SEO vs PPC

We at BUILT understand how difficult it can be to spread the word about your brand and reach out to potential customers: reaching your potential customers, maintaining content and even balancing costs can be tricky.

There are various marketing strategies that can help you with this, SEO ( Search Engine Optimisation) and PPC (Pay Per Click).

These two strategies share some similarities and differences, but they both aim to increase a brand’s website visibility among the potential customers. But how do you know which is the best option for you?

In this blog, we go through both of these strategies and help you decide which strategy is best for you and your business.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation, and is an important marketing strategy that aims to place your website higher in google search results when a potential client searches for services similar to what you provide.

By investing in an SEO strategy, you increase the chances that your website will be found by your potential customers when they perform a Google search.

SEO acts as a link between what the consumer wants and what your company has to offer. This is accomplished by incorporating service related words on your website.These words are called keywords, basically, the exact words a customer might use when searching for a service you provide.

The primary goal of SEO is to create proper content that allows your website to rise in the rankings without you having to pay for an extra cost. SEO seeks to improve the quantity and quality of visits to your website.

SEO Pros

Cost-effective

Although SEO strategies necessitate the hiring of external help, such as agencies or freelancers, this is only an initial investment. As a result, despite the fact that this cost is required, once the site is in the rankings organically and thus visible to potential customers, it does not require additional costs to maintain its position.

Possibility of Working on Multiple Platforms

SEO has the advantage of being able to be developed in a variety of ways that will imply the website’s ranking on Google. Utilising other forms of content (such as blog posts or social media) can help you in reaching customers more effectively and increase visits to your website.

Builds Brand Credibility

Organic results help build trust in the customer’s perspective, and the fact that your website appears in search results for keywords related to your services is interpreted by Google almost as an “expert” in the field. This is advantageous because other informative websites/blogs will find your services relevant and trustworthy and might promote it for free.

SEO Cons

Requires Specialised Work

Working with SEO involves not only content creation but also knowledge of web development and even consumer behaviour. Besides this, it is necessary to be aware of the Google algorithm updates, which change on a regular basis and demand constant monitoring to ensure that the factors that influence results rankings are met.

Long-term Results

It takes time to see results, and you are unlikely to notice significant improvements right away, especially if your website is new. This is because working with SEO entails ensuring that Google perceives your website as credible. You must keep your website updated frequently to maintain its visibility, whether by sharing new content or making adjustments in line with Google’s algorithm.

What is PPC?

PPC stands for Pay per Click, and while it is a marketing strategy, it can also be considered advertising. This is due to the fact that PPC is nothing more than displaying advertisements on the results page of Google. Pay per click, as the name implies, means that the more clicks a website receives through that ad, the more you must pay. As a result, while SEO is also based on keywords and key phrases, PPC seeks to increase the number of visits to a website in a short period of time, prioritising quantity over quality.

PPC Pros

Easy to Master

This is because, once a campaign is launched, there is no need for close monitoring, or any specialised knowledge, since Google provides professional support in this case. Besides this, PPC results are easy to analyse; you can run two ads at the same time and see which has better results.

Instant Results

PPC marketing is a short-term strategy. The ad is introduced in the search results after a target audience and keywords are chosen. As a result, the website will be at the top of Google Rankings, above organic results, in just a few hours.

PPC Cons

PPC is expensive

The most significant disadvantage of PPC is that ads are expensive. This is because each ad click, even if it does not result in a sale, incurs a cost. Having your investment return will be more difficult to achieve in this manner, and profit margins will be lower. As a result, this strategy is only financially viable in highly competitive industries or when you have a large marketing budget.

PPC is Out of Your Control

Bearing in mind that PPC is basically buying a service from Google, there are a lot of rules that must be followed, which sometimes makes it difficult to reach exactly the desired customers or even control the posted content.

SEO vs PPC: Which one is better after all?

Overall, both strategies aim to increase website traffic, or in other words, the number of a website’s visits. The difference is that SEO seeks to boost organic website traffic, (visitors that land on your page as a result of unpaid search results), whereas PPC focuses on paid search results.

Although we have seen that PPC requires less training and generates results faster, at BUILT, we believe that SEO is more effective and profitable for your business. SEO doesn’t require ongoing costs. Once you have achieved the desired Google ranking, it should be long-term maintained without requiring you to spend money to keep that ranking.

Besides this, In the case of small businesses and trades, potential customers value credibility above all else. As a result, investing in SEO, a strategy that provides the answers your audience is looking for, makes more sense. Remember that when it comes to local businesses, quality must take priority over quantity!

If you want to learn more about our SEO services and what BUILT can do to boost your website, get in touch!

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