SEO Vs PPC

There are numerous methods available to websites as to how they wish to improve their traffic and promote their online business. Search engine optimization (SEO) along with pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns such as e-mail marketing & banners etc are some of the most common and effective methods along non-web based marketing.

SEO and PPC campaigns (like Google Ads etc) are two methods however, that are best-known and highly result oriented. Both SEO and PPC based web-marketing have their own advantages, however, this article is meant to explain the difference between these methods in the perspective of a website and to provide an insight to website owners as to which way to choose for a particular website and the circumstances that surround its business. In this article are also listed some reasons as to why SEO ('white-hat', not 'black-hat') is a preferable option in many ways to PPC both in the long term and with respect to cost effectiveness.

SEO is based on natural ranking on search engines. Larger search engines, which serve millions of browsers every day, rank search results in terms or relevancy and use algorithms to calculate this relevancy. When a search is made on a search engine, sponsored and higher-ranked results show up first. A website is ranked for the kind of information it provides and the value and relevancy of the content in relation to the search. SEO is the process of making a website more relevant against given key words.

Natural (or organic) SEO is an effort to rank better naturally, in terms of what actually defines a relevant search result, as opposed to PPC, for which a fee must be paid for a sponsored result each time that result is clicked, and which a surfer may or may not trust simply due to that fact that it is an advertisement. Both can provide end- results; however SEO is harder, takes a little longer but costs much less and generates more traffic. Patience is the key, as rankings come with time and effort in optimization; the rewards far exceed the cost.

Cost:In 2007, $7.75 billion were spent on search engine marketing (SEM: both SEO and PPC) out of this, 87% was spent on PPC campaigns while approximately $1billion were spent on SEO. This ratio is asymmetric due to the fact that PPC campaigns cost a lot more due to the higher progressively higher keyword acquisition costs, click-wastage and click-fraud. SEO costs are lowered due to higher conversion rates (reported to be 4.2% as compared to 3.6% for PPC) and the fact that there is no cost-per-click to the website implementing SEO services as there is for PPC.

The SEO edge in the long term: Once a ranking has been achieved for a website through SEO, the ranking is long-term. Using reliable and honest ranking tactics (white-hat SEO) places a website at a rank such that only massive changes in the ranking algorithm can noticeably displace the rank in the short term.

PPC campaigns have to be constantly funded. Key words have to be paid for over a long term in order to keep a high rank in search results, which also show up as explicit sponsored results.

Keywords & search patterns: In SEO, content is developed and distributed, linking to the website in question, with respect to the relevant keywords for that website. This improves the websites organic (natural) rank, which is a far more permanent rank. According to research (forester) more than 75% surfers use organically ranked results first and dismiss sponsored results as less relevant, due to the fact that they are advertisements. SEO can be used to develop a website's business in the long-term and prepare it for higher levels of traffic.

In PPC campaigns, keyword pricing begins at $0.25 and can go up to $7.5, depending upon the importance and commonness of the keyword, and this rate increases every year due to the competitive nature of PPC campaigns. PPC campaigns immediately improve the rank, and therefore, the results for a website, however each time a sponsored result is clicked, the key word used in the search has to be paid for, running up heavy costs for any business, many of whom feel that they have to pay far too much for key words. It is also reported that at an average, 4 out of 5 people never use sponsored search results. This means that people who do use sponsored results are more prone to do business, however, PPC campaigns are too costly to maintain over a long term. PPC campaigns are therefore ideally suited for a short term boost in results, especially for new websites.