Which one’s best for me? SEO (search engine optimisation) or PPC (pay-per-click)? Well, I’m going to go for both. Both bring traffic to your site, both help identify which keywords and areas work for your business on search engines and both give you presence in Google.
Getting the right keywords
Firstly, go with PPC. With PPC you can have thousand of keywords in your account. If budget & competition allow, you could theoretically be high up in the listings for all those keywords. SEO, best to choose around 20 – 25 keywords to optimize and to try and rank for – these should be tried and tested keywords that you know instinctively are going to work for you. Ideally, they should be tested with PPC.
‘Oh but some people don’t click on the adverts’ – yes this is true, but it’s also true that some don’t even appreciate that there is any difference between paid and organic, especially not with Google slowly fading the back of the ad to a very pale yellow.
If you have a keyword which is really strong in the sponsored listings, chances are it will do very well organically and you should be optimizing to it.
Supporting your brand
Another great benefit is supporting your brand name. Some don’t like bidding on their brand name, why pay?
Ah but you should pay because if you’re not there – someone else could be. Other companies can bid on your brand name as long as they do not use your company name in the advert. If someone searches for your brand, the competitor ppc ad could be placed number one and outrank your organic listing. You could lose that business.
Also, bidding on your own brand is cheap. Google will deem you the most relevant to the brand name as well you know it’s yours! Plus on the upside of this, your competition that is being a pest bidding on your brand will now have to pay more to be there. For brand, SEO top, PPC top – double whammy on the search results.
