SEO vs PPC: Which is better for you?
SEO vs PPC. Search Engine Optimization(SEO) vs Paid per Click(PPC) which is better for you is an age-old question. Everyone has his own point of view. Hi, My name is Vinayak Sobti and today we are going to discuss the difference between SEO and PPC and why to fight between SEO vs PPC. Before we start lets first discuss what is SEO and PPC.
What is SEO?
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a process of ranking your web page or blog post higher on Google SERP’s. Google is the most dominating search engine.
Google has a market share of approximately 86%. So we have to adjust our page according to Google algorithm to rank higher on Google Search Engine Result Page(SERP). Google ranks all the pages on the internet by understanding
What its content is?
How many backlinks they have?
Is your content fresh? and many more.
Google algorithm has more than 200 factors by which it determines the rank of a page. When we optimized our page for these factors our web page or blog is ranked higher by Google. To get a clear picture of SEO you can read “How to rank your post higher on Google through SEO?”This process of optimizing your blog or web page is called SEO or Search Engine Optimization. Let’s try to understand why SEO is the heartbeat of every Digital Marketer.
Advantages of SEO
1. Long term friendship.
Yes, long term. When we SEO our page and are ranked higher, we stay in that position for a long time. All you have to do is that you have to create relevant and fresh content on a regular basis. When you are ranked higher, Google gives your blog authority. With this authority, you can rank you for a long time.
2. Its Free.
SEO is a free practice. Free is the most powerful marketing word. It attracts a lot of crowds towards it. Everyone tries to make the most out of this. Organic search traffic is the most important source of web traffic. Not only because its free but also because it is from the not relevant crowd.
3. Improved CTR.
With the free traffic coming from google the click-through rate of your blog/ web page improves. CTR improves for a web page when you create regular, great, and fresh content. Like every coin has two sides so does SEO also has a dark side. Let’s talk about some disadvantages of SEO.
Disadvantages of SEO
1. Takes Time.
SEO is a timely process. You have to be patient when you are doing SEO. Ranking your page higher based on SEO may take days, months, or even years. But when you reach the top you will stay there for a while. Once your page gets ranked on the top position you will be considered as an authorities site by google. And if you keep posting relevant, fresh, and consistent content on your page then it would be hard to take you down from there.
2. Time consuming.
SEO is a time-consuming process. You have to optimize each and every post that you create. You can never leave SEO out of your mind. SEO is started when you start your online journey and will never end.
3. Google Algorithm.
Google has an algorithm that ranks each and every page keeping in consideration more than 200 factors. You never know when Google will change the algorithm and your top ranking page have to take a dip. Google is learning and growing. It has grown from “stuffing keyword to rank higher” to “Understanding the content to rank higher”. You never know what they will bring next to the market.
4. Hard Testing.
When you create content you do not know whether the content will get desired results for you. You have to give it time. A piece of content may give you positive results but can also give negative results to you. Even if a piece of content is not working for you have to wait and see the results.
What is PPC?
PPC or Pay Per Click is a process of ranking your page on the top of Google SERP as sponsored pages. The pic below shows the PPC ads posted for the keyword ‘PPC’. PPC is a process of ranking your page on top of Google SERP by paying a fee to Google. You can differentiate between the organic search result and paid results by the small symbol under every paid search result.
By paying for the top position in Google you bring the paid traffic towards your site for a specific Keyword. These keywords can be directly or indirectly related to your product or service you are providing on the landing page. The main purpose of the click is to bring the audience to your desired page. Where you can showcase your products, to your audience. Let’s Talk about some Advantages and Disadvantages for PPC.
Advantages of PPC.
1. Instant Traffic.
Once you have created your campaign, decided on your audience, finalized your budget. Now you can start your campaign and from tomorrow you start getting traffic. This is the best part of PPC. You don’t have to wait for anything. You paid for the traffic and that’s what you will get.
2. Target Specific Audience.
With PPC ads you can target a specific audience. The first thing about marketing is that you should know who your audience is? And with the help of PPC Ads, you can target the right audience. It’s like you want to sell a house and you give a paper ad for it. The paper is distributed to thousands of readers across the state.
But your customer may be from a few who are looking for a house in your locality. Here your target audience is a few but you target a thousand. In PPC, you can target a very specific type of people from their age, their education, status, interest anything.
3. Bypass Google Algorithm.
PPC means that you can bypass google algorithms and can come up to the top position. But this position is only for the time up till and unless you are paying to Google. But once you stop paying for the clicks you will be ranked at your original position. This means that you can bypass the Google algorithm, just up till the time you are paying google.
4. Easy A/B Testing.
In PPC, you can change an ad if it is not getting the desired results for you. You can see the results you are getting from different ads and can play the one which is getting you maximum results.
Disadvantages of PPC
1. Costly.
Now Google will place your ads on top but not for free. To rank up you have to pay Google. But not everyone can afford the cost. There is a startup out there who does not have a marketing budget. They have to wait for their web page to rank higher by working on SEO.
2. Audience.
If you have targeted an audience of say college students for a Digital Marketing Course. There may be a thirty-year-old who is looking for a career change. He is looking for your course but you have not targeted him as your audience. There might be a segment of your audience that you have overlooked. Or there is a demand for your product where you never thought your product would be demanded.
3. Update campaigns regularly.
You have to regularly update your ads. When your audience sees the same ad over and over again its impact starts reducing. To keep the impact of your ad to the maximum you should always be changing your ads again and again.
4. Unhealthy Competition.
There are some competitors who don’t play fair. They can manually click on your ads from the different IP addresses, which would increase the cost of your ads without getting any result. This is unethical but you have nothing in your hand.
When to Choose SEO?
This is not a question in this war SEO vs PPC. Whether you are considering PPC or not, SEO is supposed to get started on your web page from the day you start your page. The sooner you get started on SEO the sooner you will get results. If you started your blog yesterday and starting SEO today then you are late. SEO takes time.
When to Choose PPC?
If you are a starter and have a budget or are in a position when you need immediate returns. At a position like this its great to get some starting traffic with the help of PPC. You will have a low ROI because of the PPC budget spent but at least you will have some ROI.
The other time you are supposed to go with PPC is when you are dealing with a seasonal or a short term trending product. A product you know has very short market demand. Products like these demand paid to click ads to get returns.
SEO vs PPC
In my point of view, both SEO and PPC have their importance. SEO has to be focused at all times. It is not costing you anything but sometimes learning it might be a great task. The same is with PPC. PPC can bring wonders to your site if implied properly. There are many factors to consider.
If you do not have any idea about SEO or PPC, I recommend you to hire a professional. SEO is important but PPC has its own advantages. I recommend if you have a website or blog start doing SEO today and keep learning about it. Keep a lookout for any Google algorithm change.
As far as PPC is considered if you have a budget it is advised to use it and do some PPC. It will surely bring amazing results. At last in this war of SEO vs PPC, I would like to say that they can go hand in hand and be more beneficial to you.
Conclusion
People consider SEO and PPC as rivals But in my point of view SEO and PPC can go hand in hand. SEO is a must at any stage of online marketing and PPC has its importance. For any new blogger, it is necessary to understand both.
What do you prefer and which results better for you. Share it with me. Comment below. If there is anything else you want to read about on my blog, please comment. I’ll be waiting for your comment.
