Search Engine Optimization (SEO) vs. Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

 

We've all been in the following situation.

 

You have a limited buget to spend online.

 

Should you focus on Monthly SEO or invest you money and time into a Managed PPC campaign?

 

Perhaps the answer is both, perhaps neither. Read on to learn more.

 

 

#1 Truth in Advertising:

 

Do you remember the last time that you willingly clicked on a Banner advertisment? Do you even remember the last banner advertisment that you saw?

If you are like most people, probably not.

The truth is that most banner ads are random and even when properly targeted, we have become so accustomed to their existance that we have tuned them out.

 

The same has started occuring with Text Advertisments delivered in a Pay Per Click (PPC) format. Don't believe me?

Look at the changes being made right now to Yahoo's Overture program. They are now incorporating 'relevancy" into their results to ensure the ads you run on their network are accurate and provide a real benefit for the person who clicks the ad.

Google's Adwords program has long used relevancy to deliver their ads.

The simple truth here is that right now, some people are being fooled into thinking that PPC ads are not advertisments at all. As time goes by, and more people awaken to this realization, there will be a decline in the overall volume of traffic that can be delivered in this way.

 

As the total volume goes down, and demand stays high or increaes, the price will go up. It may be a good idea to have a solid SEO foundation for your website in the meantime.

 

 

#2 PPC is more Expensive then Monthly SEO

 

With many PPC managment firms charging thousands a month to manage your campaign, plus the actual expenditure of your advertising budget, you can easily spend a small fortune with PPC.

 

It's true that you can spend a small amount of money, many PPC groups have very small budget requirments. "Get started with as little as $5" some of their ads read. The trouble is, when you are trying to compete over popular keywords, you can often find yourself having to bid $10 or more per click just to stay competitive.

 

#3 iSEO Builds your Brand - The Restaurant vs. Hot Dog Cart

 

Optimized websites will get more visibility on search engines then any PPC campaign.

A well optimized website will reach an audience across tens of thousands of search engines and web directories. A well targeted PPC campaign will reach only a few search engines and their content networks.

 

The differences in some categories between SEO and PPC can be enormous. Over the long term, SEO is more cost effective and will get you more attention and traffic.

 

Another advantage to SEO - When you run a PPC campaign, your advertisments are "rotated". You aren't the only business bidding for that top 10 position, so you are roated in and out of the listings.

Someone who sees your ad, but doesn't click, may find that a competitor has replaced your spot if they refresh or go back to that page later.

 

With SEO, your ranking is almost assured to be there when they return.

Your visibility is thus STABLE. You appear to have a firm foundation of trust. You can think of this as a Brick and Mortar restaurant to a mobile hot dog cart.

The hot dog vendor and his cart may offer a great product or service. Perhaps his food and service are even better then the Restaurant around the corner.

Yet when someone arrives and is looking between the two, there is an immediate elevation in trust and legitimacy given to the Restaurant. Certainly it would not be able to stay open at that location if it wasn't doing something right.

The Hot Dog Vendor with his Cart on the other hand, loses brand and reputation. Perhaps he is a fly-by-night, has he been properly tested? How invested is he in his business?

The owner of the restaurant had to be very confident in its product and invest a lot of time and effort into it's position. It would not have been able to sustain this if it were not successful. The total expense of a vendor with a Hot Dog cart on the other hand is in question.

 

When it comes to the Internet search engines, be the foundation and trusted resource people look to on an ongoing basis.

Don't be the fly by night Hot Dog Cart vendor.

 

#4 Influence your Local Market:

Your address and location listed in the organic copy of your website will have an influence on where your website is listed depending upon how people search. You can also appear in the "Google Maps" and "Near Me" results.

 

This is possible with PPC as well, but it may come with additional fees.

#5 The SEO Ripple Effect:

 

With PPC you get traffic only from the words your willing to pay for. However with Monthly SEO you get a strong ripple effect - ranking you for many keyword combinations you probably never even thought of.

#6 Information they can count on:

 

One of the benefits of a Managed SEO campaign is that in order to really promote a website with SEO, you have to offer a lot of indepth content. Remember, Content is king with Search Engines.

 

Having a lot of content is also helpful to the people who visit your website. Having good SEO helps to expand the service you are offering your customers and visitors. SEO is as much about content managment as it is ranking higher on search engines.

 

#7 We're open 24 hours a day - 7 days a week:

 

You know that PPC campaigns will cycle your website ads in and out of rotation. This is the Hot Dog Cart vs. Restaurant theory.

If you take this a step further, with professionally managed SEO your website will be reaching keywords your PPC campaign would never reach, and will be running at all times of day and night.

 

 

#8 PPC requires SEOt:

 

I touched on this earlier with relevancy, but it bears repeating. To have a cost effective PPC campaign, your website must be effectively managed on the SEO front.

Search engines such as Google are known to actively penalize people bidding on keywords who are not relevant. This means your ads may be shown less frequently (Your not open 24 hours/7days), and it also means that you pay more for each click with PPC.

 

#9 SEO Builds Alliances and Friendship

 

An integral part of any SEO campaign will include link and PR building. The process of growing your website in these ways, will allow you to make contacts with others, develop a community and start to receive a flow of natural traffic through these links.

 

This is a great way to produce on going referrals and enable different marketing and cros promotions in the future.

 

 

Why not take the next step?

Get your FREE Website Analysis and SEO Report?

There is no obligation, use it any way you wish!

 

Discover the benefits of a professionally managed SEO campaign.

 

 

e-mail: sales at imagstudios.com