Jan 23 2018
Understanding the differences between SEO and Pay-per-click advertising is important when devising the best online marketing strategy for your business. Getting your website onto the first page of Google search results should be a top priority if you want to avoid being overlooked by potential customers. Both SEO and PPC strategies will ultimately improve your online visibility but it’s important to know how they operate before making any decisions.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an investment not a quick fix. A number one ranking cannot be guaranteed but optimising the layout, content and user experience of your website will appeal to search engines and help increase your ranking. Higher organic (non-paid) rankings are often thought to be more authoritative or valuable than their PPC counterparts, as they haven’t used an obvious shortcut to get to the top. This perception will give you consistent results as high-quality traffic will continually be directed to your website. The length of time it takes for SEO to take effect will vary depending on your competition and Google updates. The wait can be frustrating but, in the long-term, the higher organic search results SEO can deliver will give your website a reliable flow of traffic that can prevent your rankings from dropping quickly.
Pay-per-click advertisements are an immediate, but costly, solution to your ranking issues. Once your campaign has been created it could take less than 24 hours for Google to implement and the activity can be tracked immediately. Using a PPC platform such as Google AdWords gives you greater control over your advertisement. This level of customisation can give you a better chance of reaching a target market but has a price to match. One of the greatest benefits is that PPC ads aren’t confined to Google.com. Any of Google’s websites such as Youtube or Ask.com (a google search partner) can also run your campaign giving you a wider reach. The swift results of PPC can be very tempting but aren’t a sustainable solution if you’re working within a budget.
A combination of both SEO services and PPC advertisements will provide the best results. SEO is a valuable investment for any business interested in growth and long-term prosperity but can take more time than you would like. While you’re waiting for SEO to take effect PPC can be used as a short-term solution to troublesome rankings. This would particularly useful to new websites that may take longer to rank. Ultimately, both SEO and PPC will increase website visitations but a combination of both is what will achieve ideal outcomes.
