• Mark Bellew
• April 20, 2017
• Comment(s) | (Disabled)
• Posted 4 years ago

As a business owner or marketer have you wrestled against a decision to choose Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Pay-Per-Click (PPC)?

Pay-Per-Click Is Not One Dimensional

Are You Using PPC To Its Full Potential?

As a business owner or marketer who is responsible for driving and converting website traffic, you’ve likely encountered articles and discussions that pit search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC) against one another in a fight to the death. Ardent supporters of each side will offer a bevy of reasons that you should use their tactic and avoid “that other one” like The Plague. Do yourself a favour - instead of narrowing your options, broaden them. Use PPC and SEO in tandem and you’ll soon discover the benefits of remaining happily neutral in the debate of one vs. the other. If you are using SEO and purposely neglecting PCC (or even vice-versa) you are severely limiting the potential effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

It’s About More Than Just Google Searches

It’s hard not to put Google on a pedestal. The majority of us search using Google, we run our PPC campaigns through AdWords, and we keep our fingers on Google’s pulse, nervously awaiting the release of their next animal. But too often, we lose sight of the fact that solely focusing on what ‘works’ on Google can lead down the wrong path (black hat tactics worked for a while, didn’t they?). That’s not to say that writing content and paying for great keywords - Google’s current darlings - isn’t effective. It just means that at the end of the day, reaching, engaging and providing value for your customers is more important than using and pleasing Google at all costs.

As a primary example, Google isn’t the only cost-per-click (CPC) platform out there, which means PPC doesn’t always have to target Google search. You might have a plan to create great, targeted content that nets you a stream of organic traffic, but that could take time. Your content might be stale before anybody even sees it. So why not promote your content on Facebook? At the very least, the paid promotion will get eyes on your content and, if it’s good, people will share it. That should get the SEO ball rolling on the rest should take care of itself. The end result is a piece of content that Google sees that people like, but that wasn’t the goal. The idea was to connect your content with an audience by any means possible.

Marketing - yes even digital marketing - has to exist beyond Google. And by extension, that means PPC is about more than just Google, too! The sooner you can take that leap of faith and not limit yourself to one line of thinking, the better your marketing efforts will be.

How to Maximize Your PPC Campaigns

Advanced Tips and Tricks

Now that we’ve discussed the benefits of using pay-per-click as an integrated part of a larger digital marketing strategy, let’s take a look at some of the hidden powers of PPC that can help boost your business:

• More than clicks and conversions: according to a recent study, one in three mobile smartphone users searches specifically for contact information (phone number, driving directions). This means that if you put this kind of information in your PPC ads (using the call extension feature) you’ll occupy prime real estate where users are searching for information.
• Lead with PPC (for SEO reasons): we all know that PPC delivers quick traffic and SEO takes time, but why not start with PPC, mine the data and then use it to inform your SEO strategy? If you can find high-value, low-cost keywords that are generating tons of converting traffic, it stands to reason you should target those same keywords organically.
• Go mobile to expand reach: mobile is a great place to reach customers with PPC because of how new it is to everybody. Marketers, customers and even Google are still trying to get comfortable with mobile ads, but there’s no doubt that spending is on the rise.
• These are only some of the many reasons you should adapt and expand your knowledge of PPC and, more importantly, how you’re positioning your campaigns.

Frequently Asked Question

Question: I understand that SEO and PPC work well together, but I only have the budget for one. Which area should I focus on?

Answer: The short answer to this question is PPC. You’ll get quick traffic for a fixed cost and if you’re just starting out, that’s what you want.

The longer answer, though, is that you should always have SEO in mind, especially when you’re running PPC campaigns that are giving you all kinds of great data. In theory, if you (or whoever manages your PPC) run effective campaigns, you should eventually have the budget for a longer term SEO and content strategy. As we’ve discussed, PPC will generate a much higher return on investment if you think about it not as a one-trick-pony, but rather as an overall contributor to many different aspects of your larger digital marketing strategy. .

For more help with understanding pay-per-click advertising or information about dedicated PPC management, please get in touch.