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You don’t have to spend long in the world of digital marketing to come across two of the most used strategies: search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click ads (PPC).
But what are they? And what is the best for your company?
In this article we investigate the ins and outs of SEO and PPC and help you determine what the best is digital marketing strategy to achieve your goals.
What is SEO?
SEO is the practice of optimizing a website, so that it is higher in the search results for certain ‘keywords’, so that more clicks are used. Typical SEO activities include keyword research and selection, content creation, technical website improvements and encouraging links from external websites.
The goal is to make the webpage user -friendly and relevant for the search term. Building quotes from external websites grants the webpage ‘authority’, making it more reliable and reliable in the eyes of Google.
You can focus on global keywords with SEO(ie those who are not geographically limited, for example ‘online banking’) or local keywords (ie that limited to a certain geographical area, for example ‘plumber in London’).
The advantages from SEO including:
- Long -term and reliable: Once SEO has been established, the constant organic traffic will continue to deliver.
- Builds trust and credibility: Organic search results are considered more reliable than paid advertisements because of their ‘natural’ appearance. At the top of the search results also appear as a stamp of approval, which improves both your online and offline credibility.
- REACK ABOUT YOUR Target key words: A strong SEO strategy can bring traffic from other searches, other searches than you focus.
The most important challenges From SEO are:
- Time -intensive: Good SEO, especially when focusing competitive keywords, takes a lot of time to set. Effort does not guarantee rankings.
- Algorithm dependence: Search engines regularly update their algorithms to eradicate spam; Your website can sometimes be caught in the Crossfire.
- Resource-heavy: It requires a lot of research, high-quality content and SEO monitoring to direct competitive keywords.
What is PPC?
PPC advertisements includes paying for your website to appear in prominent places, which puts on clicks. This happens in three main paint.
- In Search resultsFor example Google advertisements. Enter an auction to appear for certain keywords in the sponsored part of the search results. If your website receives a click, pay the auctioned price.
- Prominent social media. Pay to stimulate your messages on social media in the feeds of your target customers.
- Show advertisements. Appear in the margins and between the content of web pages that allow and pay for each click you receive.
The advantages of PPC include:
- Immediate results: As soon as the campaign goes live, your website can start receiving traffic.
- Easy to focus: You can tailor campaigns to demography, interests, location and more.
- Scalability: Adjust the budgets easily to achieve different goals.
- Measurable ROI: Detailed analysis is available for PPC, so that you can follow the performance of your campaigns closely.
The challenges of PPC include:
- Current operating costs: Costs can increase quickly, especially for competitive keywords/industries with high costs per click (CPC).
- Temporary: As soon as you stop paying for the advertisements, the traffic stops.
- Fraud: Competitors can increase your advertising costs by clicking on it without delivering value.
SEO vs. PPC Summary
| Aspect | SEO | PPC |
| Cost | Low current costs but high investment in advance | High current costs per click or impression |
| Time | In the long term (months to years) | Short -term (direct results) |
| Sustainability | Sustainable once established | Stops when the payments stop |
| Control | Limited control over updates of search engines | Full control over targeting and budget |
| To trust | Seen as credible | Seen as promotion |
Do you have to opt for SEO or PPC?
The choice between SEO and PPC often comes down to your business goals.
- Choose SEO as:
- You are willing to invest time and resources for a certain period.
- You are looking for long -term, sustainable profit.
- You are happy to wait for results.
- You want to build your brand credibility.
- Your industry has low to moderate competition in search lists.
- Choose PPC as:
- You have the budget available in advance.
- You need immediate results.
- You enter a specific promotion or marketing campaign in a defined timeline.
- Your industry is very competitive, making organic ranking challenging.
What about both?
If the budget and the resources allow it, a combined approach is recommended for most companies, because SEO and PPC complement each other.
For example, while building your SEO, you can still get traffic via PPC. And those difficult, competitive keywords that are out of reach for SEO can still be reached via PPC – for the right price. There are also indications that performing PPC traffic through your website improves the ‘health’ of the website, which is not a bad thing for SEO.
SEO or PPC: Last thoughts
SEO and PPC are both effective digital marketing strategies, each with their specific benefits and challenges.
SEO lays the foundation for sustainable results, albeit with an investment of time and resources. PPC offers immediate, short -term results, albeit the results that ‘disable’ as soon as the budget rises.
Which you choose depends on your business goals. And of course you can always choose to do both. It is even recommended.