SEO or PPC, or both? Most people and businesses that are new to the industry don't know which marketing channels to use, which options are best, and often they believe they need SEO or PPC, not both.
In last week's #SEMrushchat, our community and guests @PPCKirk and @craigcampbell03 shared insights on the SEO vs. PPC debate, discussed keyword research for each channel, how to use data, how to use the right keywords, and finding the right SEO PPC ratio. Below are many valuable tips for businesses and agencies, insights on things to do, things to avoid, factors to consider, and analogies to share with clients. Check them out and share your thoughts in the comments below or via social.
Note: You can look at the Twitter threads or retweet any of the tips/insights below by clicking on the Twitter logo next to the quote.
How do you feel about integrating SEO and PPC?
Please share your insights and tips in the comments below. We also want to thank everyone that participated in the chat. We will be looking for your expert insights this week; SEMrushchat starts at 11 am ET/4 pm BST on Wednesday, November, 20th.
Comments
Either just recently joined or is too shy to say something.
Either just recently joined or is too shy to say something.
Either just recently joined or is too shy to say something.
Either just recently joined or is too shy to say something.
Occasionally takes part in conversations.
Asks great questions and provides brilliant answers.
Keyword research is the core part of PPC. I really love this point "Analyze traffic and figure out which kws are accomplishing your goals best and invest your budget there. If deciding which to hire first, spend your budget on an SEO consultant over PPC!! It's not like the chicken and the egg, SEO is needed for PPC to really soar."
Occasionally takes part in conversations.
I have had very mixed results with PPC and SEO however this is how I combine the two today based on those experiences.
1) decide how much potential profit is left in the item I am promoting after likely PPC costs.
For example, lots of people search for audio leads but if you make £1 profit you are lucky.
2) Using SEM Rush I monitor my position in the SERPS for my core services and products
3) Look at how difficult it is to get good backlinks
> For high traffic low value products I am relying on SEO as PPC can eat the profit
> For services and products which are moving up the rankings but not yet on the first page I try to
boost them with PPC
> It seems to me that google is reluctant to rank a site with low traffic, so where strong backlinks
are hard to get, I try to drive traffic with cost effective PPC
I once ran a firework display business and was struggling to rank in serps, so I tried PPC which drove traffic and over time that extra traffic raised my natural serps position to within the top 3.
When I sold the business the new owner didn't keep up the PPC and over a year dropped off the front page.
I agree with those who suggest a combined approach works best.
An experienced member who is always happy to help.
It's better to start from SEO approach - create high-quality content, provide technical optimization, get first traffic and then to enhance with PPC ads.
Thanks, Melissa, for sharing all these thoughts from great specialists ))