Tech

In the competitive world of digital business, organisations are constantly challenging each other to be the best in innovation, products and customer service. With the industry changing by the minute and new businesses popping up each day, it’s naïve to think that as a business the only think you need to worry about is the establishment of an online business, hoping that people will stumble across your website. Digital marketing is found at the heart of online business, and is essential for company growth. Using methods like PPC (Pay Per Click), SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), SMM (Social Media Marketing), Content Marketing, Newsletter and Email Marketing, gives you a variety of ways you can build your online presence. SEO and PPC tend to be the most popular forms of Digital Marketing. Their strategic methods can increase your business and bring in a haul full of leads, but when both of these are proven business boosters which is the best one to go for?

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)

PROS

• With Google getting over 1 billon searches a month, SEO delivers continuous flow of free and targeted traffic, if you are doing it yourself.
• SEO generally targets people looking for a solutions like your products and services, unlike PPC which is used to target an audience whether they are looking for you or not.
• SEO generates leads with a high chance of conversion.
• It also helps highlight you as an authority in your niche area.

CONS

• Google is forever changing its algorithms to fine tune all searches, this can create obstacles for SEO marketers.
• WithSEO you have no control and results take time so if you’re expecting to instantly get on the first page of Google that’s not going to happen.
• Like recognition SEO also takes time to achieve a good Return of Investment (ROI).
• If you have a business in a highly competitive niche, it will require more than the average investment to get your business noticed. SEO has no guarantee that you will get on the first page, and when you do you will need to continue with the work to stay there.
• Most importantly you run the risk of being penalised by Google should the content not be in line with Google updates and requirements, meaning you could be back to square one.

PAY PER CLICK (PPC)

PROS

• PPC can retarget and re market to those customers who might not have converted upon first visit.
• Using a specific target audience your adverts will be shown automatically to a range of customers, even when they aren’t looking for your services. This is great for building brand awareness.
• PPC can give you better measurable results than SEO.
• It can give you quick results even overnight, and will place you on the first page of Google.
• PPC allows you to not only expose your business locally, but on a global scale.

CONS

• First off PPC is a paid service and can be extremely costly against the like of SEO, which can be a struggle if you’re a start-up business.
• In the last few decades people have grown more sceptical about advertisements – Are the products really as good as they make out? How do you know? – This can hinder people from being drawn to your website. Whereas organic searches through SEO are influenced by a third party, so if there is a big flow of traffic to an un-advertised website or product, this will look favourable.
• The actual process of PPC can be quite complicated and PPC companies can be a little difficult to consult with, due to the competition rates.
• Adverts through a PPC campaign will disappear when the Campaign ends, meaning your website traffic might decrease.

As you can see there are many different pros and cons to both PPC and SEO, so your decision to go with either will be purely down to your requirements. For example if you’re a small start- up with a decent financial backing, then PPC seems like the obvious choice to build your brand overnight. However if you are a medium size company with a minimal budget for marketing then perhaps SEO is more for you.

Don’t forget aside from SEO and PPC you can also use Social Media Marketing as well as Email and Newsletter Marketing. If you would like to know more about either of these services then please get in touch!