SEO vs PPC: A Comparative Guide for Businesses

Over 90% of B2B buying processes begin with a search online. Does your business appear when people search for your product or service? With search engine marketing (SEM), you can boost your visibility on search engines.

SEM includes strategies like search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. These strategies can boost your rankings, allowing you to generate brand awareness and web traffic.

What’s the difference between SEO vs PPC? Which SEM strategy can benefit your business the most?

Keep reading to find out!

What is SEO?

Before we discuss the difference between SEO vs PPC, let’s look at each one alone. What exactly is SEO?

Search engine optimization can improve your organic search engine rankings. SEO involves improving your website content for search engines like Google. There are different types of SEO you’ll need to improve your rankings.

These types of SEO can include:

• On-page SEO
• Off-page SEO
• Local SEO
• Technical SEO

When most people say “search engine optimization,” they’re thinking of on-page SEO. On-page SEO involves optimizing your content for specific keywords. When consumers search for those keywords, your content might appear.

Off-page SEO involves factors outside of your website. For example, backlinks are one of Google’s top ranking factors. The more backlinks a page has, the more traffic it can generate.

Backlinks appear on other websites and send readers to your content. You can generate backlinks by guest blogging on other websites.

Local SEO can help you reach nearby customers. For example, you can optimize your Google Business listing. Location-based content and customer reviews can benefit your rankings, too.

Google strives to offer users the best possible user experience. As a result, you need to invest in technical SEO.

Technical SEO involves updating your site to offer a positive user experience. For example, you need to make sure your site is fast and mobile-optimized.

The Benefits

What are the benefits of SEO?

For starters, SEO is an organic SEM strategy. You won’t pay Google to improve your rankings. Instead, you need to appeal to the search engine algorithm by creating high-quality content.

SEO can help even the playing field. Large corporations can’t pay Google to boost their rankings.

In other words, small businesses can get the chance to rank ahead of larger brands. 

Ranking at the top of a search engine result page (SERP) could help you appear in front of more customers online. Then, you can boost your brand visibility to generate awareness and recognition. The more often consumers see your brand, the more likely they’ll remember you in the future.

SEO can also help you generate high-quality website traffic.

You can appear in front of consumers based on the search terms they use. As a result, you’re able to appear while they’re in the mood to shop. You might have an easier time converting these customers into sales. 

Ranking ahead of the competition could boost your brand’s credibility, too. Consumers will see you’re at the top of SERPs. They might recognize you as a thought leader in the industry through your content.

You could generate more brand trust and loyalty, allowing you to generate repeat sales.

Since SEO is a cost-effective digital marketing strategy, it’s a great way to boost your ROI, too. 

What is PPC?

What exactly is pay-per-click advertising, then?

PPC allows brands to create digital ads that appear on Google search pages. Display ads can also appear on sites that belong to the Google Network.

You can create PPC campaigns to target different customers online. You can specify targeting parameters like age, gender, or location. You can also appear in front of shoppers based on their search queries. 

Google Ads allows businesses to create different types of ads. In addition to text ads, you can also create:

• HTML-5 ads
• Video ads
• Animated ads
• Call-only ads
• Remarketing ads

Remarketing ads can reappear in front of visitors who previously explored your website. You can even show them the products they reviewed. You might get a second chance to convert people into customers with remarketing.

You can learn how to succeed with PPC advertising here: Onlineadvertisingacademy.com.

The Benefits

PPC benefits businesses that want to generate immediate results through digital advertising.

Once your ads gain approval, you can go live right away. Consumers can start viewing and clicking on your ads. You’re able to generate immediate results with PPC advertising.

In fact, 65% of customers click on PPC ads. Ads can boost brand awareness by 80%, too. 

PPC also generates twice the number of website visitors compared to SEO.

You can also maintain complete control over your campaigns. For example, you can schedule ads to appear at certain times. You can determine how much you want to spend a day per campaign, too.

Maintaining control over your campaigns can help you avoid wasting money. Instead, you can use PPC advertising to improve your ROI. 

SEO vs PPC

What exactly is the difference between SEO vs PPC, then?

For starters, SEO is an organic strategy while PPC is paid. With PPC ads, you can pay based on impressions or clicks. As a result, PPC advertising can become expensive if you lack experience.

It can take time before you begin generating results through SEO. How long it takes for your rankings to improve varies based on your industry. You’ll need to generate traffic to improve your rankings, too.

With PPC, you can improve your rankings by adjusting your bid strategy and quality scores.

Google changes its search engine algorithm constantly. As a result, your SEO rankings might change. Algorithm changes won’t impact your PPC ads, though. 

What’s better, then: SEO vs PPC?

Both strategies can help you generate brand awareness, website traffic, leads, and sales. In fact, PPC could benefit your SEO rankings. Instead of choosing between the two, consider using both PPC and SEO services this year. 

Search Engine Marketing: The Difference Between SEO vs PPC

To recap, what’s the difference between SEO vs PPC? SEO is organic while PPC is paid. With an effective SEM strategy, both can benefit your business.

Give your business a boost with these search engine marketing strategies today.

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