When it comes to online marketing, Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click are two major players, but can they work side by side harmoniously? To answer the question we must first understand what exactly these marketing techniques are and how they work to drive traffic towards a website and increase rankings.
What is SEO?
SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the process of creating relevant and engaging keyword-rich content, which is a key determining factor in search engine rankings. The most important thing to remember is that your content must be engaging. It should reflect the reader’s search term(s) in order for it to achieve a high ranking.
What is PPC?
PPC or pay per click refers to a type of online advertising that displays adverts at the top of a search engine page, encouraging users to click through to the target websites. As its name suggests, a PPC campaign incurs a cost every time an advert is clicked. PPC involves serving a user with an advert relevant to a keyword and directing them to a relevant page. This is a more costly option and relies on having a fully optimised campaign; however, it can deliver top page rankings and increase traffic to your website.
The Benefits
Both SEO and PPC work hand in hand, complementing each other in the activities they perform. PPC works instantly by displaying your website at the top of Google from launch, allowing you to generate traffic and ultimately sales. SEO is seen as the medium to long-term approach, appearing in the organic search results for content based on the keyword(s) a user searches for. By running both activities simultaneously you increase your potential to deliver traffic immediately and in the future, with SEO traffic gradually adding more and more organic visitors as the site is indexed and ranked.
In a world containing billions of websites it is important to stand out to a user and make them want to click on your website. When running both SEO and PPC you have the ability to appear twice on the same page, which not only improves your visibility and increases your chances of a click through, but tells the user you are running a relevant website. Improved user perception of your website can only be beneficial to your CTR and ultimately conversion.
SEO and PPC are both based on the same logic in terms of identifying the right keywords, i.e., the most popular keywords searched. By blending SEO with PPC you improve your conversion potential for your most desired keywords, ensuring you are targeting the greatest number of people with the most effective keywords.
In conclusion, SEO and PPC can be run independently to deliver results; however, by running both in unison you will increase your traffic potential, which ultimately increases your sales potential.
Sophie works alongside Managed PPC and has seen first-hand that some of the most effective marketing strategies are born from a mix of SEO, PPC and offline marketing practices.
