PPC Advertising vs. SEO

**nicknite86** · 06-11-2010, 08:48 AM

There are two ways to get traffic to any site. You can either get traffic to your website for free, such as SEO or you can use paid advertising; PPC (pay-per-click).

Often, there is a debate and constant warring between which strategy will be the best strategy to implement in exposing your site to the masses.

In actuality, Internet Marketing is a numbers game, and so the more targeted traffic you can get to your website, the more you will convert, and the more money you’ll make.

So which strategy is the best, free or paid?

Search Engine Optimization:

Free marketing strategies; such as SEO, are just as good as paid marketing, if not better. For example, when the majority of people go searching for information online, they go to Google or any other search engine and type in a phrase; such as “How to Cook and Clean”. The results they get back are divided into two parts, and that is Organic and Paid advertising. These differences are usually easy to identify. The organic results are listed on the left hand side and are listed 1-10 through a series of pages, while the paid are listed on the far right hand side.

When doing a search people will often decide which way is best to resolve their dilemma or situation, and most often people tend to use the free results. Thus, this is enough to indicate that if you want to get highly targeted and free traffic to your website it would be a good idea to get into the Organic results. However, many things are involved, including getting backlinks to your site, making sure you have the right keyword density, and optimizing your site. The downside to Search Engine Optimization is that in order to get your website ranked high, it can be very time consuming. This is a reason why many marketers choose to skip SEO and use Pay-Per-Click with Google Adwords, Bing, or Yahoo Overture.

PAY PER CLICK (PPC):

In short, Pay-Per-Click is when you tell Google; or any other company, how much you want to be charged every time your advertisement is clicked. The higher the amount that you set to be charged will often determine how high your website will rank in the search engines. On the other hand, if you set a low amount then your PPC may not give you good results.

The “pros” of PPC marketing is that it takes a small amount of time to get up and running, but the “con” is that you can not just set up a campaign and expect to make tons of money. PPC is a science and should be implemented with strategy, therefore doing the homework is crucial because if you don’t choose the right keywords and/or charges you could end up losing tons of money and FAST. So PPC takes skill, learning, and possibly experience to succeed.

In short, SEO is a great way for beginners to get a site ranked high in organic results. SEO may be frustrating but once you succeed with SEO the benefits are great. This is also true with PPC, but there is much more risk involved since your success is dependent on your money and skill. Overall, it’s necessary to research both SEO and PPC as much as possible before leaning upon either.

**Kelly Dwayne** · 06-23-2010, 09:28 PM

Today, there is a big myth that natural search engine optimization is inexpensive and easy. For example, if you wanted your web site to rank high for the keyword phrase "life insurance" or "debt consolidation" you're going to need to budget a minimum of $50,000-100,000 a year!
Yet still, natural search engine optimization usually gives you a much higher return on investment than pay per click. This is true for two main reasons:
1. More searchers click the natural search engine results versus the pay per click ads, so you'll get much more traffic for less.
2. One of the biggest factors to improving your rankings with natural search engine optimization is by boosting your "Link Popularity" by acquiring or paying for links that point to your web site. These links give you lasting results by giving you top rankings and traffic from the search engines. Plus, the links themselves will provide a significant boost in long term traffic.
With that said, the biggest weakness of natural search engine optimization is the time required to generate links and "tweak" your web pages and keywords to get those prized high rankings you so desire. It can literally take 3 months or more to finally enjoy the benefits of your search engine optimization campaign.
Pay Per Click Search Engine Advertising
The biggest benefit of pay per click is the fact that it will provide you with an immediate boost of qualified visitors, lead and sales giving you fast results within just hours or days. In fact, a pay per click advertising program is your best option if you seek fast results and a good return on investment while you are waiting for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program to "ramp up."
Depending on your traffic goals, you can budget $100 or $100,000. PPCSEs also give you the added benefits of being able to quickly test your web site and track your conversion rates (leads, opt-ins, and sales) and turning keywords (visitors) on and off easily.
So, as a short term strategy pay per click gives you the clear advantage over SEO. But, the disadvantage is the cost involved. Depending on the market demand for your keywords and clicks, your PPCSE campaign can generate tons of traffic and can cost hundreds, even thousands per day. With various optimization strategies you can lower your costs, but over the long term natural search engine optimization will give you a higher return on your marketing dollar.

**prasanth5** · 06-28-2010, 09:42 AM

I would always go for SEO. It is not because of low cost involved but because of the fact that slow and steady wins the race.

**lanka1234** · 06-28-2010, 08:04 PM

Seo is for long term results and PPC is for short term, rightly said, a right combination of both can work well, SEO is the Base work, PPC may some times fail to deliver result, but if SEO done properly, the results can be very consistent.

**Kelly Dwayne** · 06-30-2010, 02:39 AM

Hello guys!

SEO Advantages
After the initial work for search engine optimization is complete, all a website owner has to do is sit back and watch traffic grow. When compared to the cost of PPC, search engine optimization is considered much less pricier, as most of the costs are upfront, while maintaining the SEO work is free. A website that has undergone SEO enjoys a broader range of coverage that translates onto all search engines across the globe. One of the best advantages associated with search engine optimization comes when optimized sites possess links that point to other sites. Overall, this increases the chances of all search engines finding and indexing a website, which often translates into websites receiving traffic from search engines they never knew existed.
SEO Disadvantages
The drawbacks associated with search engine optimization is mostly seen in the changes that a professional must make to a website. While most changes are rather easy to complete and are often unseen by the untrained eye, it is the website owner who often becomes the most disturbed by changes, especially if they have invested a great amount of time in establishing their site in the first place. A website owner may show resistance towards the change.
When it comes to the results seen in rankings and traffic, many site owners experience a slow start, which often builds with time. Generally, within three to four months of website submission, rankings usually reach a plateau. With SEO, there is no guarantee that the effort will work, as there are no magical numbers or results to look forward to. Traffic results are unpredictable. Additionally, there is also a limit to the number of search terms a website may target in accordance to the number of pages involved.
Overall, search engine optimization is best for those who can stand to wait a bit of time before enjoying results, which may come later in the future across every search engine in the world. SEO fits budgets that wish to get upfront costs over with and concentrate on saving money later. Individuals with fairly uncomplicated websites and who don't want to manage or sustain their site on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis may benefit the most from SEO marketing.
Pay-Per Click Advertising Programs
This form of advertising makes most of its impact by enticing others to "click" in order to receive more information. Today, a wide range of PPC programs offers an array of benefits and advantages across the Internet. Google and Yahoo supply some of the most popular.
PPC Advantages
When looking for a fast method of online marketing, pay-per-click advertising programs are rather fast to put into action. Within about two to three weeks, you should see a drastic improvement in the amount of traffic and online interest your website receives. Depending on the route you decide upon, you may utilize Google AdWords or focus on Yahoo Search Marketing. Overture listings also have the capacity to go live within three to five days. There is also a way to easily test a variety of search terms, descriptions, and other details.
Many website owners enjoy the fact that their site does not have to undergo any change. Through the bidding process, individuals are not limited to the number of terms they may fight for. Promotions also work well with PPC campaigns because of the ability to turn on and off such features. There is also the issue of control, as the placement and details of a listing are easily maintained. The placement of PPC listings is typically higher on many search engine results pages when taking the "sponsored listings" approach over editorial listings.
PPC Disadvantages
While there are plenty of advantages attached to a pay-per-click advertising campaign, one must possess the proper budget to accommodate clicks, which can get quite expensive (especially when bidding wars take place). As more website owners, businesses, and companies catch wind of PPC, the bids will only continue to rise. Every month, the costs never waver, as you must keep paying for the clicks and if your budget doesn't allow such payments - your listings vanish and your search engine traffic falters.
Sometimes, Internet users will bypass sponsored listings since they already know they are a form of advertising and may immediately seek out editorial listings. The time involved monitoring PPC campaigns is often time-consuming, as you are required to adjust your listings on a continual basis in order to stay ahead of the game. Also, listings will appear on most popular search engines within the United States, but may not surface in other locations. This means your visibility is limited.
Overall, pay-per-click advertising is best for website owners who can't wait to start solidifying their presence on the Internet. Sites with the prospect of running various promotional campaigns that require time limits of online exposure may enjoy the benefits of PPC advertising. Pay-per-click marketing also fits well into the plans of individuals who have enough money to spare, as well as have their eye on reaching one of the top 10 positions on search engines across the United States.

**prasanth5** · 09-06-2010, 08:53 AM

The major difference between two is that PPC involves expenditure whereas SEO is cost effective or almost inexpensive or free at times!!

**eileenbarker19** · 10-12-2010, 10:00 PM

PPC is great if you know what you are doing, but a quick way to lose money if they do not. Moreover you can improve your skills in SEO free. For beginners, I recommend learning about SEO first, then the PPC approach with some knowledge of keywords and so on.

**seo guru** · 10-13-2010, 02:39 AM

seo is the best wy promote your site because seo is provide best and unique visitor and long term business

**paulwalker** · 10-28-2010, 08:36 PM

If you want traffic in less time with spending money PPC is the best way but if you want traffic with spending less money and time taking way, SEO is a good way.

**Maahaza1** · 10-30-2010, 06:50 PM

In my opinion PPC is a nice way to boost your newly started site but SEO the best and proper way to drag traffic to your site. No doubt SEO is a slow process but it is more effective way to promote your site