SEO vs. PPC, which online marketing is more effective?

Successful online marketing tips

Online marketing is a fairly new arena, with self made pundits spouting new strategies on daily basis on how to get successful online. Marketers often get confused when faced with the dilema of making a choice between organic search engine optimization or Pay per click advertisement strategy, to promote their business online. The below article provides a quick snapshot of both these strategies and helps you decide on an effective tool to win the online marketing battle.


With increasing use of internet as medium of marketing, business owners are trying to grapple with new strategies to win the online marketing war. For those who are not well versed with internet marketing tactics, it is difficult to choose the best strategy for their business growth.
There are too many articles and forums available which will discuss which marketing tool would be most effective online. As a business owner who is working hard to get internet savvy and take advantage of this tool, you need to understand that at present most of the online website promotional strategies can be be divided into 2 types: Organic Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click Advertising strategies. Let us understand the basics of both.
"Organic" or "Natural" search engine optimization (SEO) consists of optimizing web pages to enhance their position in the naturally occurring search results. Organic SEO consists of On-page and Off-page optimization.

Whereas when you purchase visitors or "clicks" from a search engine, this is called "pay-per-click" (PPC) search engine advertising (or PPCSE). One of the highest recognized PPCSE is Google Adwords. Pay-per-click search engine advertising allows you to quickly leverage search engine traffic by "bidding" (paying) for high-value keywords related to your product or service.

The next obvious question you might ask is : "WHICH IS BETTER MARKETING BATTLE PLAN IN SEO vs. PPC?"

A very simple answer would be: Depends on the end results you expect from your online marketing strategy. Let’s check out each strategy in brief to get a clearer picture. 
As per the latest stats on marketing budget spent versus the results :
  • SEO drives 75%+ of all search traffic, yet less than 15% of marketing budgets is being spent on SEO.
  • PPC receives less than 25% of all search traffic, yet earns 80%+ of SEM campaign budgets.
Surprised by the results?
One of the major reasons for quick adoption of PPC strategy is that it is very similar to traditional paid advertisement strategy and business owners can manage such campaign on their own. Whereas SEO requires a pre-requisite set of skills to ensure your website reaches the top rankings on search engine search through various on-site optimizations and off-site organic search engine optimization strategies.
Another reason why businesses, prefer PPC is that they have better control over the entire program and they know exactly how and where their dollar is spent and results for each dollar spent, can be seen through subsequent Ad words report. They also do not have to change their tactics each time the search engines change their algorithms, which can prove a real headache, especially for those who are only interested in quick, short term results. Organic SEO might seem like too much of work, with absolutely no guaranteed results for short term goal seekers.
Organic SEO as an internet marketing strategy requires patience, but the rewards are plentiful. Organic optimization is not the first choice for many (depending on the brand and business model) but it does have inherent benefits that are unparalleled by sponsored or paid advertising tactics. The benefits and results last for longer period.
While a PPC campaign can deliver leads with relative ease, it can be a big money drain and has no real longevity -- once you stop shelling out the cash, the website traffic goes away. SEO and link building require a lot more creative effort, but can have more sustainable results. It also allows a business to target a larger base of users, as most studies reveal that 75 - 80% of searchers click on organic listings as opposed to paid listings.
As time goes on, web surfers are less prone to clicking PPC links on the right side of Google’s results or in the top sponsored links section.  Why?  In the past web surfers didn’t understand the difference between sponsored and non-sponsored links.  Now web surfers are much more net savvy.  The result is that a growing number of web surfers will click on non-sponsored links on the first page of results because they think: if that site made it into the top ten without paying for it, they must really be the best sites.
You can go for organic SEO if you;
ü  Have a product that you can dedicate 300-750 words to describe its value.
ü  Can exhibit supporting materials images, references and materials that emphasize the products benefits.
ü  If you can shroud it in essentially keywords consumers might use to find it in enough frequency, that it can leverage a high-ranking organic search result.
ü  This is a good strategy to adopt for lasting results, if you have the patience to hold out for 2-4 months or more depending on your industry & competition, for the benefits to start pouring to your website.
Instead if you have a product that has a high price point, and there is some wiggle room for how much you are willing to spend to keep the cost per sale within bounds, then by all means pay per click advertising is a viable solution.
An experienced SEO consultant will suggest a marketing plan only after analyzing your goals and what results you expect from your online marketing. During tight credit crunch it is advisable to increase reliance on free organic SEO strategies rather than PPC.
A hybrid plan (combination of SEO +PPC) is another alternative for those who seek quick results and suffer from very poor rankings, as SEO will ensure with time regular traffic builds for  your site, while PPC will direct serious buyers to your site. Once SEO tactics picks up, the budget spent on PPC can be minimized and totally withdrawn, if required.

Flexibility & control on your marketing budget is far superior to any traditional marketing techniques you could adopt. Final choice of whether to go for SEO or PPC or both of them is obviously yours.

Comments

Untitled

I think PPC makes sense to start immediately while your SEO campaign is started, and you can dial it back as your SEO begins to work for you 3-6-9 months down the road. The great thing about PPC is its instant, and great for split testing, but SEO can bring you the traffic volume.

Mark
http://www.reactorr.com

Last edited Oct 17, 2009 12:08 AM
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Untitled

seo digital

yes you are absolutely right, all the information you provided here is great and true in the sense of marketing and technology,


Thanks
http://www.seo-digitalmarketing.com

Last edited Mar 6, 2009 6:07 AM
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Mark

you seem to be a seo pro... thanks for this informative article. it makes me more wiser in deciding of where to spend my money.

Last edited Dec 1, 2008 10:59 PM
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Good Article!

Hey brilliant article, this is definitely going to help select the right online marketing strategy for my business.

Last edited Nov 30, 2008 10:57 PM
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