As any good marketer will tell you, integrated marketing is much more effective than using separate techniques and platforms in isolation. It is much more constructive to use a combination of social media, email marketing, affiliate marketing, PPC and SEO, combined towards a campaign goal. However, PPC and SEO are both fundamentally used to drive traffic to a website and/or raise awareness for the brand. So how do they stack up when compared with each other?
PPC
PPC is an instant way of generating targeted traffic to your website. Google’s AdWords platform works to ensure you bypass authentic search results to appear at the top or right hand side of the search page dependent upon a number of factors, including the amount you are willing to bid for search terms.
Benefits of PPC over SEO:
- Results are more instant and more immediately noticeable
- It is entirely controllable and can be started, altered or ended at any time
- You can jump above the search results of your competitors
- It is highly targeted, meaning your visitors are more likely to be within your demographic and geographic target audience
SEO
The most natural and authentic way to get your site featured on search engines for the relevant queries is to ensure your site is optimised. This involves a combination of onsite copy, deep linking and code optimising along with offsite back linking.
Benefits of SEO over PPC:
- It’s much much cheaper. The only cost comes from outsourcing your SEO strategy and management
- It’s long lasting. Whereas PPC runs for a period of time and drops off if you do not replenish funds, implementing an SEO strategy can keep you at the top of search pages for a sustained period time
- Perhaps most importantly it will get clicked on more often, with people much more likely to click on an authentic search result
The best approach, however, is to do a combination of both!
