SEO vs. PPC: What's Best Suited For Your Business?

Search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are the two reining powerhouse strategies in digital marketing. Both are indispensable tools for driving traffic to your website, enhancing online visibility and boosting valuable conversions. 

However, navigating and leveraging the nuances between SEO and PPC can be daunting for businesses aiming to maximize their online presence. In this comprehensive guide, we look at the details of both SEO and PPC and when to use them for your company’s growth.

The Basics of SEO and PPC

Let's start off with a brief primer on SEO and PPC strategies.

SEO

SEO is a multifaceted digital marketing strategy designed to improve a website's visibility and ranking in organic (unpaid) search engine results.

SEO involves optimizing different website elements such as content, meta tags, site navigation, website directory indexing, site loading speed, crawlability and backlinks to enhance online relevance and authority. When all of these elements are optimized to serve both online viewers and the ever-changing search engine algorithms, they work together to secure higher rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs) and drive website traffic.

The main distinction between SEO and PPC is that SEO operates using primarily unpaid advertising methods while PPC operates solely within paid advertising channels. 

PPC

PPC is a form of online advertising where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. 

Unlike SEO, which relies on organic (unpaid) methods to earn search engine result rankings, PPC allows businesses to bid for ad placement in search engine-sponsored listings. These ads appear prominently above or alongside organic search results, providing instant visibility to users.

Here’s an example of a PPC ad above organic search engine results: 

The first two results are paid advertisements while the third result is an organic, search engine optimized website’s content.

PPC advertising primarily takes place on the following platforms:

• Google Ads
• Bing Ads
• LinkedIn Ads
• Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Ads

Each platform has its own set of targeting capabilities, advertising policies, ad creation specifications and ad placements to be aware of before building out a campaign.

Traffic Generation

SEO

Organic website traffic generated through SEO reflects online users actively seeking information, products or services related to specific keywords. Organic traffic offers sustained, long-term website visibility and credibility since users perceive organic search results as more trustworthy than paid advertisement results.

If you’ve ever searched “construction company near me” or “affordable, ecofriendly homebuilders” on a search engine, the “unsponsored” results have employed SEO strategies to ensure the content ranks for relevant search queries.

PPC

PPC traffic is made up of users clicking on paid advertisements prominently displayed at the top of SERPs. While PPC delivers immediate results and targeted traffic, the strategy’s success is contingent upon continuous and generous ad spend, making it a less sustainable digital marketing strategy for many businesses in the long run.

Similar to organic SEO traffic, PPC search ads are triggered and served based on relevant query keywords. Because of this, both strategies can generate high-intent and high-quality traffic. The downside to SEO is that search engine algorithms are constantly changing, as are consumer preferences for the kind of information they’re searching for. The downside to PPC advertising is the associated cost and high competition for capturing valuable keywords and searches.

Regardless of both strategy’s pay structures, their success hinges upon creating content or ads that offer the specific value that online users are searching for.

Strategy Costs

SEO

SEO primarily entails upfront costs associated with optimizing website elements and creating high-quality content. While ongoing efforts are required to maintain rankings, the cost per acquisition (CPA) tends to decrease over time as organic traffic increases.

Typical costs for an effective SEO strategy include:

 Website copywriting 

• Website development and maintenance  
• Backlink creation  
• Web design
• Content creation (blogs, podcasts, graphics, videos…etc.) 
• Website search engine listing management (Google, Bing…etc.) 

PPC

PPC operates on a pay-per-click model, where advertisers bid for ad placement and pay each time a user clicks on their ad. While the strategy offers instant visibility, the cost can escalate rapidly, especially for competitive keywords, necessitating a substantial budget.

You can determine appropriate ad spend for your business by consulting the following tools: 

• Google Search Console
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Performance Planner 
• Other keyword identifier tools 

If you want to use both strategies within your business’s comprehensive digital marketing plan, it’s important to consider the seasonality of your company’s products and services and where the highest profit margins lie. You may find that your marketing budget can sustain consistent SEO but can only offer significant ROI from PPC at certain times of the year or with certain products or services. 

Results

SEO

SEO is a digital marketing strategy that works gradually and requires time to yield tangible results. Earning credibility (and thus higher SERP rankings) with search engines necessitates consistency and longevity of search engine optimized elements. 

Optimizing on-page and off-page elements, building backlinks and establishing authority within your industry’s space that generates traffic may take several weeks or months to materialize.

PPC

PPC advertising delivers instant results. Advertisers have full control over ad visibility and can adjust bids, budgets and targeting parameters in real-time to optimize performance and drive higher-quality traffic.

There is a brief learning phase that all ads must undergo and ad platform policies that the ads need to adhere to. However, those phases normally take just a few days and adjustments are typically quick and easy. 

Targeting Options

SEO

While SEO allows businesses to optimize content for specific keywords and demographics, the level of precision in targeting is relatively limited compared to PPC. SEO primarily relies on optimizing content and earning organic visibility based on ever-changing search engine algorithms and consumer behaviors.

Fickle digital conditions require digital marketers to constantly stay up on the latest search engine algorithm trends, create high search volume content and pivot strategies at a moments notice in order to maintain and drive more website traffic.  

PPC

PPC offers granular and detailed targeting options, allowing digital advertisers to tailor ads based on factors like keywords, location, device, user demographics and even user behavior. This level of precision enables advertisers to reach highly segmented audiences with hyper-personalized messaging.

In order to leverage this targeting power effectively, PPC advertisers must be in tune with their ideal customers at every stage of the buying journey. This requires extensive research through social listening, mockup buyer personas and frequent A|B testing. 

Strategy Longevity and Sustainability

SEO

Despite its gradual nature, SEO offers long-term sustainability and enduring benefits. Once established, top organic search results can drive consistent, high-quality traffic to a website without ongoing ad spend, making it a cost-effective investment in the long run.

PPC

While PPC advertising delivers immediate results, its sustainability is contingent upon continuous ad spend. Advertisers must consistently allocate marketing budget towards PPC campaigns to maintain visibility and traffic, making it a less sustainable strategy with a higher cost per acquisition (CPA) than SEO.

When To Use Which Strategy

Determining whether or not SEO or PPC is the ideal strategy for your business depends on many different factors like business goals, budget constraints and how competitive and saturated your industry’s target audience is. 

Here's a breakdown of optimal use cases for SEO and PPC:

SEO

SEO is ideal for businesses seeking long-term visibility, credibility and sustainable, organic traffic growth. It's particularly beneficial for content-focused websites, blogs and e-commerce stores looking to establish authority and rank for high-value keywords.

PPC

PPC is best suited for businesses aiming for immediate visibility, targeted traffic and quick conversions. It's highly effective for promoting limited-time offers, seasonal campaigns and products with high profit margins. Additionally, PPC is invaluable for businesses operating in competitive industries where organic rankings are difficult to attain quickly.

The best practice is to implement both strategies continuously throughout the year. Employing both SEO and PPC advertising strategies casts the widest net to capture a high-intent and valuable audience.

Your business’s SEO strategy can run in the background to capture and generate qualified leads and move prospects further down the sales funnel by offering consistent value. Your PPC advertising strategy works to expand your business’s brand and further capitalize cold and warm leads that might or might not have interacted with your business previously.

By utilizing both of these important digital marketing strategies, your business has the best chance at seeing significant growth online and increasing profit margins. If your business has marketing budget constraints, or even seasonal marketing budget constraints, investing in SEO consistently and saving larger budget for the most impactful PPC campaigns at peak seasons will offer your company the most ROI.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to SEO and PPC strategies, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Both strategies offer unique advantages and play complementary roles in a healthy, holistic digital marketing strategy. 

While SEO provides sustainable, long-term visibility and credibility, PPC delivers instant results and targeted traffic. Ultimately, the key lies in understanding your business’s objectives, target audience and budget to strike the perfect balance between SEO and PPC strategies for optimal results. By harnessing the strengths of both strategies, businesses can unlock the full potential of their online presence and stay ahead in the digital marketplace.

Venveo is a marketing agency designed to give your business’s website and online presence a leg up in a competitive landscape. Contact us or check out the rest of our website to learn how we can help your business win online.