Every business is looking to increase website traffic through their online marketing activities; traffic equals potential leads and sales, or at least the opportunity to capture a visitor’s data.
A search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy is a key component towards generating traffic and there are two very different routes available: either using an organic SEO service or adopting the faster pay per click (PPC) route.
From conversations with prospects and customers we tend to get a mixed reaction about these, with people favouring one or the other, depending on what they’ve heard and experienced.
To help you decide which route to take, it’s worth considering the strengths and weaknesses of each and the situations which fit them best.
SEO, naturally
Organic SEO takes time and effort and you won’t see results potentially for weeks or months. Target the right keywords, diligently grow content and attract links, and you will see a return on this investment, getting to that all important first page of the search results.
This should generate a consistent level of traffic, and with ongoing work, you should be able to hold or increase your ranking and enjoy benefits in the long-term.
Organic SEO is the ‘natural’ approach and often seen as the ‘free’ option but in reality it takes work and commitment to make it a success. If your business doesn’t have a dedicated resource, it’s an area that can be neglected or maybe dabbled in every now and then – this will be reflected in rankings and traffic, leaving you vulnerable to competitors.
PPC on the other hand covers adverts on search engine results pages and on social media platforms. They direct traffic to specific landing pages and you pay for every user who clicks on your ad. Unlike organic SEO, with PPC you can see results in a very short time and tracking results is much easier.
Which search strategy is right for my business?
As with all marketing activities, the starting point should be your business goals and how your SEO strategy will support these; taking time with this will help you see a return on your time and money.
When should you use PPC?
- When you want results fast, for example while waiting for your organic SEO efforts to bear fruit
- Time-sensitive campaigns – PPC is ideal for launches, events and limited-time offers and promotions
- When looking to reach very specific groups of businesses/people – PPC platforms allow you to specify your audience to a very detailed demographic including sector, job title, age, gender, location even hobbies. This high degree of targeting should increase the success of your campaign (provided you’ve done the research first)
- When you want to direct traffic to a landing page which isn’t content rich e.g. a product page on an e-commerce site. Pages which aren’t content rich will struggle for attention from the search engines
When should you use an organic SEO service?
First it’s worth considering that the click through rates for organic SEO is 72%, compared to 28% for paid results – so organic SEO should always be a part of your strategy. However, it takes hard work, commitment and patience. Many companies find they just don’t have the time to apply all of these in their busy day to day and look to online marketing companies that provide a quality organic SEO service.
How can you combine both to your benefit?
- When you’re looking to dominate search results for a particular keyword or phrase – PPC results are displayed above organic search results. This combined exposure will increase traffic and put across the impression that you’re a big player in that market
- When you’re looking for insight on target keywords and phrases – with PPC you can test what gets you the highest conversion rates, from particular words to whether a testimonial-style or benefits-style ad gets more results. This information can help you develop your overall SEO strategy, including how to create title tags, meta descriptions and page content for your website
Every business has different needs (and budgets). With our clients, who are mainly from manufacturing and business services sectors, we take a tailored approach using both approaches as required, within an overall strategy.
Please call us on 0161 875 2528 to find out how our SEO services can boost your traffic and search engine visibility.