SEO and PPC, what are they?

When it comes to online marketing you can either have organic results or paid results which lead to traffic going towards your website, this is where the debate is raised on paid traffic vs organic traffic and which is better for a business. Organic results and paid results are pretty self explanatory but I will explain them anyway just incase.

Paid results are the first results you will see in the search engine that have the little yellow ad box next to them, people/companies have paid for these to be there so that they can be the first results displayed, this is the process of PPC; pay per click.

Organic results are the opposite, businesses don’t pay for their website to be advertised and this is why it is called an organic search as it is in the position it is in naturally, of course with the help of SEO. Search Engine Optimisation is an ongoing process, not just something that can be done overnight so if anyone tells you different it’s best not to believe them, believe us, seen as we are #1 for SEO in Liverpool.

Now you know the basics of SEO and PPC isn’t it about time the battle commenced between paid traffic vs organic traffic.

Paid traffic vs organic traffic: Round 1

Let’s start things off by discussing paid traffic, the PPC side to marketing, the benefits of pay per click.

It’s always good to start with the positives so here we go. Using PPC to get your business found is a very easy process which is quick to setup and once you have set up your pay per click campaign you will notice the new results almost instantly as you will have an increased amount of traffic visiting your website.

More benefits of pay per click is the fact that your PPC campaign is yours to control, you can stop, start or pause any time you want and this is something that is very useful and goes hand in hand with how highly measurable and quantifiable PPC is.

As I previously stated, the setup is really quick and this leads me on to my next advantage between paid traffic vs organic traffic as with PPC you don’t need as many resources and there is less development involved within the campaign.

Although the benefits of pay per click are great, to every positive there is a negative and here they are when it comes to PPC:

• PPC is more expensive
• You only have a set budget, can you afford it?
• Results based on affordability
• Once your budget stops so do your results
• Requires management, you can’t just leave it after set up
• Your business may be subject to “Ad Blindness” – People just ignore the ads

Round 2 is all about SEO

It’s got to be a fair battle between paid traffic vs organic traffic so here are the SEO benefits and negatives which creates the organic traffic to your website.

We will start with the SEO benefits, the first advantage that SEO can bring for your business is a great long term ROI, your business can make a lot more money using search engine optimisation by getting a bigger return on the initial investment.

SEO gives you higher ceiling and volume potential. Whereas with PPC there isn’t much room to improve based on results and budget, this is not the case with SEO. Search Engine Optimisation can and will help you rank higher in Google and there is always chance of improvement, put it this way – imagine you are on page 4 of Google for a certain keyword, look how much room there is for you to improve your rankings and for this to keep increasing.

With the power of SEO you have the power to increase the exposure, branding and awareness of your business. You will be able to get your business seen in different places online by a variety of different people. This is going to help build up a bigger and better reputation for your business and help you grow within your market.  

A final SEO benefit which has the advantage over PPC is the fact that once your budget has been reached and you can’t afford anymore ongoing SEO, your results won’t stop. You will still see your improved results, this won’t be affected by you not being able to afford it anymore.

It’s time Search Engine Optimisation gets the negatives revealed in the battle of paid traffic vs organic traffic.

1. SEO requires a lot of work including designing and developing
2. SEO isn’t for the short term, it takes a while before results can be seen
3. The process of improvement is gradual, not instant
4. SEO is tough to quantify, measuring results may not be as easy
5. Requires ongoing work, can’t just set it up and leave it

Round 3; Will it be SEO or PPC?

Overall, after looking over the benefits of PPC and the SEO benefits in this battle of paid traffic vs organic traffic it is clear to see that SEO and PPC both have their advantages and reasons as to why a business should use them.

If it’s instant results you are after then PPC is definitely the campaign you should choose for your business but if it is long term work and results you want it’s got to be SEO.

However, it could be a good idea for your business to use both types of search marketing strategies. If you have the budget and time and want the best results for your business then both of these methods will 100% help you and improve your rankings and traffic to your website.

You obviously want the best for your business and the best is what we can provide you with, with our help in both SEO and PPC you’ll soon be seeing a difference.