SEO vs. PPC: Which One is Better in the Long Run?

What is the most important factor for an online business? Isn’t it to appear at the top of the search results page? A new search is made every second; maybe you have also just used it to find a restaurant nearby or inquire about an online course. According to statistics, in 2019, Google received over 63,000 searches per second every day. Did you get an idea of how being at the top search really matters?

Being on the top search can be done in two ways- SEO and PPC. The difference between PPC and SEO is that the former is an unpaid search, and it appears on the top search organically whereas you have to pay for Pay-Per-Click ads, which appears even above the organic search.

Let’s take a deeper look at both concepts:

Search Engine Optimization

It is a technique to increase web traffic by obtaining a high rank in the search results page on a search engine like Google, Yahoo, Bing.

Pros of SEO–

1. Cost- Organic search is free of cost. You don’t have to pay in money but time and effort. Your hard work will take you to the top search results.
2. Competitive advantage- You will surpass your competitors once you reach the top position. It’ll give you an advantage over your competitors.
3. Long term results- If you spend a good amount of time on SEO and get ranked on the top, the results will last you for years, and you will be able to stick to that position in the long run.
4. Credibility- Users tend to trust websites with organic search more than the ones with ads that may seem less credible to them.
5. Higher ROI- SEO has the potential to yield good results if implemented correctly, and it will keep doing it in the long run.

Cons of SEO–

1. Time-consuming- It is a slow process. From creating content to optimizing it, it doesn’t happen in a blink of an eye. It is an ongoing process wherein you have to keep working on your website and be patient to witness the results.
2. Not easy to master- Your SEO skills might not be up to the mark which will make you take more time to implement it. It is a bit complex and if you are not aware of the techniques, you might face difficulties.
3. Uncertainty- No matter the hard work you have put in and achieved the top position, your site may still have a chance to drop from its rankings. Here, following Google guidelines is necessary.

Types of SEO–

Let’s divide SEO into three parts-

1. Technical SEO– It is the crawling and indexing phase. Here, optimizing is done so that search engines like google can identify your website as relevant. It includes-

• SSL Certificate
• Google Analytics
• Performance & Speed
• Google Search Console
• Mobile-friendliness

2. On-page SEO– It includes the tasks that can optimize a given page for it to appear on the top. It includes:

• Relevant Content
• Infusing keywords
• Meta description and alt attributes
• Visual content
• Internal and outbound links
• H tags

3. Off-page SEO– It includes the activities performed after a website has gone live. It includes:

• Backlinking
• Social media sharing
• Staying in touch with the target audience

Pay-per-Click

PPC is another technique to appear on the top position of a search results page. Only you have to pay for each click you get. The websites through PPC display above the organic results.

Pros of PPC-

1. Time-efficient- With PPC, you can see the results right away. You don’t have to invest a lot of time and wait for the outcome. You pay for your ads to appear on the top, and it happens for you in a second.
2. Easy to master- It’s not that it is easy to implement task altogether, but it is easier than SEO. And it is easier to pay someone to create a PPC campaign for you than finding someone who will build, implement, and execute the SEO strategy.
3. Targeted- You get a chance to choose the audience you want to target according to Demographics like location, age, etc.

Cons of PPC-

1. Payment- As the name suggests, you have to pay for every click you get. Costs will add up if you are not monitoring your campaigns.
2. Getting clicks does not imply sales- Even if you are getting a lot of clicks, you will have to pursue your visitors to ‘convert.’
3. Lower ROI- As discussed, SEO takes more time, but its results last you for a long time. However, it’s the opposite in PPC. You earn money by selling a product but also spend a lot on paying for ads. Also, once you stop paying for ads, the ROI won’t grow.

Types of PPC-

1. Search advertising- This is the most common search ad and can be easily witnessed on search engines like Google or yahoo. It can be identified by their little ‘ad’ logo, and it appears right above the organic search.
2. Display advertising- It shows your advertisements on all the google partner websites. Here, you can choose the audience you want to target.
3. Social media advertising- You choose your target audience and advertise your brand on their social media. The ad usually appears on its social media accounts feed. It can be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
4. Retargeting- you visited a shopping website and suddenly an ad for that same site appears in your email or another search. Does this sound similar? You’ve been retargeted. This is an effective PPC technique to convert people who have already shown an interest in your website.
5. Google Shopping- if you are an eCommerce business, you might want to look into google shopping campaigns. It is the small box that appears on the top of organic search. It shows a picture of the product along with its price. It makes it visually easier for visitors to compare and click.

Which will be more expensive?

Considering the fact that you have exceptional SEO and PPC skills and can implement either or both of those by yourself without having to hire a professional. It is clear that you will still have to pay for PPC since implementing SEO only requires time and skills.

Now, if you are planning to hire someone to set up these campaigns for you, you will have to pay them for their efforts. Either way, in PPC, payment will be made for the ads as well as the work done.

The clear answer is PPC! SEO is said to be cheaper in the long-run. Even if PPC is inviting a lot of visitors, there is still no certainty that it will convert. Whereas in SEO, after all the efforts put in, the results will last longer.

SEO or PPC? SEO and PPC?

Your end goal is to grow your business. You can use either of the techniques, or you can use both. Using both will give you exceptional results and give you an edge. Do not rely on just PPC, but also don’t miss the chance of being above the organic search.

SEO and PPC are a power couple and what is the need to separate them? When you implement SEO with PPC, you will get the advantages of both, and one will negate the disadvantage of the other technique. It will be a win-win situation for your business.

How will SEO and PPC work together to boost your sales?

1. Visibility- It is the best result you can get out of combining SEO & PPC. Your business will get the best of both organic and paid search results. It will increase the visibility of your website, which will eventually help you generate more traffic.
2. Integrate E-commerce feed into google shopping- Here, you link your product pages to PPC ads. This displays the products, its rating, price and will take the user directly to the page.
3. Keyword data- Now that both techniques are involved in getting your business in the top results page, you will have double data to analyze and to determine which keywords have a better conversion rate.

Now, the decision is yours to make. You can go for either SEO or PPC or both depending upon your needs, budget, timeline, and goals.

PPC vs SEO – DepositPhotos