If you want to grow the online presence of your business, SEM (search engine marketing) is absolutely essential. Showing up on the first page of Google is every small business owner’s dream. Using various methods to optimize your website and get clicks is the best way to achieve this.
Organic SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click) are the two most common ways to improve your website ranking on all search engines and get noticed by potential customers. Both are key for gaining new clients and visibility for your company, no matter its size. Both are time consuming and require a lot of effort. Both are best done by a certified Google Partner and experienced digital marketing agency.
So what’s the difference between organic SEO and PPC? How do you choose which is best for your company?
When choosing how to structure your organic SEO and PPC campaigns, you have to consider your budget, the services and products you offer, your desired client, and your long-term and short-term business goals.
Organic SEO
When a user performs a search online, the first results are usually paid advertisements. Underneath are the organic results. Organic SEO refers to your website’s ranking in unpaid search results. The main thing to remember about organic SEO is that even though the results themselves are unpaid, it takes a lot of time and effort to get noticed this way.
To better your organic ranking, you need to optimize your entire website. This means you must have relevant content and key words that your potential customers are searching for. The better your content is and the better your keyword choices are on your webpages, the more users will click and stay on your page and your ranking will increase.
Search engines look at how other users and websites interact with your site. If there is a lot of interaction, your organic ranking will increase. Search engines analyze how many customers return to your site. This indicates you have relevant information based on the keywords they are searching for. They also look at other websites linking to your pages, as this helps validate your information.
Although these methods don’t have a monetary cost, they take time to work. A lot of time. They require knowledge about keywords and how to get outside links. It can take weeks, often months, before organic SEO starts to provide tangible results. However, having a good organic ranking builds trust with your customers. They know they can rely on your website to provide good information. That’s why organic SEO is necessary for building your brand.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
PPC advertising is a great way to get your website noticed fast. It involves paying for keywords with search engines to show up in their advertised results at the top of the results page. These results are distinct from the organic results, often being in a different colour text or background.
To get your ad displayed in these results, you must ‘bid’ on the keywords searched for. You set a budget for the week or month, and search engines use an algorithm to decide the cost of a bid. If you have the highest bid for that search, you’ll show up in the results. If a user clicks on your ad result, you pay for the bid. Many industries are very expensive and require a high budget to get noticed. It’s necessary to understand the intricacies of PPC, or else your budget will go to waste with the wrong keywords or wrong audience.
PPC will often see a significant return on investment in the short-term (when done properly, of course). Since you’re at the top of the search results page, you can jumpstart traffic to your website. PPC is great for new businesses hoping to bring in revenue quickly.
Another benefit of PPC is that the ads aren’t limited to just search engines. They can show up on blogs, online classified websites, and news websites to bring more awareness of your website to your target audience. This can help build trust with potential customers and lend credibility to your brand.
PPC works best when used in conjunction with organic SEO. Your website still requires keywords and relevant information to keep the user engaged, otherwise search engines will not choose your bid as often.
Which is Right for My Business?
So we know the difference between organic SEO and PPC advertising. But which one is right for your business?
Well, it depends on your company. But the short answer is “both”. It’s important to strike a balance between organic SEO and PPC to give your website the credibility it needs both with customers and search engines. Organic SEO is necessary for any long-term business plan. It demonstrates your website and information are reliable and you provide relevant information to users. But PPC is necessary for a faster return on your investment so your company can start gaining new clients, build brand awareness, and start making money now.
VivosWeb is a certified Google Partner, meaning we have extensive experience with both organic SEO and PPC. Let us navigate the confusing world of SEM for you. We can ensure your budget is used well and you can feel confident that you’ll see results in both PPC and organic SEO.
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