Are you a business owner?
Are you having a website and using online marketing to attract customers?
Besides that, you might be confused about where to spend marketing budget in SEO or PPC like Google Ads.
Do not worry; we have the solution to your confusion. This article will help you to understand SEO or PPC (Google Ads), which is best for your business?
Let us start with basic information.
Table of Contents
What is SEO?
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the practice of including content on your site that has the ability to rank higher in organic search results for targeted keywords and improve your site’s visibility to search engines like Google, Bing and their users.
In other words, it can help your site show up more often in organic and local relevant searches. In order to accomplish that, you need to make sure that your website is optimized search engine friendly.
We all want to be on the first page of Google, right!
SEO plays an important part in all online business marketing strategy. It is all about content, keywords, on-page SEO, off-page SEO and many more things. Most of the traffic that generated for any website will come from the search engines.
What is PPC (Google Ads)?
PPC or Pay Per Click is related to online advertising. The advertiser pays only when someone clicks on the ads.
Google Ads formerly known as Google AdWords is an advertising platform by Google. Advertisers can use this platform to position their ads in the Google Search Result Pages, Google Products (YouTube, Gmail etc.) and to thousands of other websites that participate in the Google Ads program as publishers.
To get your business to the top of Google search results, you bid against others on keywords to show your ad. Each time somebody clicks on your ad and visits the website you pay per click (PPC). The price you pay depends on the competition for the terms people are using to search in Google. It also enables businesses to set a budget for advertising and only pays when people click the ads.
To Know More about Google Ads download our free EBook: How Google Ads can grow your small business (Ads Guidelines
Now you all have the basic information about SEO and Google Ads. Let’s move further to compare the big difference between them.
SEO VS PPC (Google Ads)
There are two ways to get the valuable traffic, which comes from the Google Search engine. One using Google Ads and other using SEO. One is paid and the other one requires a technician to handle all tasks regularly.
Firstly, let me explain to you that certainly, you do not have to choose one or the other because you can do both.
Nevertheless, let me tell you that before choosing any of this practice or may use both, you need to have a well-organized and well-optimized website. The website that reflects your business. The content, call-to-action, description, images, and layout should be so that the visitor may fill easy to purchase your service or product for what they are looking for.
Actually, Google Ads and SEO are two separate things. Done correctly, both can get you on the front page of the search engines for targeted terms and in front of your desired audience. However, each has its individual benefits and costs.
Now let us compare them:
Google Ads or PPC traffic is paid while SEO requires a technician.
As we discussed earlier, PPC advertising or Google Ads are paid and SEO, which is a long-term strategy requires a technician. You have to pay for a click on your advertisement in Google Ads.
In SEO, search results are free to click. You do not have to pay for clicks on search results achieved through SEO. Organic clicks are 100% free; search visibility is the gift that keeps on giving.
As per a research, the vast majority 94% of users skip search ads and head straight to organic results.
SEO is a long-term strategy while Google Ads gives immediate results.
SEO is a long-term process that you have to regularly keep paying attention but do not expect anything to happen quickly. Besides that, Google Ads is more like an investment that you use to get results fast.
You will get results after a long time in SEO and that will stay for a long time, so as you regularly work to improve your website and its listing.
Google Ads appear on top while SEO’s organic results are below Google Ads.
Google Ads appear on the top and bottom of Google Search Results and under certain conditions, you can get on top of those ad positions. Besides that, with SEO you have to work much harder to get one of the top positions in the organic search results. You can build traffic free by achieving high rankings in the organic search results.
You will need to follow SEO best practices to try to get your website displayed on top pages more importantly and more often. It may take time to reach the top of the organic results, but the free, targeted traffic will probably prove to be well worth the investment.
Google Ads is faster than SEO.
Google Ads is speedier than SEO, as you can create ad campaigns instantly and start getting targeted traffic. Besides that, with SEO you need a lot more time to get good rankings and traffic.
Google Ads can be useful for new businesses who have not had the time to optimize their website and need new leads with immediate result. Ads get you measurable results fast, but that speed will come at a price. Whereas in SEO, new businesses have to keep patience to rank top in organic search results.
Target many keywords in Google Ads while with SEO only a Few.
Using Google Ads, you can target many keywords at the same time. You can create a campaign targeting as many keywords as you want, which leads more traffic to your website. Besides that, with SEO you need to focus on a few keywords for best results.
Highly optimized keywords will generate more conversions but will cost more.
Google Ads covers large platform while SEO is limited to search results.
Google Ads gives you the option of promoting your business outside of Google Search, by showing ads on relevant websites in the Google Display Network (GDN). The GDN is made up of thousands of sites across the web, where you can connect with even more potential customers.
You can pick specific sites from the network, or choose the types of people you would like to reach, and let Google Ads create a list for you. Besides that, the results from SEO are only for the search results pages. The SEO results are strong and sustain for a long time.
Stopping Ads stops traffic to your website.
If you decide to stop a Google Ads campaign, you will find yourself back to the origin and all of that traffic will stop showing up. Besides that, once you start getting organic traffic with SEO, this will continue long term.
Once you have the top spot in your target SEO keywords, it can take a while for competitors to overthrow you. In the meantime, you will enjoy all the benefits of being on top! In addition, if you keep up with your SEO campaign, working to maintain and improve results, you can stay on top for a long time and earn long-term benefits.
To Know more read our article How to Create the Best Google Ads Campaign?
Which Businesses should use SEO?
SEO is very important for online businesses. As a research show that 80% of the traffic that generates for any website will come from the search engines.
- Businesses who desire to achieve consistent results.
- Businesses who want to increase the value of their website.
- All businesses should use some SEO techniques to help get their website to appear higher in Google’s search engine rankings. You can be sure that your competitors are using SEO and if want to rank higher than them you should also use SEO.
Which Businesses should use Google Ads?
- Businesses that have the higher competitive environment. Google Ads can help you get to the top of Google search results quickly but remember once you stop paying, your leads will stop too.
- Businesses that sell products or services that are worth the time it takes to set up monitor and optimize Google Ads campaigns. Google Ads is not for businesses if you are selling small value items. If you have a big budget, then it is worth investing in Google Ads.
- Google Ads can be useful for new businesses who do not have time to optimize their website and need new leads instantly. In short, when your website isn’t designed for SEO.
Which is Better SEO or Google Ads (PPC)?
Now you might have a question like “which is better for my business right now, SEO or PPC?”
The answer depends on the type and size of your business, as there are a number of things to consider before you spend your money.
“The biggest advantage of Google Ads over SEO is that it can generate results faster”.
Google Ads can work as a testing tool for SEO. Smart people often use Google Ads to test if their page converts well with Google traffic and to find out which keywords are the best for them.
For example, the Keyword Tool can help you create a list of terms related to your business that generate a lot of searches, which you could then incorporate into your site’s content. They invest a little money during startup before they invest a lot of money and/or time into SEO.
You can also use Google Ads tracking tools to measure whether changes to your site and ad campaign are leading to more visitors or conversions.
However, each has its respective benefits and costs.
Google Ads is best for startups and new businesses that want to get targeted traffic quickly for the purpose of making sales, providing services to customers, finding new customers or even for testing their products, procedures, website effectiveness and any other component in their sales or marketing processes. Google Ads lets you reach customers more immediately, no matter how large or small your business is, and also lets you customize your campaign.
Your long-term web marketing strategy should always include Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Your customers will be doing a search on Google. They may find you via several touch points such as an ad, a blog article, social media, and information about your product or service. They are more likely to remember and click on your website from several touch points. The major advantage of SEO is that statistically, it brings you better quality traffic leads.
Conclusion
Google Ads and SEO are not competitors but they are two powerful tools available in your online marketing.
Now a day, most of the people look online first, when they want a cleaning service, buy a product, restaurant references, business reviews, or the answers to their challenging questions. Both SEO and Google Ads can help you connect with them when they are looking for what you offer.
Google Ads (PPC) is a great way to jump-start your business’ online marketing efforts with immediate traffic. Nonetheless, keep in mind that just when you turn off the ad, the traffic goes away too.
However, when it comes to the long-term lifeline of your internet/online marketing, the result is clear – SEO offers the superior significance in search marketing. You will not rank no. 1 overnight, but SEO is more affordable and has long-term benefits. For most businesses, SEO will bring better long-term results than Google Ads (PPC).
