When to use PPC vs. SEO
Posted by Jon Baer on Thu, Jul 15, 2010 @ 11:09 AM
I just responded to a question posted on Linked In. The question was "How to decide between PPC and SEO".
My view is that you should look at PPC and SEO as a "one - two punch". Many of our clients who are launching a new or re-designed website will do PPC for the first several months and then taper that off as the SEO/organic picks up. The reason for this approach is:
- PPC generates results in 24-48 hours
- PPC gives you a "quick hit" in terms of driving traffic to your site
- PPC is a good way to test the effectiveness of a keyword. You should then employ that learning toward your SEO/organic efforts.
Long term, you want your leads to come from SEO/organic because:
- It's cheaper than PPC.
- Once you're highly optimized, it's hard for your competition to displace you. With PPC, your position can be displaced by someone who bids more than you.
- As you become more optimized for your keywords, your PPC rates decrease. You're actually "rewarded" in a sense for being organically optimized.
If you're not getting your desired ROI on your PPC efforts, consider the following:
- What do your landing pages look like?
- Have you tested the ad copy?
- We've written a bunch of blogs on both PPC and landing pages. Here are just a few. To see more, go to our site and do a search. http://blog.wakefly.com/?Tag=B2B+PPC+Tactics, http://blog.wakefly.com/bid/10414/A-few-tips-on-effective-landing-pages