To survive and flourish most businesses are in a quandary about which online strategy will increase the right prospects to their website.  We will explain the similarities and the differences between SEO and Pay Per Click.

Each of these requires a commitment – they are not for the short term.  SEO may take weeks or months to generate a sizeable return, however, it is one of the best strategies you can use to promote your business online. PPC is helpful because it can lead to quick results if used right.  As most would say that is a big if considering the cost in most competitive markets. Let’s take a look at both.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Today there are several search engines.  If you focus on Google alone, you will be missing some very good business opportunities with the other search engines.  Bing, Yahoo, and Duck Duck Go all have a sizeable audience to move the needle with your need for new client growth.

• 67k searches are performed on Google every second
• 39% of all global ecommerce traffic comes from search
• 93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine
• Nearly 80% of users ignore paid ads in search results
• 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020
• 58% of searches come from mobile
• 97% of page-one results have at least one image on the page
• 46% of all Google searches are local
• Nearly 3 out of 10 people use Bing or Yahoo search.
• Bing is the search engine for Yahoo.

The real advantage of SEO over PPC is Increase brand authority. Ranking higher in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Page) will give your brand the impression that it is a more favorable business. 94% of internet users skip the paid ads and go directly to organic listings.

If you are ranked in the top 3 slots in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) Potential Clients will see your website first. This gives the impression that you are the top in your field.

Larger Return on Investment.  In some cases, the cost of an SEO may exceed the cost of a PPC Budget. However, the dollars spent on SEO will be more effective than those of a PPC Budget. The results can be 10 times greater.  In other words, you pay for every click in a PPC campaign.  With SEO, once the keywords are ranked, Organic clicks are 100% free.  Being seen in the organic or SEO rankings is the gift that keeps on giving.

The more you spend on an SEO campaign yields more keywords in play for top rankings. When the keywords are ranked on the search engines a dollar value is assigned for those keywords which can produce a revenue stream when you go to sell your business.  Using a tool like SEMrush will assist you in seeing the dollar value of the keywords you have ranked.

PAY PER CLICK (PPC)

PPC or pay per click means you pay for every click that comes to your website.  You may think PPC is a faster way to get into the SERPs.  It is.  It also comes with a greater cost. You start your campaign and keep funding it and you will see yourself at the top of the results. Yes, you may save labor costs that you would incur doing an SEO campaign, but  you will get what you paid for. High demand keywords require larger budgets. Companies with deep pockets can out bid you and drive your results to the bottom.

Flexibility

SEO focuses on search engine results.  PPC can position you on other sites as well. The factors to determine where you will end up will be your ad type, ad budget and target audience.

What is best for your business?

Contact us. We build successful campaigns for SEO and PPC.  The most important question to ask is how much you should allocate for each strategy. We provide stand alone and combined programs that get results.