It is wrong to assume that you can get more benefits from search engine marketing compared to pay per click advertising. This is a false assumption because PPC advertising is part of online marketing.
Remember that online marketing is a broad field. It encompasses organic search engine optimization (SEO), PPC, link exchanges, and other concepts that have direct impact on your search engine positioning. What you can do is to understand the pros and cons of SEO and PPC in order to appreciate the best practices of internet marketing.
Organic SEO and PPC at a Glance
If you are going to pay for clicks from the search engines, then you are engaging in PPC advertising. Essentially, you are paying for website traffic. For example, Google has the AdWords program where you can bid for certain keywords. Your ad links therefore will be displayed on the sponsored search results. If someone clicked your link, then you have to pay Google for that visitor.
On the other hand, organic SEO is free. Your aim is to get top positioning on the search results. So when people use the search engines, the first links that will be displayed on the search results could belong to your website. You have no obligation to pay the search engines for the clicks generated by your links.
The Value of Organic SEO
Organic SEO is more cost efficient because you are not paying for the clicks generated by your links. Although SEO is technically free, there are also some expenses involved with this search marketing method. However, the cost of search engine optimization is relatively much cheaper compared to other conventional online advertising methods like PPC.
SEO can also produce long term results for your website. Your website will remain on the top pages of search engines for years if you continually follow the right SEO techniques. This means you can enjoy a constant stream of web traffic without really spending too much on advertising.
Unfortunately, SEO is more difficult. It takes several weeks before the search engines could index your website. It will also take at least three to six months before you can see your website on top of the search results. So for the first months of implementing your SEO campaign, your website may not be able to generate profit.
PPC for Faster Results
Pay per Click advertising can produce instantaneous results for your website. Once you participate in a PPC program, your links can get instant exposure on the search engines. This means more traffic for your site in a very short period.
So if you want to quickly generate online sales from your website, then PPC advertising is the way to go. Unfortunately, PPC can become costly especially if you are bidding on highly competitive keywords. Each click costs money and there is no assurance that those who land on your site will buy from you.
To get the best results from your search marketing efforts, you have to combine PPC and SEO. Use SEO as your strategic marketing tool while taking advantage of PPC to enjoy short term and faster results.
