing Strategy Should You Choose?

People discussing the benefits of SEO vs. PPC.

SEO vs PPC: the fact is that the success of any online undertaking depends on the traffic its pages generate. While this is undeniable, it does raise a question of what will get you there more efficiently — SEO or PPC. Both of these approaches are powerful tools to generate traffic, using different methodologies to get you there.  

Both search engine optimization (or SEO) and pay-per-click (or PPC) can drive visitors to your website, but choosing the right one for your business is key. When considering SEO vs. PPC, You can concentrate on using one if it’s enough, or combine both for optimal results. Knowing the strengths and limits of each may give you a clear idea of which one is for you. 

The Pros and Cons of SEO

Search engine optimization is all about adjusting your website and pages so they rank in the organic results in Google and Bing. You can’t buy your rank with money, but it’s based on the quality of your webpages calculated by algorithms of these search engines. This means that your digital marketing team needs to understand what search engines find relevant and then optimize your website to fit that concept.

Pros 

If your website can rank high in Google search results for desired keywords, you will experience steady traffic for your website. Even if you don’t do absolutely any SEO for a week or two, the traffic will keep on coming. For this reason, marketers like using SEO since it’s a long-term solution and doesn’t require constant investing to garner positive results.

For this reason, this is also a cheaper way to increase your traffic. Digital marketing uses keywords that are ranked high based on tools for SEO analysis, like Ahrefs. Using these keywords can lead visitors to your website and help you climb up the search results in Google and Bing. If you wanted to use PPC and buy that traffic, you would need to spend thousands of dollars, so SEO is by far a much cheaper solution.

Cons

It takes time to see results with SEO and get to the desired ranking in Google and Bing. This is a slow process sometimes needing a couple of months and sometimes even a year. Because of this, SEO may not be the ideal choice for those looking for results right away.

Another issue with SEO is that it requires unique content to rank high with search engine algorithms. The materials you have on your webpages have to be something people will want to share and consider valuable. To create such content may be time-consuming and too expensive for startups and small companies if they are looking for immediate effect.

The Pros and Cons of PPC    

Both SEO and PPC allow you to hire professionals from anywhere in the world, like GWM Melbourne and have the one you deem best to build your digital advertising strategy. But unlike SEO, you will have to invest money in PPC if you want to see results. Pay-per-click is exactly what its name says — you pay the clicks leading to your website. In most cases, this model is connected to search engines and the advertising they offer, like Google Ads, although it has spread on social media, like Facebook and Twitter. 

Pros

Unlike SEO, PPC is fast and you won’t have to wait days or months to see the first results. All you need to do is to choose an ad platform and you can start the marketing campaign immediately. This is why PPC is a perfect advertising method for businesses with little time to leave a mark.

One more great thing about PPC is that you can select your audience based on demographics, geography and other types of data. You can choose who will come to your website giving you control over who is your target audience

Since PPC brings quick results, it can also provide you with fast feedback. This allows you to run experiments and see what type of campaigning can have the most results, giving you the chance to adjust your advertising strategy.     

Cons

PPC can be quite expensive, especially if you are in a competitive industry. This can have you hemorrhaging more money than you planned to invest in an advertising campaign. In that case, SEO is a much better way to create traffic for your business and cheaper, too. 

As with all the ads, people can get tired of your overtime. The longer you run your advertising campaign using PPC, the more it increases the chance people will see your ad too often. This will have you constantly working on updating your copy and refreshing the ads to make them relevant. 

Additionally, if you want to start PPC, you will need money. Most likely, you will lose some money before you optimize your advertising campaign properly in the first few months. For startups and small businesses, this can be a problem since they have scarce budgets for costly marketing tactics.

SEO vs PPC: The Verdict

When considering SEO vs. PPC, which is right for your business depends on various factors. For example, if you want to build awareness for a new product, then PPC is a more efficient method. In the end, the best strategy is to use a mix of both SEO and PPC since they can be equally profitable and help you get the most results out of your advertising campaign.