When you think about SEO, you are probably thinking about organic search strategies or the methods you are using to increase your visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). Pay Per Click (PPC), on the other hand, is when you actually pay for that visibility. If you’re considering the two as totally separate tactics, you may be missing out. Thinking of PPC and SEO as two components of the same campaign will help you coordinate your efforts and multiply your results with a cohesive strategy.
Search engine marketing is an all-encompassing term that includes both PPC and SEO tactics to improve your visibility on the web. A balance of the two is key to short- and long-term success with search engine marketing. The bottom line is that both PPC and SEO have the ultimate goal of converting visitors (either through click-through rate or conversion rate) and turning your audience into paying customers.
Without SEO, your PPC efforts could be a failure. Because? If your landing page isn’t relevant to the ads you’re displaying, your visitors will hit the streets instead of shelling out their hard-earned money.
keyword research
One of the most important things that PPC and SEO share is the need to do extensive keyword research. The same keywords you’re using to entice visitors to click your ads might be the same keywords you want to use to improve your organic rankings on your site’s content and off-page SEO efforts, but they’re not. always.
PPC keywords should have high search volume but low competition for the ideal match. Of course, that cannot always be achieved. Depending on your niche, the competition can get quite strong with some hard-to-beat websites occupying the first page of Google SERPs.
Competitive advantage
Beating your competition at the SEO game, especially if your competitors have had a strong web presence for years, is no easy feat. It can be done, but it will take time. With PPC, on the other hand, it is possible to beat your competitors quite easily if you have enough cash to beat them on your desired keywords. Cost is not the only factor that comes into play, but it is important.
short term vs long term
SEO is a long-term strategy that you want to maintain with constant effort. PPC can be used as a short-term tactic to gain visibility on the front page of the SERPs before you’ve had time to ramp up your SEO campaign.
But PPC isn’t just for short-term profit. Many companies continue to use PPC for years and reap huge benefits. The key is to find the sweet spot where your investment pays off in terms of ROI, in which case, there’s no point not to. If you could spend $500 per month to get a guaranteed payment of $5,000, would you?
Given the similarities between the approach and the short- and long-term co-benefits, many businesses opt for a multi-channel approach, focusing their efforts on both SEO and PPC to ensure the viability of their site over time.
It doesn’t end there. The exposure you get from your PPC campaign (brand awareness, paying customers, and repeat business) can actually boost your SEO. Things like repeat visitors, backlinks, social mentions, positive online reviews, and social followers continue to be important factors for Google when determining which websites have the most value.
Combining the two: a cohesive strategy
The best way to approach it is to think of PPC and SEO as a single, comprehensive campaign that has two different pathways. When you consider both approaches during the strategy planning phase, you’re more likely to consider how the two will complement each other when actual visitors see or click your ads and land on your landing pages.
When you’re thinking about the terms that visitors searching for your products and services are likely to enter, you also need to consider what information would be most compelling once they land on a promising web page.
• What information can you display that is most relevant to the search query?
• What data will convince your prospects to click the “buy now” button?
• Is the landing page directly related to the ad text that led the visitor to it?
• Are your headlines clear and engaging?
• Does your landing page link to related areas of your site that will provide more detailed information?
The best thing about all of these considerations is that if you plan your landing page and site copy to complement your PPC campaign, you’ll already attract search engines without even really trying. When you answer these questions, you are writing for the reader, not the search engine. That means you’ll have meaningful and relevant high-quality content, which is exactly what Google is looking for today. By balancing the two components of search engine marketing, you’ll make your life easier and reap great rewards while doing it.
