When we talk about digital marketing, there is always this question about SEO vs. PPC.
The usual thinking among digital marketers is that PPC costs money and might waste their marketing budget.
On the contrary, they feel that SEO is free and can get them leads easily. To be frank, the SEO vs. PPC debate is here for years and people are fighting over the same question.
For a business, it is not easy to decide on which one to choose and invest your money on. In order to make this decision, you have to go through all the advantages and disadvantages of both SEO and PPC.
Which should be your ideal pick? SEO or PPC
Both SEO and PPC are popular strategies and are working for millions of business owners; At times, the answer to SEO vs. PPC rivalry is actually SEO and PPC working collaboratively. You will see many businesses dividing their marketing budgets for both of these processes.
But, if you are a small business that is just starting with online marketing, it is not easy for you to have enough marketing budget. This makes it important for you to make this decision on choosing the best fit for your business.
Understanding the purpose and scope of SEO and PPC would also help you get a clear idea of their capabilities.
SEO is the process of optimizing our websites as per the guidelines of search engines. We do this in order to acquire traffic from search engines to our business websites. But, SEO is not a one day scheme to get results and might take months to get some initial push.
In other words, it takes time to experience and visualize the results of SEO. The SEO strategies don’t make your website rank higher in just a day. These changes need time to get implemented.
On the other hand, PPC advertising allows you to advertise your websites in the sponsored results section of the SERPs. You only get charged when someone clicks on the ad and lands on your website.
So, if you are in a hurry to get some eyes to your website or sales page, PPC should be your best bet.
Now, you know the basics of both of these services, here is the list of comprehensive pros and cons of both of them
Pros and Cons of Opting for PPC
Pay-per-click is an advertising method in which you advertise on various platforms and pay the platform owner on per click bases.
Here we are talking mainly about PPC ads on Google as it is one of the most popular platforms for running ads.
Pros:
Instant Outcomes
If you are launching an offer on your website for the first time and want instant results, PPC should be your go-to option. It functions much faster when compared to SEO and fetches you with great search engine rankings.
PPC is More Flexible
With PPC, you would have the liberty to bid on keywords and the amount you spend in a day. What’s more, you would be able to stop the campaign if you witness that it is not driving any results for your campaigns.
You Would Be in Complete Control
PPC ads let you target people based on multiple factors like interests, location, language, age, etc. In other words, you would have complete authority to ensure that you reach your target audience in the most effective ways.
Also, the PPC ads that will be displayed would be written and designed by you. Hence, you can test and optimize the persuasion power of these ads easily.
Cons:
A Bit Costly
Well, with PPC ads, you can control the budget you want to allocate. However, if you are someone who has no experience in running ads then you might end up wasting all your ad budget.
Either you will have to learn to run ads or hire an experienced PPC agency like ours to run it for you.
We have the experience of running ads in a way that they would provide you the results you want, by paying as little as possible.
Long-Term Benefits Are Limited
In the realm of PPC ads, once you stop investing in keywords, the ads wouldn’t show up. Though It is normal for you to get quality leads without PPC ads. However, the unbranded search traffic would completely disappear.
Pros And Cons of Opting For SEO
Pros:
Reliable
One of the key benefits of SEO is its trustworthiness. A large number of search engine users trust organic search results over paid search results.
You Can Assume Long-Term Benefits
If you are able to implement the best practices of SEO along with the key strategies, it will fetch you with long-term results. Some articles that you would publish now might get you results even after a year or so.
Cons:
Google Algorithms Are Never Constant
Well, Google is never constant with its algorithms. It is quite frustrating when you have to put in all the hard effort to get organic traffic, and suddenly Google comes with an algorithm update.
Takes a Lot of Time
This is one of the greatest disadvantages of SEO. You cannot expect any quick and rapid outcome by implementing SEO strategies. Quite interestingly, it usually takes three to six months to witness the final outcome of activities implemented by you.
Most companies nowadays look for a quick turnaround solution. For them, PPC ads are a great option.
SEO Demands Continuous Efforts
This is another aspect that doesn’t go well with most digital marketers. You have to continuously monitor your strategies when you are opting for SEO to drive traffic.
For instance, from keyword research to link building, you have to follow all steps meticulously to drive visitors to your site.
SEO Is Not Free
Though many people would tell you that organic traffic is free, it is not. You might get free organic traffic from Google but for that you have to put in a lot of efforts.
Not only efforts but you would have to publish content, do regular keyword research, competitor research, create backlinks, monitor results and report everything.
For all these tasks you will spend enough money wishing that you will get a return in the coming days.
Deciding Your Ideal Option
So as you can see, both PPC and SEO have certain advantages and disadvantages. It is up to you to decide which would be the best option for you.
However, if you are just starting out and in a real hurry to get your site noticed, PPC should be your ideal option. But then again, you have to implement SEO strategies as well so as to avoid the failure of the campaign.
Ideally, both SEO and a well-structured PPC campaign tend to be the most potent marketing channel online. With a collaborative approach, you would quickly experience a surge in traffic.
No matter which service you choose, XtremeAds will be here to help you set up your campaigns be it PPC vs. SEO.
