When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), 70% of marketers think it delivers more than pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
In the never-ending PPC vs SEO debate, practitioners have traditionally leaned one way, on either side. However, these two approaches tend to focus on similar goals at times, and inevitably, the potential for a relationship between the two would arise.
In the race to squeeze as much data as possible for sharper analytics, you need to find ways to make SEO and PPC join hands. Here’s a rundown of what getting your PPC and SEO to collaborate entails.
PPC vs SEO
SEO is the process through which you tweak your website for it to achieve better ranking for targeted phrases or keyword searches. As such, the core focus of SEO is to grow the overall organic traffic that flows to your site.
PPC, on the other hand, is the term for all the advertisements you find along the sides and on top of searches in search engines or social media. When you run a PPC ad, you only pay for each time the ad’s clicked, hence the name. In essence, PPC is the tool you need if you are looking for targeted visibility.
The Case for Integrating PPC and SEO
For a long time, digital marketers had to keep debating whether to sink their marketing dollars into PPC or stick with SEO.
The fact of the matter is that both of these are two sides of the same coin. In a world where data is the new oil, recognizing the benefit of this overlap can significantly enrich your marketing strategies.
So why exactly should you consider combining the two approaches for your brand?
1. Maximizing You Data
An optimized search campaign is one that leverages every source of relevant data available. The more data you have, the better your capabilities at handling the unknown become.
For example, a crucial part of your campaign involves getting relevant and accurate keyword data. You also need other data touch points on your target audience to understand better how you can convert them.
In such a scenario, your PPC campaign can benefit significantly from integration with SEO. The latter can help you glean insights on keywords and other conversion-related information.
Consequently, your PPC campaign becomes better targeted to improve your success rate.
2. More Control on Conversion
When PPC and SEO collaborate, you can end up with more granular control over your conversion rates. Primarily, this can be through a seamless user experience that culminates in them making a purchase.
Let’s say you run a compelling and effective PPC ad. The people that develop an interest in your product or service will have certain expectations based on the ad you ran.
When this traffic comes to your website, it is SEO that can help you deliver an outstanding user experience. Since 88% of internet users declare they can’t return to a site after a lousy experience, an exceptional user experience encourages a lead to buy from you.
On the other hand, if you have a great PPC ad, but your SEO strategy makes for unpalatable user experiences, you won’t lift your conversion rates. In essence, your investment in targeted visibility will be a waste as it won’t result in sales.
3. Remarketing
So, do you have any course of action when leads do not end up buying from you? Remarketing is an effective strategy in such circumstances where you get to present your value proposition for further consideration.
When SEO delivers organic search traffic to your site, you get to glean valuable information on what the users need. Using this knowledge, you can redesign your value proposition to effectively address the need your leads have and remarket to them via PPC.
In the long run, that can help you to gain additional sales and further diversify your client base.
How Can You Get SEO and PPC to Integrate?
There are several ways you can get your SEO and PPC efforts to play nice and deliver high value. Here are some ideas.
1. Leverage PPC Keywords for Your SEO Needs
When you lack robust keywords to use for your SEO, or if those you have aren’t as high quality, you can use PPC ones in their stead. From the keywords that drive your approach for visibility, you can infer what user intent might be and optimize around that.
Additionally, the keywords and phrases you get from your PPC campaigns can impact content development. Using these keywords, you can design content meant to appeal to various buyers at different points along the purchase journey.
2. Use PPC Copy on SEO Metadata
Any top-performing PPC ad copy means that you’ve found ways to strike a tone with potential clients that result in actions (clicks). You can leverage this by taking that same copy and using it in your SEO metadata.
Since the PPC ad copy’s result essentially proves its effectiveness, it means that your odds of stimulating optimal response through SEO is high.
Once you have higher conversion rates from utilizing this strategy, you can seal off the virtuous circle by using customer insights from conversion data to define your customer segments further. The better your understanding of your target audience, the more effective your PPC campaigns can be.
3. Use SEO Insights to Manage PPC Costs
If your PPC keywords are blowing through your budget, you can focus on SEO to rank organically for the costly keywords. If you’re successful, it means you can reduce your paid spending on that front.
Furthermore, through your SEO analytics, it’s possible to identify high performing long-tail keywords. You can then use these phrases in your PPC campaign as they are cheaper but still pack a punch.
Get the Most Value for Your Dollars
SEO and PPC may serve different functions in your digital roadmap, but they have undeniable overlaps. If you want to get the most value for your investment, you should move away from thinking of it as PPC vs SEO to how the two collaborate. Identify the overlap areas for these two approaches and tailor that to your brand’s objectives.
If you are looking to learn more about SEO, check out the rest of our content for insights that can help you win.