Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is an incredibly popular way of attracting visitors to websites and blogs. But all too often, people assume that SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC should not be used together… when in fact, they can work really well together.
Wait, What Exactly Is PPC Anyway?
Well first, for those not familiar with how PPC works, let’s take a really quick look. In a nutshell, it’s basically when you buy advertising that’s targeted to a certain search term that you specify. When a potential visitor searches for that term, your ad listing will appear alongside the search engine’s regular results or context-appropriate material on other network affiliated sites. You only pay a pre-specified amount if a visitor actually clicks on your ad to visit your site.
Isn’t The Goal Of SEO To Eliminate The Need For PPC?
Well, the answer is yes, and no. Good expert SEO can and does frequently provide all of the desired traffic to a website. But there are still times when having a well-optimized PPC campaign can seriously help traffic and sales in a big way:
- Getting Started – Even the best SEO doesn’t become effective immediately. Building a steady stream of healthy, organic traffic takes lots of time and effort – that’s why we call it “building” or “growing” traffic, and not just buying traffic. Having an effective, well-managed PPC plan can help fill in the gaps until the SEO is completely ramped up and delivering visitors at a rapid pace.
- Maintaining Traffic – Just because search optimization is working as it should – delivering the expected amount of targeted traffic to your site or blog – doesn’t mean that PPC no longer has a place in a well-rounded traffic development strategy. Even the largest companies use PPC to fill in the gaps and boost their SEO efforts as needed. PPC and SEO can certainly go hand in hand; one doesn’t necessarily have to replace the other as long as they’re both successful and profitable.
Plus, There Are Other Really Great Uses For PPC
For example, many web professionals know that running a few targeted PPC campaigns is a fantastic way to test the waters for a new product to see how well certain keywords and sales strategies will convert traffic to sales or leads. Using PPC to work out all of the kinks before going full-scale with all out search engine optimization can be a profitable and time-saving strategy.
Thankfully, a successfully developed and implemented SEO plan will likely provide all of the traffic you could possibly desire. But do know that PPC still has a relevant place in the world of delivering targeted web traffic too.
George Chaney
President/CEO
SEO King, Inc.
