There are steps all businesses can take to successfully market their business. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns are popular methods businesses use to boost site traffic, rank higher in online searches, increase sales, and strengthen their brand identity. But, when it comes to SEO vs PPC, is one better than the other?
SEO
What is SEO?
SEO is a process of enhancing your website to increase its visibility in search engines. The overall aim is to improve your websites position in search results, so you are more likely to be found and clicked on, which is important if you’re in a highly competitive industry.
SEO is a free and organic way to drive traffic naturally to your site. Optimising the content and technical aspects of your website will make it easy for search engines to discover you.
The goal is for published content to be high quality and include keywords. B2B businesses should be investing in quality key word driven content to attract the businesses they want to engage with. SEO is a critical technique to achieve long term brand awareness which is particularly important in B2B sectors.
Advantages of SEO
SEO is a credible way to build trust and generate brand awareness with longevity. Here are the main advantages of SEO:
- It’s a low-cost way to market.
- Website traffic increases steadily.
- It requires low acquisition for a good ROI.
- Brands grows organically to achieve a high google listing.
- People trust businesses which rank high on Google
Disadvantages of SEO
There are some setbacks to using SEO, and it isn’t the best option if you’re looking for instant results. Let’s look at the main challenges SEO can present.
- To see significant change in website traffic will take time.
- It can take around 6 months to see results, so it can be a longer wait on your ROI.
- You are relying on an algorithm in Google’s control (which has been known to change)
- There is no guarantee of improved site traffic.
- SEO requires continued investment.
When should a business use SEO?
As we have seen there are advantages and disadvantages of using SEO for marketing purposes, but it is a critical marketing channel that businesses should be using. If you feel its something you are not skilled enough to implement then there are experts who can help, like our team at GetCrisp.
All businesses want to grow, strengthen their brand presence, and increase their visibility online. Using SEO will ensure you remain competitive against other brands and increase your ranking in search engine results. Good SEO is sustainable, to maintain its impact requires consistent and continued investment.
SEO should be used to achieve key business goals such as conversions, visits and sales. If you’re a B2B business and looking to be a leader in your industry, then effective SEO can help your brand be seen as trustworthy and authoritative. Another thing to consider is if you’re looking to potentially sell your business in the future, SEO can increase the value of your website.
PPC
PPC is internet marketing which involves the use of advertisers. The advertiser will run ads on platforms like Google Ads, and each time the ad is clicked on you pay a fee.
Unlike SEO which generates organic traffic, PPC can be described as a method that buys visits to your website. Like SEO there are advantages and disadvantages to a PPC campaign, let’s take a look at what the pros and cons are.
Advantages of PPC
PPC is a popular method of marketing and ads can increase brand awareness by up to 80%. Let’s start by looking at the advantages to understand why it’s a popular choice for many businesses.
- Businesses can control how much they spend on a campaign.
- Ads can be customised and targeted to audiences, locations, and demographics.
- Ads increase a business’s visibility.
- Same day results can be achieved.
- PPC can be cost effective because you only pay when a visitor reaches your website.
Disadvantages of PPC
If you’re looking for a marketing strategy that builds long lasting brand presence, then PPC is not going to be the best choice. Here are some of the disadvantages of using a PPC campaign.
- It is costly to achieve good results quickly.
- To achieve the best results, time needs to be invested into optimising the ads.
- To optimise a PPC campaign requires skill.
- Once the campaign ends, your business won’t keep the same ranking in search results and will drop down over time.
- Clicks and visits to your site don’t always lead to sales.
When should a business use PPC?
Businesses should use PPC for specific campaigns. PPC is ideal for launching new products or promotions because these types of things require engagement and traffic quickly. Additionally, promotions may only need to last a set amount of time and PPC is simple to stop and start when it suits you. However, remember to bear in mind once a campaign stops, visibility of your business will decrease.
If you need to target a specific market audience then PPC is a good option, as well as targeting, results can be measured and tracked. This allows you an insight into what works and what doesn’t, having this information will enable you to tailor your future campaigns.
SEO vs PPC, using both for your business
Whether it’s for short term or long-term results, SEO and PPC both have distinct advantages to achieve your marketing goals. Using a combination of the two could achieve greater results and the two methods can complement each other. For example, analysing PPC campaigns, can provide you with keywords to use in your website content which will go towards improving SEO.
Both PPC and SEO can help grow a business, what you need to be clear on is your long term and short term goals as well as the time and money you have available to achieve them.
If you have any questions or want to know how to successfully market your business, get in touch with one of the experts at GetCrisp.