If you run your own business or work within a company in a role that is even remotely related to marketing, then it’s likely you have come across the terms “SEO” and “PPC ads”. But which is more important to focus on and should you prioritise one over the other?
The short answer is that both SEO and PPC ads campaigns provide valuable benefits for your website and should both be included in a well rounded digital marketing strategy.
In this article we’ll give an overview of both including strengths, weaknesses and how to combine the two and integrate them into your digital marketing strategy going forward.
SEO or Search Engine Optimisation refers to the process of adapting your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Developing your website in accordance with guidelines supplied by major search engines (most notably Google) gives you a pathway to attracting more traffic, which should lead to more sales, mailing list signups, subscriptions etc.
Search engine optimisation usually includes a number of one-off “tune-ups” as well as some ongoing practices.
An SEO expert will usually start with an audit to assess the current state of your website including its strength, weaknesses as well as short and long term opportunities in your particular niche going forward.
Initial “tune-ups” might include fixes such as …
These are all relatively simple fixes and will likely provide a quick improvement in ranking if your website was not configured correctly before.
In order to see real long term improvement in the performance of your website you’re probably going to need to create some content, probably a lot of content.
An SEO expert can help you to craft a detailed plan for creating content that users in your niche will find valuable. The more valuable the content is to users, the more likely your pages will be shared which improves traffic and in turn prompts Google to move you up the rankings.
When another website shares a link to your website on one of their pages, that is considered a backlink - there are different types of backlink but we dont need to get into that right now.
Google notices these backlinks and views them as recommendations of your website, like a friend vouching for you with a new acquaintance. If a national newspaper posts an article with a link to one of your pages then this will carry more weight than if a smaller and less trusted website provided the link.
Getting great backlinks are worth their weight in gold but they also need to link the user to a website that provides value or else the user will quickly leave the site and the backlink will become worthless.
A well thought out SEO strategy will continue to bear fruit going forward and its value will be compounded as you add more content and get more backlinks to your website.
The more value you can provide to a user, the more likely they are not only to buy or take the desired action, but the more likely they are to return or even recommend your website.
PPC (Pay per click) ad campaigns are great at providing immediate results such as sales, subscriptions, leads and signups without having to wait for your website to move up through the organic search rankings.
With PPC ad campaigns you set out a daily budget for ad spend (as little as £10 per day can provide results) and target your ads at a specific segment of users on that particular platform.
Different ad platforms provide different benefits and as such are useful for products or different scenarios.
On Google you could serve ads to people who search for particular keywords and phrases and are located in a defined region - eg users searching for “dog leads” located in London, UK.
Your ad will then compete against other ads targeting the same keywords and if successful will be shown as one of the first links for users who make that search.
Google ads are really useful at putting your website in front of users who are ready to take action right now, whether that’s making a purchase or something else.
The wonderful thing about social media platforms is that they are visual mediums whereas Google is essentially just a list of links.
On social media platforms like Instagram you can show high quality video and images in your ad and define the audience for the ad using detailed demographic data.
You can target female dog owners over the age of 40 living in London and show a video ad to Sally with your amazing new dog lead before she even decides to search on Google for one. She may even follow your page and engage with your other posts.
Social media ads can certainly lead to immediate sales but can also be used to gain followers and grow the community around your business. They might not buy today but now they are connected to your business and are likely to engage with your brand over a longer period.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, a balanced digital marketing strategy will include both SEO and PPC ads campaigns.
While PPC ads may get immediate results, they do require investment and the results will drop off once the ad campaign ends.
Although every business is different, you might be able to see results from spending as little as £10 per day on ads although you may also need to hire an Ads Campaign Manager to run your ads for you if you’re not confident with the process or don’t have the time.
The costs can quickly add up so it’s important that the campaigns are optimised and tweaked to get the best ROI.
SEO also requires investment both initially to get your website ready and ongoing if you plan to create content and make your website a champion of the organic search results.
While not all businesses have unlimited marketing budgets, investing in both will improve results exponentially over time.
The benefits don't only include increased sales, leads or sign ups either. Any articles or tutorial blog posts you create can be condensed and pivoted into social media content. Social media followers can be retargeted with ads and be directed towards your website.
A well balanced digital marketing strategy combines the power of SEO and PPC ads campaigns to develop and grow your brand by not only attracting new users, but giving them a reason to stick around.