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The goal of every business in regards to their website is to increase traffic. This helps to hopefully increase your brand and, in turn, increase sales of products or services. To do this, you have a few options. The main two are Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In order to get the results you want, you have to be able to determine which one of these options is best suited for your specific business.
PPC advertising is where you pay for traffic through advertising programs such as Google Ads or Yahoo Search Marketing, for example. Simply put, by paying through these programs you can display ads in the sponsored results section in the chosen search engine’s page that shows results. You pay a fee whenever a viewer clicks on that ad and enters your website. The fee for this is determined by how competitive the keyword you choose is at the time.
SEO, on the other hand, is where you can drive traffic for free by reaching high rankings in the search results, which are next to the sponsored results. This option is free, which is always good, but because of the way it works it could take some time to reach the top of the national results.
So which one is right for you? It all comes down to your specific needs, wants, and financial ability. If your goal is to get traffic fast and you have the extra capital to invest then PPC seems like the logical choice. If, however, you can focus on longer term results and are on a tight budget, then SEO looks like the right option for you.
In order to choose the right one here’s a few things you should consider:
– Budget
When choosing between SEO and PPC you have to take a look at your budget. If you have even a little extra to spare then you should give PPC a shot. If you no extra money to put towards advertising then you should stick with the free SEO option.
– Average “Cost-Per-Click”
When reviewing your budget for advertising it is wise to take a look at what the average cost of the fees for a single keyword click in your industry is. This fee or “cost-per-click” (CPC) can be a deal breaker when deciding if PPC is right for you. Some keyword phrases run low around two to three dollars while others can be upwards of $30. Depending on your industry and phrases you are looking for, if the average CPC is too high then it is probably a better idea to go with SEO.
– Competitiveness
It is important to consider how much time, effort, and money it will take for you to get the results you want. To do this you should take a look at the search engine results pages and see how competitive it is for your specific keywords. If the competition is too high and you will not be able to make a dent without significant amounts of time and capital, then you should most likely stick with paying for traffic with PPC promotions or going with SEO.
Overall, each one of these advertising options offer benefits as well as drawbacks. By considering the factors above you can narrow down which one makes more sense for you. Don’t forget that a combination of both can be utilized as well to achieve the results you ultimately want.
