Recently I was brainstorming with a Gainesville-area business owner who has hired us to help them with their marketing. One of their very first questions was “What should I be focusing on first, SEO or PPC and which is more effective?”. GREAT QUESTION. If you are a business owner trying to decide how to promote your business online and generate more business, this post is for you. If you aren’t familiar with the terms “PPC or SEO”, check out this image. PPC ads in search results are located in the green and will be seen above and beside your organic search results.
SEO Dominates with 94% of Clicks
Last week our friends at econsultancy published research detailing how PPC, or paid search marketing, compared to SEO (organic search engine optimization). The results were quite interesting. The study was comprised of research by Nielsen group and GroupM and featured some very interesting results about the important of good SEO. First, search engine users click on natural search listings a whopping 94% of the time. This means that if you are a business owner and your target market is using the internet to research and/or purchase your products or services, you NEED an effective SEO strategy as part of your long term marketing plan.
More interesting SEO research:
Not only is visibility in the organic listings important, but ranking is paramount to success as well. 68% of all clicks went to the top 3 search results with the #1 result taking 48% of the clicks. Imagine getting 50% of the people that are interested in your products to walk through your front door? What would that do for your business?
When PPC Advertising Makes Sense
While organic SEO is clearly dominant, there are many times when you can and should consider paid search advertising as part of your marketing strategy:
- Paid search can help new SEO campaigns – if your website is brand new and you’re just getting started with SEO, it could take months for your rankings to improve to the point where you are generating new leads. PPC can provide immediate exposure and help a new website generate leads immediately.
- PPC helps for special events or short term exposure – if your business is heavily dependent on holiday sales or services tied to special events, PPC can be a great way to increase exposure. For instance, if you are a water damage restoration company, you would want to run PPC ads during and after tropical storms and hurricanes.
- PPC can compliment effective SEO – if your budget allows and your organic SEO is already effective, PPC can work hand-in-hand and be a perfect compliment to SEO. PPC data can tell you which keywords might drive traffic but aren’t necessarily converting to new sales or even referrals. Great information to know when you are assessing which keywords to target for your SEO campaigns. PPC also can help you identify “long tail” keywords, the keywords that often times end up in higher conversions.
How to Grow Your Business Online
Each business is different…you offer a unique value to your customers. Finding the right way to reach new customers online and prioritize tactics such as SEO and PPC is what we specialize in. Sit down with one of our team members here at Online Potential inc and lets brainstorm how we can help you grow your business today!
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