Search Engine Optimization vs Pay Per Click
Direct Consulting Group
As search engines are the leading way people are finding businesses online, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to invest in a search engine marketing program that will drive new customers to their business.
Both website optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) marketing are ways in which you can increase your websites search engine rankings. So which one will work best for your business - SEO or PPC?
Well, let’s step back a bit and explain how SEO and PPC services can work for a website.
SEO is a process of making the appropriate changes to a websites coding, keywords and other technical SEO factors with the sole purpose of appearing naturally at the top of the search engine results. This process can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months depending on the competitiveness of your keywords however, with SEO, you don’t pay for every visitor that visits your website.
PPC is a search engine marketing vehicle that allows you to pay for higher search engine rankings marked as “Sponsored Links” that appear above or on the far right of the search engine listings for your chosen terms and phrases. With this model you pay a fee every time someone clicks through to your website. Your results are immediate.
With your internet marketing strategy in place and a complete understanding of how you want your website to work for you, it is easy to make a decision on whether SEO or PPC is right for your business.
Website Optimization (SEO)
So why use SEO? If you are looking to invest in search engine marketing as a long term strategy, then the initial upfront costs will be well worth it as PPC costs continue to rise. SEO will allow you to receive an increasing amount of traffic over time and you don’t have to pay for every visitor. Imagine paying for every visitor - everyday, every month year after year? It can get very costly, as competition increases and so do the cost per clicks. SEO is a time consuming process that takes time for your search engine rankings to increase. This method can take anywhere from 3 to 12 months depending on the age of your website.
One of the disadvantages of natural search engine marketing is the time required to get your website to the top. Unfortunately, you must understand that natural search engine high ranking positions do not happen over night. SEO is a process. It can take some of your keywords and phrases 3 – 6 months to start showing improvement on the search engine listings that is because the search engines do not update their indexes daily or even weekly.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
The primary benefit of pay per click is the immediate results and complete control it offers the advertiser. You can spend $50 - $50,000. You may target one set of keywords today, and if they don’t work out you can target an entirely different set of keywords tomorrow.
As a short term strategy, pay per click is ideal. The disadvantage of PPC is the cost. A top position for some search terms can cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars each day depending on the keywords you choose to target. Over the long term, natural search engine optimization is much more cost effective.
What do users prefer - SEO or PPC?
Research shows that 70 percent of internet users click on natural listings (SEO), versus 30 percent that choose paid listings (PPC). The natural links are perceived as unbiased, therefore more credible then the paid links.
In Summary
An excellent marketing campaign strategy is one that achieves full return on its investment. By this standard, you may often justify the cost of PPC for the short-term. But in the long run, it may leave you with little or less profit margin.
At Direct Consulting Group, we believe that an excellent marketing campaign benefits from natural search engine optimization initiatives. Wouldn’t you want a well-integrated, high functioning, performance based website that is giving you long term results and increased profit margins?
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