You may wonder whether SEO or PPC is better for achieving your business goals. Their purposes are the same – to get your site listed on the top pages of search results.
As with most internet marketing, there are few rules to follow in making a choice. Many companies rely on the “quick to the top” guaranteed rankings that come with PPC advertising. Others prefer to avoid the click charges and concentrate on the “natural” rankings that SEO produces.
As with most internet marketing, you go with what works for you. But don’t let what works for you blind you to what can work better.
As with most internet marketing, there are downsides to individual tactics. PPC ads will get your site listed on top search results pages almost instantly, but most surfers are aware that PPC ads are paid advertising and prefer to choose from the natural rankings.
SEO will get you those coveted natural rankings, but it will take a long time and concerted effort to do so.
To avoid the downsides of SEO and PPC, and take advantage of the upsides, use them together.
If you have a long-term internet marketing plan, and you should, make sure it includes a concerted SEO and PPC strategy.
The real beauty of a combined SEO/PPC strategy is that the advantages of one counteract the disadvantages of the other.
If a first page natural search ranking is your goal, there is little chance of getting there quickly. Especially with a new web site, the search engines have to find the site, register it and then monitor it for legitimacy and relevance. Unless you use buckets of cash, it can take many months or more than a year to get a decent natural search ranking.
That’s where PPC comes in. PPC immediately puts your site on the first page of search results, so it get’s exposure while you build the site’s reputation naturally with SEO.
When you start seeing decent rankings from your SEO efforts, you can start reducing your PPC spend until the natural rankings are where you want them to be.
By Stephen Da Cambra
No comments:
Post a Comment