SEO or PPC for search engine marketing? What are the strengths as well as weaknesses of both methods? Basically, SEO is accomplished by optimizing webpages and by increasing Link Popularity by paying for or acquiring links that point to your site. In turn, this gives your site improved search engine rankings for your chosen key terms.
On the other hand, PPC or pay-per-click search engine advertising is accomplished when you purchase clicks from a search engine. This method allows you to get top search engine placement quickly by “bidding” or paying for key terms related to the product or service you are offering.
Natural SEO usually will give you a higher return on investment compared to PPC. This is because searchers click natural search engine results from more than the PPC ads so that you will get more traffic for less.
SEO is better than PPC in terms of return on investment because paying for or acquiring links that point to your site gives you lasting results; it gives your site top rankings from the search engines. Also, these links significantly boost long-term traffic.
However, one of the major weaknesses of natural SEO is the time you need to come up with links and “tweak” your keywords and web pages to obtain the valuable high rankings you desire. It can take you about three months to finally reap the benefits of your SEO campaign.
The myth is that natural SEO is easy and inexpensive. If you want your site to have a high ranking for the key phrase “debt consolidation” or “life insurance,” then you will need to have a minimum budget of $50,000 to $100,000 every year.
PPC search engine advertising
One of the major benefits of the PPC search engine advertising is that it gives you an immediate boost of visitors, lead, and sales. A PPC advertising campaign is your best bet if you want really fast results and a nice return on investment. It can give a fast result within hours or days.
Additionally, PPC also lets you track your conversion rates (leads, opt-ins, and sales) and test your website quickly. In addition, this method also allows you to easily turn keywords (visitors) on and off.
As a short-term strategy, PPC gives you a clear advantage over the SEO method. But the disadvantage lies on the cost. Depending on the demand for your clicks and keywords, your PPC campaign can create tons of traffic and can sometimes cost thousands of dollars daily. Using various SEO strategies can lower costs. Over the long term, SEO will be more beneficial than PPC.