SEO or PPC: which is best?

Posted: 31 Oct 2024

It’s no secret that two of the most common digital marketing strategies businesses implement are SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising. Both methods can significantly enhance online visibility, but they work in different ways and deliver results on different timelines.

For many businesses, deciding whether to focus on SEO or PPC can be a challenge. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to which is best, as the right choice depends on several factors, including your business goals, budget and how quickly you need to see results.

 

In brief: what is SEO?

SEO is the process of improving a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through organic, unpaid methods. The goal is to rank as high as possible for relevant search terms, making it easier for potential customers to find your website when they search for products, services, or information related to your business. Unlike paid advertising, SEO focuses on driving sustainable traffic over time by aligning your website with the ranking factors that search engines prioritise.

To achieve higher rankings, SEO involves a range of techniques that work together to improve both the relevance and authority of a website.

 

Key SEO techniques

  • Keyword research: Understanding which search terms potential customers use to find products or services is the foundation of any SEO strategy. Keyword research involves identifying high-traffic, low-competition keywords that are relevant to your business, then integrating them strategically across your website to target the right audience.
  • On-page optimisation: This refers to the adjustments made directly on your website to improve its relevance and usability for both search engines and users. Key aspects include optimising meta titles and descriptions, improving content quality, using heading tags appropriately and ensuring that images are properly tagged with alt text.
  • Link building: A core part of SEO involves acquiring links from other reputable websites, which signals to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy. High-quality backlinks, especially from relevant industry sites, can significantly boost your site’s rankings.
  • Technical SEO: Technical SEO focuses on optimising the structure and performance of your website to make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content. This includes improving page speed, ensuring mobile-friendliness, using structured data and fixing broken links or duplicate content.

 

SEO’s long-term benefits

  1. Sustained visibility

    One of the primary advantages of SEO is its ability to generate long-lasting organic traffic. Unlike PPC, which stops delivering results once the budget runs out, SEO can continue to drive traffic long after the initial optimisation work is done. For businesses with a long-term growth strategy, investing in SEO is particularly appealing, as it builds a foundation that consistently delivers visibility over time.

  2. Credibility and trust

Websites that rank highly in organic search results are often viewed as more credible and trustworthy by users compared to paid ads. This perception of authority can positively impact click-through rates and conversions, as many users prefer organic listings for the information they seek. A well-optimised website with strong organic rankings can reinforce brand credibility and establish your business as an industry leader.

  1. Cost-effective over time

Although SEO requires time and effort to implement, it tends to be more cost-effective in the long run compared to PPC. Once your site ranks well for key search terms, you won’t need to pay for every click or visitor, as you would with paid advertising. This makes SEO a more sustainable investment, particularly for businesses with smaller budgets that want to maximise their returns over time.

  1. Competitive edge

Once your business achieves strong organic rankings, it becomes more difficult for competitors to displace you. This is because SEO builds a cumulative advantage: the longer your site ranks highly, the more authority and relevance it accrues. Competitors starting from scratch will face a steeper uphill battle to outrank you, providing your business with a lasting competitive edge in search results.

While SEO requires patience, the long-lasting benefits it offers, such as sustained visibility and credibility, make it a cornerstone of any successful digital marketing strategy. Working with an experienced SEO consultant ensures that your business can navigate the complexities of optimisation, making the most of opportunities to rank higher and capture valuable organic traffic.

 

In brief: what is PPC?

PPC advertising is a form of digital marketing where businesses pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Rather than earning visits organically as with SEO, PPC allows businesses to buy traffic to their website by placing ads on search engines and social media platforms. Some of the most popular PPC platforms include Google Ads, Bing Ads and paid advertising options on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. When a user searches for a keyword or browses a relevant page, these platforms display ads based on bidding systems, where advertisers compete for visibility.

Unlike SEO, which requires time to build visibility, PPC delivers immediate exposure and traffic. Businesses only pay when a potential customer clicks on their ad, making it a highly targeted and measurable form of advertising.

 

Type of PPC ads

  1. Search ads: These are the most common type of PPC ads and appear at the top of SERPS. For example, if someone searches for “buy electric radiators,” they’ll see text-based search ads related to that query. Search ads are ideal for capturing users who are actively searching for products or services.
  2. Display Ads: Display ads are typically banner or image-based ads shown on websites across the internet. They don’t appear on search engines but are placed on relevant sites in Google’s Display Network or similar networks. These ads are great for raising brand awareness and reaching users as they browse various websites.
  3. Shopping Ads: Shopping ads appear when users search for specific products. These ads, which include an image, price, and brief product description, are particularly useful for e-commerce businesses. Google Shopping ads are a prime example, helping businesses showcase their products directly in the search results.
  4. Remarketing Ads: Remarketing (or retargeting) ads are shown to users who have already visited your website or interacted with your brand but didn’t complete a desired action, such as making a purchase. These ads help re-engage potential customers and encourage them to return to your site.

 

The immediate impact of PPC 

One of the key advantages of PPC is the speed at which it delivers results. Once a campaign is set up and live, businesses can start receiving traffic, leads or sales almost immediately. This is particularly beneficial for businesses looking for fast returns or promoting time-sensitive offers. Whether it’s launching a new product, driving traffic during a seasonal sale or promoting an event, PPC can generate immediate visibility and engagement.

PPC provides businesses with a high level of control over how their advertising budget is spent. Advertisers can set daily or monthly limits on how much they want to spend, ensuring they never go over budget. Additionally, PPC platforms offer granular targeting options, allowing businesses to refine their audience based on factors such as location, age, interests and even the device they’re using. This precision targeting ensures that ads are seen by the most relevant audiences, maximising return on investment (ROI).

One of PPC’s greatest strengths is its flexibility. Campaigns can be quickly adjusted based on performance, whether that’s tweaking ad copy, adjusting targeting settings or increasing bids for higher visibility. This adaptability allows businesses to continually refine their strategies and optimise for the best results. If an ad isn’t performing well, changes can be made instantly, helping businesses stay agile.

PPC is particularly effective for businesses running short-term promotions, such as sales, special offers or limited-time events. Because PPC delivers immediate traffic, it’s ideal for driving awareness and conversions within a set timeframe. For example, an e-commerce business running a summer sale can use PPC to advertise the promotion directly to its target audience, resulting in more clicks and sales during the sale period.

By working with a skilled SEO consultant, you can ensure your PPC campaigns are well-optimised and aligned with your broader digital marketing strategy, ensuring both immediate impact and long-term success.

 

SEO vs PPC: key differences

When deciding between SEO and PPC, it’s important to understand how these two strategies differ in terms of timing, cost, longevity and user behaviour. Each approach has its own strengths and understanding the key differences will help businesses make informed decisions based on their specific needs.

The time it takes to see results 

  • SEO: One of the primary distinctions between SEO and PPC is the time it takes to see results. SEO is a long-term investment, often requiring several months of consistent effort before significant improvements in rankings and traffic become apparent. The process involves optimising content, building links and improving technical aspects of the site, which cumulatively lead to better visibility. However, once these rankings are achieved, they tend to be stable, providing a lasting source of organic traffic.
  • PPC: In contrast, PPC provides immediate visibility. Once a campaign is launched, ads can start appearing within hours, driving traffic to your site almost instantly. This makes PPC ideal for businesses that need quick results, such as during a product launch or a limited-time promotion. However, this speed comes with ongoing costs, as visibility depends entirely on the budget available for the campaign.

Cost

  • SEO: SEO requires an upfront investment of time and resources, whether that involves hiring an SEO consultant, creating high-quality content or improving the technical foundation of a website. While these costs can be considerable, the long-term ROI is often more sustainable. Once high rankings are established, ongoing costs tend to decrease and businesses can continue reaping the benefits of organic traffic without having to pay for every click.
  • PPC: On the other hand, as its name states, PPC operates on a pay-per-click model, meaning businesses are charged every time someone clicks on their ad. The cost of PPC campaigns can vary depending on the competitiveness of the keywords being targeted. While this allows businesses to scale their campaigns and control their spending precisely, it also means that PPC requires a continuous investment to maintain visibility. Once the budget runs out or the campaign is paused, traffic stops immediately.

Longevity of results

  • SEO: One of the greatest advantages of SEO is the longevity of its results. Once your website achieves strong organic rankings, it will continue to deliver traffic even if you reduce or pause active optimisation efforts. While it’s important to maintain some level of ongoing SEO work to stay competitive, the traffic from well-optimised content and backlinks can last for years, offering sustained value for the initial investment.
  • PPC: Results stop as soon as the budget is exhausted or the campaign is paused. There is no residual effect once the ads stop running, meaning that visibility and traffic are entirely dependent on the ongoing budget. PPC can be an excellent short-term solution for businesses needing fast results, but it doesn’t offer the long-term staying power that SEO provides.

Click-through rate (CTR)

  • SEO: Organic search listings generally have higher CTR than paid ads in the long term. Users tend to trust organic results more because they perceive them as unbiased and earned, rather than paid for. The credibility that comes with a high organic ranking can lead to higher engagement and conversions, as users are more likely to click on results they trust.
  • PPC: Paid ads, particularly search ads, appear at the top of the page above organic results, often dominating above-the-fold space. While this prime positioning increases visibility and can generate clicks, users are generally more aware that these are paid placements. As a result, PPC ads sometimes experience lower user trust compared to organic listings, potentially leading to a lower CTR, especially in highly competitive industries where users favour organic results over paid ads.

 

When SEO is best for your business 

SEO is most effective in scenarios where businesses are willing to invest time and resources in building a strong foundation for organic search rankings.

If your business strategy is focused on establishing lasting online visibility, SEO is the best option. The gradual improvement of search rankings leads to sustained traffic over time. While SEO can take months to show results, the ongoing benefits far outweigh the initial investment. Businesses looking for consistent growth, rather than quick wins, should prioritise SEO.

Businesses that rely on content marketing – such as blogs, resource hubs and tutorials – will benefit greatly from SEO. Content-heavy strategies are perfect for SEO because they allow for the inclusion of relevant keywords, internal linking and organic engagement. Well-optimised, valuable content not only ranks well but also enhances user experience, driving more traffic to your site.

For businesses with limited funds for paid advertising but a willingness to invest time, SEO is an excellent choice. While SEO requires an upfront investment in optimisation and content creation, it doesn’t involve ongoing payments for visibility, making it more cost-effective over time. If your business has the patience to wait for organic rankings to improve, the long-term cost savings will be significant.

SEO is also ideal for businesses aiming to build brand authority and trust. Organic search rankings are often seen as more credible by users, as they are perceived to be earned rather than bought. By consistently appearing in top search results, your business will gain recognition as an industry leader, increasing trust with potential customers. This is especially important for businesses in sectors where consumer trust is a key factor in decision-making.

If your business operates in a competitive niche where the cost of PPC ads is prohibitively high, SEO can be the more viable option. While it may take time to outrank competitors, SEO allows businesses to carve out a space in organic search results without the need for constant ad spending. If your niche has a high search volume but isn’t overly saturated with well-optimised content, SEO can help you achieve visibility where paid ads may be too expensive.

 

When PPC is best for your business

PPC is an excellent choice for businesses that need fast results, flexible advertising options or are operating in highly competitive environments. It allows for greater control over budget and audience targeting, making it particularly effective in certain situations.

For new businesses, building organic traffic through SEO can take months. If you need to drive traffic right away, PPC offers an immediate solution. Once your campaign is set up, your ads can start appearing at the top of search engine results pages almost instantly. This immediate visibility can help you generate brand awareness, leads and sales quickly, which is crucial for new businesses trying to establish a foothold in the market.

PPC is particularly effective for e-commerce brands running short-term promotions, such as seasonal sales, product launches or limited-time offers. The ability to set specific start and end dates for campaigns ensures that your ads are seen during the most relevant periods. The instant visibility PPC provides makes it ideal for time-sensitive events where you need to generate immediate interest and conversions.

PPC campaigns offer a flexible way to test new products or services in the market. By running short-term campaigns, you can quickly assess demand, identify the best-performing keywords, and adjust your marketing strategy based on real-time data. This is particularly useful for businesses that want to test different ad formats, messaging or pricing models before committing to larger campaigns or more long-term strategies like SEO.

In industries where the competition for organic rankings is fierce, PPC offers a way to bypass the lengthy process of trying to rank organically. In highly competitive SERPS, where SEO might take too long to yield results, PPC ensures your business still gets in front of potential customers. You can bid on competitive keywords and appear at the top of the results, driving traffic to your site while working on longer-term SEO efforts in the background.

For local or niche businesses, where search volume may be limited, PPC allows you to specifically target relevant users in a precise geographic area or with particular interests. By creating highly targeted ads, you can reach potential customers who might not be searching for your business directly but fit the demographic or behavioural profile of your ideal audience. This precision makes PPC a great option for businesses that need to maximise the value of their marketing budget.

 

How SEO and PPC can work together 

While SEO and PPC are often viewed as separate marketing strategies, they can actually complement each other to deliver stronger results for businesses. By combining the short-term benefits of PPC with the long-term power of SEO, businesses can create a cohesive and comprehensive online marketing strategy.

Combining short-term wins with long-term success

PPC delivers immediate visibility and traffic, which is especially valuable for new businesses or those running time-sensitive campaigns. At the same time, investing in SEO builds sustainable, organic traffic over the long term. By using PPC to attract visitors while SEO efforts mature, businesses can maintain a steady flow of traffic, leads and conversions. This approach ensures that short-term success doesn’t come at the expense of future growth.

For example, while it may take several months for SEO to deliver top rankings for competitive keywords, PPC can drive traffic immediately, allowing businesses to generate leads or sales without waiting. Over time, as SEO efforts begin to bear fruit, the need for PPC may reduce or both strategies can continue working in tandem.

Collect valuable data 

One of the most effective ways to use SEO and PPC together is by leveraging PPC data to enhance SEO strategies. PPC campaigns generate valuable data on which keywords drive conversions, clicks and engagement. Businesses can use this data to refine their SEO keyword strategies, focusing on terms that have already proven successful in paid campaigns.

Similarly, SEO efforts to improve site performance, such as optimising landing pages for faster load times and better user experience, can boost PPC performance. This is because PPC platforms, such as Google Ads, use quality scores to rank ads. By aligning SEO and PPC efforts, businesses can improve these scores, which lowers the cost per click and increases the visibility of paid ads.

Increase brand visibility

Having both SEO and PPC strategies in place significantly enhances a business’s overall visibility on SERPS. When a business appears in both the paid ads and organic search results, it not only occupies more space on the SERP but also increases its credibility with users. The combination of paid and organic listings gives the impression of a well-established brand, which can lead to higher click-through rates and greater trust from potential customers.

This is especially useful in competitive industries where it’s important to stand out. Appearing in both sections of the SERP reinforces your brand presence and increases the likelihood that users will click through to your site.

Remarketing for SEO visitors

PPC also allows businesses to remarket to visitors who initially arrived through organic search results. When a user visits your site from an organic listing but doesn’t convert, remarketing ads can follow them across the web, keeping your brand top of mind. This reinforces engagement and encourages them to return and complete the action they initially considered.

Remarketing is an effective way to capture potential customers who may have shown interest in your brand but weren’t ready to convert at that moment. By using PPC remarketing campaigns, businesses can re-engage these visitors and move them closer to making a purchase or enquiry.

Maximising ad spend ROI

An effective way to balance the cost of PPC with the long-term benefits of SEO is to strategically target different keywords. PPC can be used to target low-competition, high-conversion keywords that deliver immediate results. Meanwhile, SEO can focus on building organic visibility for high-competition keywords, which may take longer to rank for but will deliver sustained traffic once achieved.

This approach allows businesses to maximise their ROI by using PPC where it delivers the greatest immediate benefit and leveraging SEO for long-term visibility. The result is a balanced, cost-efficient strategy that uses PPC to fill in the gaps while SEO builds a solid foundation for future growth.

 

Common misconceptions about SEO and PPC

“SEO is free”

One of the most prevalent misconceptions about SEO is that it is a completely free marketing strategy. While it is true that organic traffic does not involve direct payments to search engines, achieving high rankings requires significant investment in time, effort and expertise. Businesses must dedicate resources to keyword research, content creation, on-page optimisation, technical enhancements and link-building strategies. Moreover, hiring an experienced SEO consultant to guide these efforts can further enhance the effectiveness of the strategy. Ultimately, while there may not be an upfront cost for clicks, the comprehensive process of establishing and maintaining strong organic rankings entails various expenses that should not be overlooked.

“PPC is expensive”

Another common misconception is that PPC advertising is prohibitively expensive, making it inaccessible for smaller businesses. However, when executed with proper targeting, ad management and strategic bidding, PPC can actually provide a high return on investment, even for limited budgets. By carefully selecting keywords and refining audience targeting, businesses can optimise their ad spend and achieve measurable results. In fact, PPC allows for granular control over budgets, enabling businesses to set spending limits and adjust campaigns based on performance. This means that, rather than being a financial burden, PPC can be a cost-effective option when managed effectively.

“You must choose one”

Many believe that businesses must choose exclusively between SEO and PPC, assuming that only one can be pursued at a time. In reality, the most effective digital marketing strategies often involve a combination of both approaches. Businesses can achieve immediate visibility through paid advertising while simultaneously building sustainable organic traffic over time. The interaction between the two can enhance overall results, allowing businesses to maximise their reach and engagement. Consequently, rather than choosing one over the other, businesses are encouraged to explore how these strategies can work together to create a comprehensive and successful marketing plan.

 

Choosing the right strategy for your business

When deciding between SEO and PPC, it is crucial to adopt a goal-oriented approach that aligns with your specific business objectives. Consider factors such as your growth timeline, budget, competition and industry trends. If your primary aim is long-term growth and building a robust online presence, SEO might be the preferable choice. Conversely, if you require immediate traffic and leads, PPC may be more suitable. By evaluating your goals and resources, you can make an informed decision that supports your business strategy effectively.

Additionally, it’s important to recognise that certain industries may lend themselves more naturally to one strategy over the other. For instance, local service businesses operating in highly competitive PPC environments might find greater success through SEO efforts, as organic rankings can provide sustained visibility without the ongoing costs associated with paid advertising. On the other hand, fast-paced e-commerce sectors often thrive on the immediacy of PPC, allowing them to capitalise on time-sensitive promotions and drive quick sales. Understanding the nuances of your industry can significantly influence your choice of strategy.

Ultimately, consulting with an expert in SEO or PPC is highly advisable. A professional can provide tailored insights and develop a strategy that aligns with your unique business needs and circumstances. They will help you navigate the complexities of digital marketing, ensuring that you leverage the appropriate channels for optimal results. By collaborating with an expert, you can create a comprehensive plan that harnesses the strengths of both SEO and PPC, enhancing your overall marketing effectiveness.

 

The best of both worlds 

Both SEO and PPC offer unique advantages that can significantly enhance a business’s online presence. SEO is invaluable for long-term growth, building sustainable organic traffic and establishing credibility and trust among users. On the other hand, PPC provides the immediate impact of driving targeted traffic and generating leads almost instantaneously, making it ideal for time-sensitive campaigns.

To achieve optimal results, businesses should consider a dual approach that harnesses the strengths of both strategies. By integrating SEO’s long-term visibility with the immediate benefits of PPC, companies can effectively meet their objectives and ensure a well-rounded marketing strategy. This balanced approach not only maximises exposure but also reinforces brand credibility and engagement, paving the way for lasting success in today’s competitive digital landscape.

To discuss your next steps in SEO and PPC, get in touch today.