The battle of the acronyms and internet marketing. Each has their advantages and disadvantages, and can be used effectively depending on the desired results.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is tailoring your website so that it ranks highly in the organic search results which are returned when a search is carried out using a search engine.
The main advantages of an SEO campaign are:
- The ROI can be far greater than that of PPC as the initial and ongoing costs are negligible, if any (if done yourself).
- Internet users deem the organic results to be more credible and trustworthy and are therefore more likely to go by these results as opposed to the sponsored ads.
- Organic results work well throughout the consumers buying decision process from initial research through to product or service purchase.
- In less competitive markets, it will be easier to rank highly if the website is optimised correctly.
The main disadvantages of an SEO campaign are:
- It can take over 3 months to recognise the effects of an SEO campaign.
- A website will require ongoing updates to keep the content fresh and search engines happy.
- There are no guarantees as to where a website will rank.
PPC (Pay Per Click) is the paid advertising that you see at the top and right hand side of the pages.
The main advantages of a PPC campaign are:
- Results of a PPC can be seen almost instantly and is therefore good for publicising short term offers.
- You can affectively pay for the position that you want to be in.
- The effects of a PPC can be easily measured.
The main disadvantages of a PPC campaign are:
- The costs of maintaining a PPC campaign can be very expensive, and the more competitive the market, the greater the costs.
- Conversion rates are typically low. This is due to only 35% of internet users using the PPC ads.
- Your advert will be competing against up to 10 other companies for these few clicks.
- PPC requires extensive keyword research to be carried out. If you get the wrong keywords, you have wasted time and money.
- Although the search engines are trying to penalise those that do it, you are susceptible to click fraud where competitors click on your ad to increase your ad spend.
In conclusion, there is no black and white answer, it generally depends on your specific circumstances.
SEO works well if you are trying to make a long term online presence for your company, however if you are looking for a short, sharp burst to promote an offer then PPC would work in your benefit. Budget restrictions are also another key factor to consider, PPC campaigns can be expensive with little return, whereas more often than not an SEO campaign will give a much greater ROI.
Generally, the advice that we would give is to focus primarily on SEO and establish a foot hold in search engines and then work towards a campaign that integrates a bit of both to maximise your presence online.
