SEO and PPC: when to optimise and when to pay for traffic, explained

June 30, 2022

Both Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) can form essential parts of a digital marketing strategy. They each provide a number of benefits and, in certain areas, some similarities. Each process naturally gives a range of genuine advantages when it comes to strengthening online presence and lead generation. While it might seem logical to look at both individually and try to weigh up which to choose, it could be a better idea to look into incorporating both into your strategy.

One or the other? It doesn’t need to be SEO or PPC

An omnichannel approach is the best strategy for any business wishing to use digital marketing to achieve growth, and aligning your PPC & SEO efforts is a crucial part of it. While there are cases for using each channel individually, the benefits they provide compliment each other exceptionally well.

PPC is an acronym for Pay-Per-Click; it essentially refers to the way advertisers pay for every click-through to their website. When speaking about PPC, there are many advertising platforms one could be referring to, although most often it’s Google Ads & Microsoft Ads. There’s a common misconception that PPC is only viable in the short term, however, this does not ring true. With continued support, as long as you see that your PPC budget is making a profit, you’re free to maintain or even scale up your PPC to grow your business.

SEO, on the other hand, is a choice for the long term. Results are rarely instant, and they take time to appear. Once they do, though, search traffic will likely remain consistent and can often even simply be left alone for a short time and still be effective. While the results may take longer to roll in, they are still produced organically. There isn’t a consistent need for expenditure in order seek out top rankings; once the seed is sewn, it can continue to grow without any targeted monetary outlay. Certainly, the benefits from SEO can be reaped for a long time.

How can SEO and PPC work together?

Implementing both together opens up a new range of options to be explored. By using some of the similar aspects of the two processes, the effectiveness of each can substantially improve as a result. Broadly, having SEO and PPC within a digital marketing strategy can ensure consumers can always find your brand.

Keyword data

One benefit of using both in tandem is utilising the keyword data that you can glean from PPC campaigns. By using a keyword strategy for PPC, you are able to essentially test the waters to see the impact and performance of those particular keywords. From there, SEO strategies can be refined, tweaked or changed as appropriate. Along with the keyword data from PPC, the conversion data can also be used to improve the organic approach. You can also use keyword tools to direct your efforts towards a certain focus. For example, you can use the keyword data for PPC campaigns to see what is ranking highly and adjust the SEO output accordingly, and vice versa. The immediacy of the feedback from the PPC data makes it even easier to help concentrate an SEO keyword strategy.

Search engine result pages

Search engine results pages (SERPs) are the key to directing any sort of traffic to a site. While appearing on page one of the results is imperative, the best results really come from the top few positions. With each result, the click through rate (CTR) will often decline significantly. This, in turn, is often where PPC is particularly enticing, given that the results will always appear at the top of the SERP. If you have a high-performing blog or page that is ranking highly, there could be scope to add in a paid ad to consolidate that particular keyword. In that instance, you could have a top-ranked blog alongside a paid ad linking to a related product.

There are, of course, a number of other advantages that come with pairing SEO and PPC together. Having a strong presence with both processes within the SERPs for certain keywords will help to build an online trust with potential customers. Through having each show up regularly, there will likely be an increased amount of confidence from the consumer’s side, as well as a general awareness, even if it is just subconscious. Remarketing is also another facet that can be used as a beneficial factor. After a site visit via organic traffic, the customer can be targeted again through a specific paid ad campaign.

Benefit from a cohesive digital marketing strategy with Purplex

At Purplex, we have dedicated departments for both SEO and PPC. We effectively and efficiently use one in collaboration with the other to increase CTRs, leads and conversions. Contact us today to find out more about how using our SEO and PPC combination can help your business in both the short and long term.

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