Which is Better – SEO or PPC?

Needless to say, the online community is one huge market that a smart business owner must never ignore. Consumers who use the internet increase each year, and being able to tap these people can mean a lot to a business. Of course, there are also challenges to maintaining a business through online means as the competition also gets tougher each time. However, there are various means to maintain a desired status on the Web or to boost performance if your business is still not at par with your expectations.

It is no longer enough to have an existing website. You must employ various methods to make your site accessible to your target audience 24/7. Your site must be visible and must encourage continuous traffic or else it is doomed to fail.

In terms of marketing, you can consider the use of two popular marketing methods – SEO and PPC. Know more about their qualities and pros and cons below so you can be guided which one to use for your intended business goals.

1. SEO ( Search Engine Optimization )

Through SEO, you can enable your site and its webpages to be easily found on the Web not just by internet users but by the important search engines as well. If you use SEO properly, you can have your site and pages rank at the top pages of search engines. This means that people surfing the net can find your site or page links on the first page of Google, for example. Aiming for this through SEO is smart because it allows you to stand out from the hundreds or even thousands of competitors out there.

Keep in mind that when using SEO, you must have an efficient back link network. If you do not want to deal with the technicalities of back linking in SEO, you can simply avail of link packages that are quite cheap.

SEO does involve you paying people for the clicks you get. What you need to focus on is to think of great ad combinations that are attractive to your target audience. Because of this, we view SEO techniques as long term ones since you would need about at least six months for a campaign to take full effect.

 2. PPC ( Pay Per Click )

Pay per click is another form of advertising on the web. A PPC campaign involves having sponsored listings. The big difference is that this type of marketing form requires you to pay people when they click on your ads or links, or when significant positive changes take place in business – sales or profits increase. 

One good thing with PPC is that you the business owner can have more control over your campaign. You get to create your own ads and you choose to pay only those who deliver. You would also have better control of your audience and partners so it is easy to stay within budget. Remember that with PPC, you can set the amount to pay per click. 

To start you off with a PPC campaign, here are some ideas to remember…

• PPC campaigns are easy to set up and with these, you can even advertise to a wider audience.
• Also remember, that contrary to common belief, PPC campaigns give protection to business owners. Many networks can see through fraudulent clicks, saving you from unnecessary expenses.
• PPC campaigns also allow you to be flexible with budget. You can set a fixed budget for a certain period. Once the budget for clicks is all used up, you can decide to continue or not with the same style depending on the results you got. Also, PPC lets you choose when to stop a campaign and when to start again.
• PPC also allows you to base your campaign periods and budget on market results and feedback.