SEO vs. PPC: Which Internet Marketing Strategy Is Best For Your Business?
Despite their fundamental differences, both SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click advertising) are categorized under the Internet Marketing umbrella.
This post discusses the epic battle which is…SEO vs PPC – which is best for YOUR business?
| There is a really good analogy that describes the difference between SEO and PPC. That is:
SEO is like owning your house, or paying a mortgage – Whereas PPC is like renting. When you’re finished paying your mortgage, you OWN your home, much like you OWN the traffic to your website after a good SEO campaign. When you stop paying rent, you get kicked out of the house, much like the traffic immediately drops of a cliff when you turn your PPC campaign off. |
You know what we are going to say next: There is no straight forward or simple answer to that question.
Instead, it depends on several factors:
Your Current Website
Depending on how your current website performs, the internet marketing strategy you choose will vary.
In the simplest form: If your site gets organic search traffic.. invest in some PPC for keywords that you don’t rank well for.
For instance, one of our client websites would get tons of traffic from long tail search terms, but they wouldn’t show up at all for their highest volume keywords (short tails). We started bidding on those short tail keywords and the ROI was immediately apparent!
On the other hand, if your current website looks and performs like an old Geo Metro - then we need to talk.
For businesses who are looking to start their first internet marketing campaign, we usually suggest a mixture of SEO and PPC.. but again, every situation is different.
Where Can You Do Business?
The geography in which you can do business can determine whether SEO or PPC is better for your business.
If you’re an insurance broker that can only cover clients in a certain state – I would suggest a mixture of both strategies.. here’s why:
Pay Per Click advertising for a certain geography is less expensive than nationwide.. so the ROI is easier to achieve and maximize AND…
It’s much easier to optimize your website for your highest search term + your geography.
To get on the first page for “car insurance” would be nearly impossible.. but getting on the first page for “car insurance Owings Mills” would be a lot easier.
Of course, if you’re willing to pay $15-$40 per click, you can be on the first page for “car insurance” nationwide.
What Type Of Business Are You?
For us (we are a full service internet marketing agency), the best clients are businesses that are B2C (business to consumer) and have a high ticket product or service.
It’s really hard to assign the best internet marketing strategy (SEO vs PPC) based on which business category your company is in.. but here is our version of this generalization:
B2B – High Ticket - Competitive Market = PPC w/ awesome landing page for conversions + SEO for long tail phrases
B2B – High Ticket – Not Competitive Market = SEO for long and short tail with high converting form/call to action on all pages.
B2B – Low Ticket – Competitive Market = SEO for long tail and geographies
B2B – Low Ticket – Not Competitive Market = SEO for long and short tail with geographies + supplement with PPC for the first 3 months.
B2C – High Ticket – Competitive Market = PPC w/ awesome landing page for conversions + SEO for long tail phrases
B2C – High Ticket – Not Competitive Market = SEO long and short tail with high converting form/call to action on all pages.
B2C – Low Ticket – Competitive Market = SEO for long tail and geographies
B2C – Low Ticket – Not Competitive Market = SEO + PPC on all of your keywords
Launch Your Internet Marketing Campaign SOON!
It doesn’t matter which search engine has the most market share, the fact is that internet searches are increasing every day – and if your company is no where to be found, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity!
We here at WebMechanix are VERY passionate about web marketing. This is good for you because we love to talk shop.. and if you want to know whether you should do SEO or PPC – give us a call today (443.927.7195)!
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If you enjoy this article.. take a look at these too:
Is SEO worth It? – A brief look into different business types and industries to see if SEO is worth doing.
How To: Do Your Own SEO – Do $3,550 worth of SEO in two hours!
Tags: Business, free internet marketing tips, Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Web Strategy
