Should You Use PPC If You’re Site Is Ranking Organically?

When it comes down to it, there is one common question every business owners wonders in regards to digital marketing. How do I know decide between pay-per-click (PPC) or organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Since both of these are powerful facets of digital marketing, it can be difficult to distinguish whether implementing PPC is worthwhile if your site is already ranking organically.

PPC Versus SEO

With PPC, you are able to pay for traffic using platforms on Google Adwords or Yahoo. They work by presenting your site’s advertisements in the sponsored results section on the SERPs. What PPC costs depends on how competitive your keywords are and how many clicks your ads garner. In highly competitive industries, like insurance or loans for instance, keywords can cost as much as $50+ per click.

If you are on a tight budget, you do have the ability to increase visitors to your website for free by achieving high ranking with search results through search engine optimization. Keywords, phrases, and crawlable backlinks will enable search engines to find your blog when a person inputs a similar set of search terms.

While this method does often take longer to generate heavy traffic, the expenditure is next to nothing and you can learn to do it yourself through the myriad of free guides or reach out to an experienced SEO company in San Diego for a little extra guidance.

Maintaining Traffic with SEO and PPC

Using SEO and PPC in tandem can help increase profits, by as much as 4.5 percent according to one NYU study. Having a page that appears high in the search results makes your company appear more trustworthy, but seeing a PPC ad offers consumers a “second opinion”, which ultimately reinforces their decision to visit your site or select your services over a competitor.

If you choose to use both, make sure your site’s content is reflective of the keywords being shown in your ads and will pique the interest of your target market. You’ll also want to keep in mind, PPC needs to be utilized correctly because people are usually on guard when they see an ad. Sponsored links on Google have come to be viewed as product placement by consumers. Most don’t want to be sold something directly but want to discern for themselves whether or not they’re interested.

Considering one or both methods of online marketing? Let Saba, Inc. help! Give us a call at (858) 277-1717 for a free website audit and to learn more about our SEO and PPC management services in San Diego. We look forward to hearing from you!