PPC and SEO are two methods for bringing traffic to a website. Depending on your business, you may need to use both. However, there are some significant differences between the two that should be considered before any strategy is developed. In this article, we will cover how PPC and SEO differ from one another. In addition, we will cover what makes SEO and PPC effective in different ways and why you might need both together to get the best results possible.
What is SEO?
SEO is a method for getting your website to rank higher in search engine results pages. This process involves gaining links from other sites that point back to yours, also known as backlinking. Additionally, we must write quality content. This is content that is more likely to be found by people searching for specific terms related to your business. Generally, SEO can be a slow process. It is entirely dependent on adhering to the Google Algorithm. Also, gathering backlinks from other sites can be a very slow process.
What is PPC?
PPC, pay-per-click or paid search advertising, allows you to bid on keywords that people are likely to use when searching for your products or services. You will only pay when someone clicks through from your ad to your website. This can be a fast way to get new customers if done correctly. Think of this process like eBay, however, you’re outbidding competitors to rank higher on Google for keywords relevant to your business.
Using PPC To Drive Website Traffic and Sales
As mentioned above, PPC or pay-per-click advertising is a great way to drive traffic to your website through paid advertising. PPC will generate relevant website traffic quickly, although setting your adverts up can take time. Also, it’s relatively easy to set up. You can start driving traffic within a few minutes of setting up your campaign and you don’t need any technical knowledge or coding experience to do so. The only thing you will need is a monetary budget for ads and time to monitor your campaign performance.
Additionally, if you have never used Google Ads then it is likely that you’ll waste a lot of time and money in the initial stages of building out your campaign. Although creating adverts is easy to do, it’s not easy to do well.
Our expert Google Ads consultants can help you create an effective campaign in no time at all. We have a wide range of experience across all industries and we know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to driving traffic through Google Ads. If you need help setting up your first campaign or if you want advice on improving an existing one then get in touch with us today. Contact us at The Lunn Agency.
Using SEO To Optimise Your Website For Organic Results
SEO or search engine optimisation is a method of optimising your website for organic search engine results by making sure it is easily crawled and indexed. It’s a long-term strategy that focuses on both technical SEO and on-page SEO. The quality of your technical SEO is based on website responsiveness across mobile devices, website speed, image optimisation and core web vitals.
Additionally, the quality of the on-page SEO is vital too! This includes all content that the consumer can see throughout your website. If you optimise the content of each page, you will be increasing the chance of your keywords ranking. If done well, you should be appearing on page one of the search engine results page (SERP).
When starting, technical SEO must be your focus. It’s the foundation of your website and needs to be in place before you start producing optimised content. If you’ve done this right, then you can focus on the quality of your content. This will help increase traffic to your site and improve its rankings within search engines.
It’s important to remember that this isn’t a linear process. You can’t just write content, optimise it and then forget about it. It needs to be updated regularly so that search engines are able to crawl through your website and keep finding new pages.
Once you’ve started to build a strong website, it’s time to start creating content. WordPress is by far the best CMS for SEO because of its flexibility and ease of use. It can be used as a simple blog, eCommerce or fully functional website with hundreds of pages.
PPC Allows You To Purchase One Of The First Spots On The SERP
PPC is a paid advertising strategy that allows you to purchase one of the first spots on the SERPs (search engine results pages) for terms and keywords relevant to your business. This can be done through Google AdWords or Microsoft Ads (Bing). The idea behind PPC is that you’re paying for a particular traffic source, not just an ad. This allows you to target specific keywords, geographies and demographics.
With PPC, you can target a specific audience and pay for traffic based on how much it costs per click. This allows you to get immediate results with your ads, as well as track the performance of each one over time. The downside is that PPC can be expensive. You’ll have to pay for each click on your ad, which can add up quickly if you’re not careful. There are other ways to get traffic which are free, however, these methods are slow. Utilise your social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to drive traffic. Additionally, you can also leverage your email list and create blog posts with call-to-action links.
Where Are PPC Ads Featured?
PPC ads are purchased and featured at the top and bottom of the search results page, with organic results in the middle, when a person enters a query in the search engine.
Ads are displayed above and below organic results, with a maximum of four ads on each side of the page. The cost to get your advertisement shown is based on how much you are willing to pay per click or impression. The more money you spend, the higher your ad will appear on the results page. PPC ads can be a quick and easy way to boost traffic and sales for your business. However, it’s important to make sure you are using PPC effectively and not wasting money on ineffective campaigns. To get the most from your search engine marketing budget, use The Lunn Agency services available.
Finding Relevant SEO and PPC Keywords And Phrases
With PPC, advertisers will often bid on relevant keywords and phrases that searchers might use relating to their specific products and services. Think of PPC like eBay but for words. The more you bid, the higher your ad will show up in search results. To give you an idea of how this works, here are five different types of keywords:
Firstly, high-traffic volume keywords can cost you a fortune. A keyword like “tyres” will pull in 110,000 search volumes per month and will cost you £0.79 per click. This means if you allocate a budget of £100 per day at £0.79 then you will spend this amount instantly and may miss out on hitting your target market.
This short-tail keyword will also get so much attention from other advertisers and larger companies with unrestricted budgets will dominate the SERP. Our advice, therefore, is to target low-competition keyphrases initially with medium-traffic volumes. By changing ‘tyres’ to ‘car tyres’ you cut the search volume down by ¾. We can then reduce the figure again by targeting ‘car tyres near me and this will produce a monthly search volume of 8,100.
Low-competition keywords are easier to rank for because there aren’t many competitors driving the price up. This means you can often get ahead by being among the first few listings. Try localised keywords such as “affordable car tyres in Swindon”.
This is known as a long tail keyword. These phrases require more thinking power as the company now has to target phrases that the customer would likely type in. A good place to start is by reading your frequently asked questions (FAQs). Instead of focusing on the product, focus more on something like “the best way to fix my car puncture”.
SEO or PPC Keyword Research
Keyword research is the first step of both SEO and PPC campaigns. To get started, you’ll need to think about the products or services you offer, as well as which keywords are most relevant to them. Then, run a search using those terms to see what comes up and how much competition there is for each one. This will give you an idea of which ones might be worth bidding on.
To find these keywords, we can use a tool like SEM Rush or Ahrefs. To demonstrate how this process works for an online store, let’s focus on the sale of fire protection.
- Think of words and phrases potential customers may enter on Google.
- Go to your keyword planner e.g. SEM Rush or equivalent
- Go to the Keyword Magic Tool
- Type in your keyword e.g. ‘fire extinguisher’
- For PPC focus on the keyword search volume, the intent and the CPC
- For SEO focus on the keyword search volume and the keyword difficulty %
Keyword difficulty % will indicate how hard it is to rank organically for this keyword based on existing competition. The lower the figure, the easier it is for you to rank for that keyword.
The intent of a keyword can be split into Transactional, Informational and Commercial.
- Transactional represents users wanting to complete an action.
- Informational represents users wanting to find an answer to a question.
- Commercial represents users wanting to investigate a brand or service.
What Are The Key Differences Between PPC & SEO
PPC and SEO are two of the most popular ways to drive traffic to your website. They both can be used together or separately, depending on your marketing goals and budget. PPC is a great way to drive immediate traffic and get more leads when you’re ready. It can also help you increase brand awareness. SEO is a longer-term play, but it can be more cost-effective in the long run because it doesn’t require any additional investment beyond what you already spend on your website.
- PPC is a pay-per-click model, while SEO is an organic search engine optimisation model.
- With PPC, advertisers are charged when users click on their advert, however, with SEO, brands are ranked higher in the search engines’ results pages for free based on website build quality.
- PPC advertising is cost-effective when it’s done well as typically you will spend £1 and potentially gain upwards of £4 back. SEO costs time and effort, however, measuring the impact on sales is far more difficult.
- PPC allows you to reach specific groups of people, however, SEO has a wider reach and can help increase traffic to your website for free.
- PPC is a short-term solution, as it only focuses on bringing people to your website today. SEO is a long-term strategy that will help you build up trust and authority over time.
- Both PPC and SEO can be used together to achieve better results. It’s important to ensure that you have a clear understanding of what each technique is, how it works and when it should be used.
Conclusion
The main difference between PPC and SEO is that with PPC, you pay for your ads and get them in front of people who are actively searching for a service or product. With SEO, you rank higher in search results based on factors like the quality of content on your site, links from other websites and social media posts about your brand. PPC is great for businesses that want to generate leads and sales quickly, but it can also be expensive. If you’re just starting out, SEO might be a better option since it doesn’t require any upfront costs. A good rule of thumb is to use both PPC and SEO strategies. This will help you build brand awareness and generate leads for your business. However, if you need to focus on one fast sales strategy then go with PPC to drive sales quickly.
SEO is a long-term strategy that takes time to build results. It’s important to do your research before making any decisions about which SEO service provider to use. Here are some questions you should ask them:
– How long have they been in business?
– What kind of results can they show?
