Tag Archives: Pay Per Click

PPC vs. SEO Which Should I Start with First?

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This is a question I am often asked in sales meetings. The answer really depends on two things:

  1. Your budget
  2. The time frame in which you desire to see results

Pay Per Click = Instant Gratification Solution for Online Marketing

Pay Per Click (PPC) is your ‘instant gratification’ solution when it comes to Internet marketing. Most agencies and consultants can get your PPC ads running in a very short time – as in days.

Search Engine Optimization As A Long-Term Solution

On the other hand, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is usually a 60-90+ day range before seeing rank changing. With SEO/organic rankings, you typically receive more traffic over the short and long term. However, it takes a while for your SEO provider to get up and running, implement changes, add/edit online content, etc. Afterwards, it then takes even more time until Google indexes the completed work. Only after all of this is complete will you then see rank fluctuation.

Simplified Explanation of PPC vs. SEO

Still unsure of which to start with initially – PPC or SEO? Check out the following “cheat sheet” of bulleted items to figure out which one is right for you at this stage in the game.

  • Great Budget and Long Term Outlook: Start with SEO & PPC immediately
  • Okay Budget and Long Term Outlook: Start with PPC & Smaller SEO budget
  • *Small Budget and Need Short Term Sales: Start with PPC only. Track Results. As sales increase add budget to PPC and allocate some for SEO soon after.

*Disclaimer About Budget

Small Budget, as stated above, is relative to your competition, NOT your internal % of revenue. In our opinion most successful companies are spending 5-15% +/- of revenue on marketing/advertising. Your digital marketing budget is a percentage of this. See What Should My SEO Budget Be? for more help on budgets.

Save Time and Money with a Professional PPC Service

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Online advertising is taking the world by storm. The internet has made it easier, cheaper, and more effective to reach large numbers of people across the world, pulling in high numbers of primary targets with the minimum of expenditure. But it’s not as easy as it sounds, and if you want to establish a successful PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign you’ll need to consider hiring a professional service.

PPC is the number-one online advertising technique. When someone uses a search engine to look for a keyword related to your business, a successful PPC campaign will get your adverts to appear on that first page and attract prospects to make the click. Many people start a PPC campaign because they think it will be cost effective. And if done correctly, it is. But carried out wrongly it can become a costly error.

There are numerous factors to consider when creating a successful PPC campaign that leads to higher conversions. It’s not just a question of setting up an account and seeing the visitors flock to your Web site. Instead, for a campaign to be successful, you need to focus on compiling lists of powerful keywords, effectively managing your bids, keeping careful track of clicks and conversions, as well as many other things.

You may have a little knowledge of keywords and how important they are, especially for SEO purposes. But when it comes to PPC, careful keyword research is essential. You need to know what searches will bring in the best results, meaning you’ll have to undertake dedicated research to find out the best keywords and the widest range possible to cover all areas.

After that comes the bidding process, which is not something to be taken lightly. Bidding is crucial to increasing the overall success of your PPC campaign, and keeping costs down and conversions high is always the priority. And after that you need to make sure your adverts attract enough people to click on them. If not, it will all be a waste of time.

Even if you manage to get more visitors to your Web site through your PPC campaign, do you know how they are behaving when arrive? In order to work out exactly how effective your campaign is proving, you will need a comprehensive Web traffic analysis scheme in place. This will tell you where the traffic is coming from as well as which keywords are proving the most effective. All this will allow you to measure your progress and plan more effectively for a better PPC campaign.

You can easily go wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing. PPC is a competitive marketplace, and without the right skills you’re simply throwing your money away.  Implementing a PPC campaign can be hugely productive, and for many companies it is now their major form of advertising. But it will only bring in results if you know what you’re doing. For this reason, it’s always better to go with a professional company who can get you the results you need.

If you’re considering starting a PPC campaign, it’s best to do it properly. Don’t just hope that by starting a campaign you will automatically see results. The truth is that you could end up making things worse through inexperience. Instead, use a PPC management company who know what they’re doing and start seeing the results come in immediately.