Search Engine Optimization Vs. Pay Per Click
The two main components of search engine marketing are search engine optimization and pay per click management. The two are very contrasting in terms of their benefits, their costs and how you go about using them for your website. It’s important to understand how both of these components of search engine marketing work and how you can use them to help your business’s online presence and profitability.
Introducing Search Engine Optimization
There are two aspects of SEO: off-page and on-page. Off-page search engine optimization requires building links pointing to your site from other high valued sites as well as various other strategies that are done off of your actual website in order to boost your own search engine ranking. On-page optimization includes producing keyword rich content and correctly naming each page of the site.
The increased traffic that you get as a result of good SEO practices is known as “organic.” This simply means that you brought in the traffic through high placement in the search engine results pages, rather than paying someone to bring in the traffic for you.
What many people do not realize at first is that it takes some time to effectively use SEO marketing strategies. Just building a new keyword-rich site is not enough to get a very high ranking with the search engines. Most sites will work consistently with a site for a year or much longer to establish themselves on the top search engines results pages. That’s because SEO takes some time to correctly develop and employ so that the search engines pick up on the value and relevancy of the site.
Pay Per Click
PPC campaigns entail purchasing sponsored listings that appear in the search engine results. When you make a search in Google, the sponsored results show up right at the top of the page, as well as down the sidebar of the page. Every link you see in these areas has been purchased.
It’s not as simple as taking out advertising space in a magazine or paper, though. You are not actually paying for the space on the results pages, but for each click that your link gets. So, for every person that finds your ad at the top of the page and visits your site you will be charged. In order to control expenses you can budget what you are willing to spend, but those who can bid the big bucks are of course going to be higher ranked.
Not every business can afford to do PPC right away since it is a financial investment, but once you do get to the point you can do so, the results are noticeable right away. That is why so many people enjoy running a PPC campaign: you don’t have to wait months or years to see the results!
As opposed to SEO however PPC of course costs you money. If you don’t target your market appropriately and bid on keywords strategically, you can end up wasting a good deal of money. Another important aspect of PPC management is developing effective landing pages that convert visitors who click on your links. This is extremely important when every visitor you receive has been paid for.
You can see now why this is a big choice to make. Do you stick with long term free results with search engine optimization, or spring for the expense of a pay per click campaign and short term results?
The best practice is to incorporate a blend of both options into a well thought out marketing strategy. You have to work with the available marketing funds for your business at any given time, and that can be done by optimizing your site adequately and bidding on relevant keywords. You can always adjust the number and amount of bids to account for a changing budget, such as going with pay per click ads to announce the opening of a new site and then backing off.
However, to keep costs down in the long run while further developing your presence, you will have to use SEO to help climb up the rankings. PPC is also commonly used when you are directly trying to sell a product or service to someone, as opposed to convert them over longer periods of time.
You will see results whether you use PPC or SEO marketing strategies, but why not mix them together and have it all? The long term reputation that optimization gives you is a perfect companion to the instant results delivered by pay per click marketing learn more at CCPRO.
Kevin Thomas is an online entrepreneur, SuperGuide and coach who is teaching people valuable internet skills at his website The Carbon Copy Pro Times.
