Combining PPC and SEO With Semalt Expert For Ultimate Success

Everyone wants to see the charts go up and the values rise in sales and income in their businesses. There is no joy in a business that does not sell. No sales equal a failing business (especially when it is for an extended period). So it is no surprise that many people are looking for the recipe for success in their businesses. Small, medium and large scale businesses need to succeed, and that success is calculated by how much they make at the end of the month or year. 

There are various strategies and marketing techniques that have been developed over the years to increase the success of a business. Some are more prominent than others, and many are outdated. Why? Because the world keeps changing every day. But recently, SEO and PPC (among other tools) have been among the best tools to aid a business's success and sales rate. SMEs all over the world have used both tools individually to place their brands on the front page of Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) and have recorded an increase in their records. 

But what about a collaboration? What would happen if a business uses both PPC and SEO? Would it be a major success, enviable to other businesses? Or would it be a major disaster that would end the company forever? This article looks at the result of using both PPC and SEO for a business's success.

Digital Marketing tools are the latest in town now because everyone has gone (or is going) digital. How many businesses today remain offline? Few, why? Because everyone is online these days. Companies that do not have an online presence suffer limited visibility, brand awareness, limited area of operation, a higher operating cost, among other things. And since businesses are online, marketing too has followed suit. 

Two of the many digital marketing tools are PPC (pay-per-click) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). We know that they are tools that help to market a business, but what else are they? Below are details on each of them, what they offer, how they work, and how businesses can incorporate them into their marketing strategy. 

PPC is an online marketing tool that involves advertising a brand or a business, and the publisher is paid per advert click. The owner of the business, also called the advertiser, would provide the publisher (the ones that would advertise the business) with keywords that relate to the business website. So that whenever the keyword is searched for on search engines (let's say Google, for example), the business website would pop out on the top of the first page. Most publishers are usually search engines and social network providers like Twitter or Facebook. 

But that's not all. The adverts can be in the form of texts for service businesses or pictorials for those that sell products. And the advertiser doesn't have to pay for an advert plan or package. It's a pay per click program. This way, advertisers can maximize and calculate their ROI on Adverts. What this does for a business is increase sales and drive in traffic to the site for the time that the advert lasts. 

SEO involves a lot more of what happens within a business site and how its visitors view it. It is about optimizing the website so that search engine crawlers can easily crawl through and index the pages, which would lead to the site appearing on the first page of SERPs. Too many technical words; let's do that again. 

When it comes to SEO, it is more than just advertising or asking someone to put a business in the front line. SEO involves the careful and systematic management of a business's website so that it can be 'worthy' of the first page. 

It includes on-page, off-page, and technical SEO skills that entail the management of the site, its structure, contents, internal links, keywords, URLs, Redirects, and so much more. It even includes how easy it is to read by visitors. And when the site is well optimized (worthy enough), it would be featured on the front page when a related keyword is searched for. 

What this does for a business is increase awareness, visibility, and trust. It also drives traffic to the site. 

Obviously, SEO and PPC are not the same. One is directly a marketing technique, while the other is a little within business management. So what are their advantages (what does one have over the other), and what are their limitations (why it's not perfect)? Read on below.

PPC is without question a direct form of advert. No time wasting and no beating around the bush. The main focus is to generate sales and increase revenue. And the cost is lower (because businesses only pay when people click on the advert). Besides, PPC works even better because most people don't know the difference between an actual result and an ad. Immediately the result page opens up; most people are eager to find answers. And if the advert is good enough, there is a higher possibility that the ad would be clicked on multiple times a day. 

Though PPC is all the sweet things that have been mentioned above, it is short-termed. This means that though there will be a sharp shoot-up in the sales chart, this would fade when the advert runs out. It can't last forever. And when it stops, there is a high chance that sales and everything else will drag.

Another limitation is that it is not an advisable technique for businesses that wish to build trust and reputation over time. Trust is built with the constant value provided and visibility. PPC cannot offer this. It's SEO that would do this - which brings us to the next section. 

Unlike PPC, SEO is a slower path that chases after a brand's increased visibility and reputation that would later result in increased sales. With SEO, a business's website would be attractive to visitors because it would be well-structured, with easy-to-read content and few pages. The site loading speed would also be optimized so that visitors wouldn't get tired of waiting for a site to load. And because the business looks sound and trustworthy, people then purchase its services and refer. 

As good as SEO sounds, it also has its limitations. SEO is more expensive than PPC and takes a lot longer to see the results of the money spent. There is also the risk of losing the money spent if a professional isn't hired to do the job. Poorly done SEO is a loss, and it is worse than starting at all. But in the end (if it is well done), the results are far better than PPC. 

So what happens when they are combined? 

It is clear from the above explanation that both PPC and SEO have their advantages and their limitations. But what if they were merged? Would they account for each other's limitations? Quick answer, sort of. 

When a business's website is fully optimized and is worthy of being featured on the front page, this already shouts 'increased brand awareness and 'more traffic.' Now, imagine adding an ad to the equation. Boom! All the quotas are met. But why then the answer - sort of? It's because, to guarantee an ultimate success, one must not be done before the other. 

A business should not focus on the PPC model first before the SEO strategy. As said earlier, it is better to get it right from the start than to repair a broken tree branch. After the website is well-structured and has built trust with its customers, it can then boost sales with a good PPC ad. 

When a business does this, whether or not it is a small business or a large one, a start-up or a business that has existed for a while, the result is the same - Ultimate Success!

At the rate that the world is going, all businesses should maximize every chance at boosting sales and revenue. But it pays better to focus on increasing trust. And trust comes when value is constantly being provided. With a well-optimized site, value is provided often, and this would later lead to increased sales. 

To do it right, it is advisable to hire SEO and website development professionals so that the job is done right once and for all. Remember that it is best to get it from the onset. But it is not ultimate until the spice is added - which is the PPC marketing model. SEO plus PPC (not PPC plus SEO) is the recipe for ultimate success because the 'success' would last for a long time.