My wife and I are planning on surprising the kids this summer, and we’ve been going back and forth about what they would want. If you ask me, I say a 10-game ticket pack to see the Washington Nationals and Bryce Harper play. She’s in favor of taking the young ones down to Disney World for a weekend.The answer, which I guess I could have anticipated, was: ‘Maybe we can do both.’ Now we’re not big-spenders by any means, but we’ve been better about saving our money recently, and when it comes to the kids’ happiness, it would be worth it. So as I browse through which baseball games to see while looking up hotels in Orlando, my mental multi-tasking got me thinking about this month’s newsletter.
At Market Hardware, we get a ‘which one do I need most’ question about Web marketing all the time. Our clients want to know which strategy would get more business from the web – Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) or Search Engine Optimization (SEO). ‘Can I do both?’ We hear it all the time.
Since we are talking about Web marketing, my self-proclaimed expertise, I get to give you a slightly better answer than ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
The Bottom Line: Both PPC and SEO programs drive more traffic to your website, which in return should increase your sales. Now, here are the differences.
Get short term, guaranteed results from Paid Search’
Also known as PPC – refers to online advertising that can guarantee a ‘Page One’ placement on Google. It is a fast and measurable way to generate inbound leads from web-savvy consumers.
OR get long term results and lower cost from Search Engine Optimization’
SEO is the process of managing your website’s content and organization to improve its ranking in the ‘organic’ search results. Done right, SEO can provide long-term results on the same search engines as PPC.
‘Ok, enough already’ what should I do?’
Individually, both PPC and SEO will improve your Website’s exposure in your local market area, therefore increasing the amount of leads your Website generates. But if your budget is tight, I have a suggestion about which one to test out first: PPC.
PPC advertising provides fast results. After successfully bidding to have your site posted in the ‘sponsored results’ section, your business listing will show up immediately when prospects type in the keywords you bid on. On the other hand, Search Engine Optimization is a smart and rational Web marketing move but it can take up to several months to work. Of course, SEO has more benefits than PPC when it comes to mobile search engines. (But that’s getting into the nitty-gritty of things, so email me if you want to hear more about it.)
Most Web marketing experts will tell you that the most effective Web marketing plan utilizes not just SEO or PPC, but a combination of these two strategies. In other words, experts recommend that you ‘do both’. But I am willing to disagree with that advice in some cases. If you are truly cash starved and need to generate business now with the most effective marketing spend possible, PPC will get you there faster than SEO.
However, if you are in a position to be more strategic and want your marketing to be healthier in the long term, SEO and PPC work well together. The most successful businesses use a combination of the two in order to dominate the Web.
If you want to learn more about PPC or SEO, email or call us at 888-381-6925. We’re always happy to have a quick chat about how to effectively set up a campaign for either strategy.
Power Stats:
In the United States, Google accounted for 78.8% of search advertising spend (PPC) in the first quarter of 2012. Yahoo/Bing accounted for 21.2%.
Source: IgnitionOne – digital marketing firm, April 2012
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Griff’s Last Stand’ |
 My motto in the dynamic world of Internet marketing is simple: Do something. Even if the best possible choice is to market on several fronts, marketing on just one front is not the wrong answer. It’s a great second-best choice.Still need counseling? Call us and tell us about your planning horizon. We’ll help you sort out some of the good, better and best choices you can make this month.PS ‘ Want to talk more about Web marketing, Social Media or professional Website design? Call us at 1-888-381-6925 to talk to someone right away or email me at [email protected] and I’ll reply as soon as I can. We’re always happy to help. |
