PPC vs SEO: What’s the Difference?

When you’re planning your digital marketing efforts, there are many different avenues to explore. From website design to SEO and PPC, all of these methods are vital to growing your business and ensuring people find you on the web. But in order to implement the right strategies at the right time, it’s important to understand how they work first.

What is PPC?

PPC stands for “pay-per-click,” and this involves ads that you see on Google search. But it’s important to note that PPC advertisements are the very first ones you see at the top of the page when you search for something—not the ones further down the page. And given how many clicks these links receive, Google charges a price for every time someone clicks on these links. The price of these clicks depends on what keywords are used, the industry, the time of day, and other factors. With the keywords being the most important factor, Google will charge more money if you include very popular keywords in your ad because this ad will get more visibility. If you have the money to spend on PPC ads and you know how to write them effectively, then this is a great tactic for growing your business.

What is SEO?

Similar to PPC, SEO, or “Search Engine Optimization,” also involves placing keywords. However, SEO is a lot more extensive and there are many tactics to implement in your SEO process. One thing to note is that SEO doesn’t include paid ads, but rather an “organic” method for boosting rankings on Google. Instead of paying for certain keywords, an SEO expert will research popular keywords and implement them into the site in various locations. Google doesn’t look at a price to determine where to rank your website—it looks at where these keywords are, how responsive the site is, how great the content is, and many other factors. So, while you’re paying for keywords and ads in PPC, SEO allows you to naturally boost your website rankings over time.

Which One Should I Use?

So, now you may be wondering—should I use SEO or PPC to grow my business. Well… we recommend using both. However, there are many factors to consider before making your decision, like what industry you’re in, your timeframe, how much exposure you want, your budget, etc. But if you’re really looking to gain traction, then utilizing both PPC and SEO is a great digital marketing strategy.

See Also: Pay Per Click