SEO or PPC | Which is Better?

SEO or PPC | Which is Better?

Are you wondering whether SEO or PPC will bring in more leads or clients for your business? While both are staples in digital marketing or marketing in general, the two options follow different engagement trajectories. The immediate results you get after implementing PPC and SEO campaigns aren’t representative of each option’s sustained performance. That means that when choosing between search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC), you have to pick based on your long-term or short-term lead generation goals for your business. Your budget also matters! 

 

SEO VS PPC SHORT TERM RESULTS

Short-term results in search marketing refer to results that you get between 1 day to 2 weeks of implementing a campaign. PPC (Adwords, Bing Ads, and Facebook Ads) is a type of search marketing where you pay a search engine such as Google or Bing to show your website at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). With multiple businesses paying Search engines to be at the top of the result pages, these companies (Google, Bing, etc) use an auction-like strategy to position these websites. For example, the more you pay for a click, the higher your website gets placed. Hence, a single click can cost as much as $54.91 if there are a lot of businesses bidding for it, the same keyword might also cost $0.8 if no one is bidding for it.  PPC or paid search tends to come in hot after a campaign is implemented. PPC can boost visibility and drive a lot of traffic to your website overnight. PPC can be a good strategy when you’re:

  • Seeking prime ad placement on a high-value website.
  • Looking for immediate visibility for a time-sensitive promotion or event.
  • Catching “fleeting” engagement that’s part of a trend.
  • Looking for a way to supplement your long-term, ongoing SEO strategy.

Meanwhile, SEO is known for its slow burn. While you may see an immediate bump after deploying SEO, you won’t get the dramatic uptick in engagement the way you are likely to with PPC. That means that PPC often outperforms SEO in short-term A/B testing. In the short term, PPC is great for providing immediate visibility to your target audience that can boost page visits or lead signups. Marketers also like the fact that PPC can make them feel like they’re only “paying for what they use” when eating into an ad budget. 

 

SEO OR PPC IN THE LONG TERM

With search marketing, long-term results refer to results you get 1 month or longer after implementing the campaigns. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the optimization of your website or business on search engines so that you can get traffic to your website without having to pay search engines or do any bidding on keywords. Search engines such as Google have an algorithm that they use to determine which websites should rank and it’s constantly updated (Search Core Updates). To rank on the first page of search engines, you need to demonstrate that you have authority in your particular industry and your website has to be optimized. Demonstrating your authority and ranking at the top of search engine results pages (SERP) can take months and sometimes even more than a year because search engines want their users to find high-quality and accurate information. The top-ranking websites get to enjoy an unlimited number of clicks and leads to their websites because they are not bidding on any keywords or have a PPC budget cap. Most of the time, organic results will rank higher than the PPC results. SEO’s slow burn makes it a better choice when the goal is to boost long-term engagement and increase page rankings for a website. While PPC is considered a great optional or supplemental tool for drumming up traffic and engagement, SEO is considered an essential part of operations in digital marketing if a business plans on a long-term steady flow of leads and clients. SEO is ideal in situations where the goal revolves around:

  • Building momentum with digital traffic and visibility.
  • Getting the best return on investment (ROI) over a long-term period.
  • Creating sustainable traffic and engagement using a financially manageable strategy.
  • Catching “steady” engagement with a target audience.

 

WEBSITE TRAFFIC VALUE (SEO CLICK VALUE & PAID TRAFFIC COST)

Regardless of whether you choose to implement SEO, PPC, or both, it’s important to note that there is a value to be placed on the traffic your website gets, and it’s very important when determining the return on investment (ROI) from each campaign. This can be called “organic website traffic value”, “Paid Traffic Value”, “Paid Traffic Cost”, or “SEO Clicks Value”. With Paid Traffic cost or Paid Traffic Value, you will only get traffic to your website that you have paid for, so if you spend $3,000 on Ads, you will only get $3,000 worth of traffic to your website. With SEO clicks value or organic website traffic value, you can get $35,000 worth of traffic to your website while only paying $3,000 for SEO because there’s no limit on the amount of traffic you can get or which keywords you can rank for.

While the idea of paying per click is attractive when creating a budget for a campaign, it’s important to anticipate a bit of a spending blitz when it comes to getting enough clicks to make a campaign successful. This is why PPC campaigns are generally only used strategically when the goal is to get an engagement surge tied to a special event or promotion. PPC certainly has its place for both generating fresh traffic and helping to supplement the traffic that is already being driven by SEO and organic search.

With the SEO vs PPC debate, it’s important to note some words on growth. With PPC, keyword value and monetary cost can waver based on what competitors are doing marketing-wise. When a keyword becomes hot, bidding competition on PPC can dramatically increase the cost per click. Unfortunately, that means that your ROI on each click can go down dramatically. For this reason, many digital marketers will use PPC strictly to supplement an overarching SEO strategy with low-value keywords that have a much lower price per click compared to in-demand keywords. Meanwhile, those high-value keywords are organically nested into SEO content to drive traffic without paying an exorbitant fee each time someone clicks on a website.

Should you choose SEO or PPC for your marketing strategy? The answer is that both have a place. However, PPC doesn’t have the strong pull of SEO for long-term website traffic value or business growth in general. SEO creates a legacy on your website that will allow one page or post to drive traffic in perpetuity. The successful ranking of one piece of content on your website will give you a chance to focus your budget on another one which gives you a chance to focus your budget on other keywords and pages. Meanwhile, PPC can be great when the short-term goal is to get a bump in visits or engagement. However, that uptick disappears once you end the campaign. Anyone who hasn’t already been captured by a click won’t be captured.

X Design Solutions is a Full-Service Marketing agency that can help you strategically implement both SEO and PPC successfully. Contact us to book a consultation.

Why Am I Not Getting SEO Results?

 

Developing a solid online presence for any business is a must in today’s Internet-focused world. It doesn’t matter what niche your brand serves or how big your company is. If you’re not attracting attention online, you’re missing out on a valuable stream of business. That’s where SEO comes in. The goal of SEO is to increase web traffic organically by making your site more visible than ever, which in turn leads to more leads, clients, and profits. It sounds simple enough, but many businesses struggle with it.

So, why are you not getting SEO results?

 

YOU’RE NOT PATIENT

Many people are vaguely familiar with the concept of SEO, but few truly understand what it involves. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Just as the name implies, it’s the practice of optimizing your website for search engines.

When you search for something on Google, what links do you click on? Like most people, you probably stick to the first few results. You may scroll down and look at other links, but an estimated 75 percent of all users won’t go beyond the first page of results! That’s why it’s so important to rank as high as possible on searches for keywords that relate to your brand.

That’s the point of SEO. It’s creating content and molding your site to ensure that it ranks as high as possible on the first search engine results page (SERP). The process is more complex than it appears at face value, but that’s its gist.

Why are you not getting SEO results? If you’ve only employed SEO for the last couple of months, the only thing standing between your efforts and success is time.

Here’s the thing: SEO is unpredictable and can take time to start getting traffic to your site, depending on your competition. You can’t snap your fingers and expect to get immediate results. SEO is a lengthy and ongoing process. As advised by Google, it’s impossible to guarantee a timeframe or a number one ranking.

With something like paid search or  search engine marketing (SEM), you can start to see changes relatively quickly. But SEO can take several months or even over a year. Not only that, but it’s something that never stops!

The Internet is constantly evolving. If you want your site to stay relevant, you must keep up. SEO is more about the long game than getting quick results.

There’s no way to know when you’ll start to see the fruits of your labor. It all depends on your approach and how much you spend on your SEO efforts.

That leads us to another common issue businesses encounter…

 

YOUR SEO BUDGET IS NOT ENOUGH

Another reason why you’re not getting SEO results could be that your budget is not enough. Improving your website and employing SEO best practices isn’t inherently expensive. But ultimately, it’s about who has the budget to implement multiple and effective SEO campaigns.

It’s important to remember that you’re not the only one vying for those coveted top spots on the first SERP. You’re competing with many other rivals in your industry and niche. Some of them have seemingly limitless budgets to invest in SEO.

It’s not uncommon for larger companies to invest millions into running multiple SEO campaigns. If you’re a smaller organization prioritizing budget-saving measures over SEO, there’s no competition! The more prominent players with massive budgets are likely to rank far higher than you.

If possible, consider investing more in your SEO budget. How much you put into SEO directly impacts the scope of your campaigns. It’s the difference between having small gains and generating measurable and faster success!

A bigger budget lets you run more advanced campaigns. In addition to creating blog-based content, you can produce more impactful media like videos, in-depth articles, etc.

Higher budgets also pave the way for on-page SEO that improves UI/UX design, local SEO to promote in your geographical area, and off-page SEO with outbound linking, PR, and more.

 

INEXPERIENCED SEO MANAGER

Knowing more about SEO, you might take steps to see improvements. You adjust your expectations, become more patient, and increase the budget. But you’re still not getting SEO results. What gives?

Unfortunately, even a high budget and plenty of patience won’t make up for an inexperienced SEO manager, specialist, or agency. An SEO manager or specialist is responsible for running your campaigns. A good manager will perform the necessary data research, develop a concrete strategy for improvement, and analyze results for continued success.

However, some specialists will attempt to take the easy way out with methods that do more harm than good. These are known as “Black Hat” SEO techniques. Black Hat SEO is about exploiting search engine guidelines rather than doing the work to get actual results, and it could be why you’re not getting SEO results.

Some examples of Black Hat SEO include:

  • Publishing low-quality content (blogs and website pages)

  • Keyword stuffing

  • Using spun content or automation

  • Duplicating content

  • Cloaking

  • Hiding text or links

  • Purchasing backlinks

  • Tricky redirects

  • Implementing doorway pages

  • Using link farms

If you’re not getting SEO results or seeing noticeable progress, the specialist you’re working with might be using some of these Black Hat techniques. In addition to getting poor results, these tactics can create an annoying and even misleading experience for website visitors.

Even worse, Black Hat SEO can search engines penalize or even ban your website from appearing on SERPs at all!

Modern SEO isn’t as easy as some might think. It requires an in-depth understanding of data analytics, careful strategy, and the patience to keep up with an ever-changing Internet landscape. Working with a skilled SEO manager or agency that knows what they’re doing is paramount.

If you’re tired of not getting SEO results, turn to X Design Solutions. We’re well-versed in the complexities of SEO and are ready to help you see the results you’re looking to achieve. Get in touch with us today to schedule your consultation.

What Is Branding?

What Is Branding?

Even though most people have heard of branding, very few actually understand what branding is. Branding is almost always mistaken as a logo, slogan, name or color combination, or anything that differentiates you from your competitors. Your brand is the mental picture that represents you to your customers and is almost always evolving. A number of factors can influence how effective you get to brand yourself.

 

CONSISTENCY

Consistency is the number one thing you need to think of whenever branding comes to mind. A constantly changing brand won’t do you much justice if you want to create a unique image that your clients can come to identify. In order to create brand consistency, you need to have guidelines in order to make sure that everything you do is in line with the message that your brand is trying to portray. Once you have the guidelines, you can now refer to these guidelines in all of your marketing efforts. Brand consistency also means aligning yourself with platforms or personalities that will effectively represent your brand.

 

TARGET MARKET

You can’t afford to target every audience If you are looking to build a strong brand. You have to narrow down your audience if you are looking to grow to the best of your ability. Knowing your audience will make it easier to create social media content, write your blogs or create those catchy video ads. You can define your target audience by age, sex, or location after which you can learn about their interests, etc.

 

ORIGINALITY

Is your brand original and truly different from your competitors? Being different is what will ultimately make your brand stand out. If whatever you are offering is different from your competitors then it will be very easy to brand yourself without actually putting in a lot of effort. The whole purpose of branding is to get people to want to do business with you hence you need to provide whatever service or product you are advertising as not doing so will be false advertising. So part of branding involves providing a unique service or product

In order to properly execute all the above, you need professionals that know what they are doing and have already done it. Contact X Design Solutions to get a free consultation and quote.