In a perfect world you could have your summer intern whip up some keyword-optimized content, slap it on your site, and magically rank at the top of internet search results overnight.
It’s not that easy, of course.
Good SEO is essential, but it takes time—it’s not an overnight transformation.
And Google has caught on to black hat SEO techniques like keyword stuffing and cloaking—it’s just not a winning strategy anymore.
Worse, shady tactics could get you eighty-sixed from search results altogether, or at least cast out into the boonies.
No, today you’ve got to have a solid online marketing strategy and put in the work (or at least hire a reputable SEO agency to put in the work).
But, where do you invest your time and money—in SEO or PPC marketing? The short answer is, both.
- SEO, or search engine optimization, refers to the stuff you do (like writing relevant content) to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic (unpaid) search results.
- PPC, or pay-per-click, is paid search. It’s essentially a way of buying visits to your site rather than earning those visits organically. Think of PPC like a shot of adrenaline that puts your brand in front of the right customer so you can generate leads and results faster.
Both SEO and PPC are effective, and they both share the same goal: attracting people to your website. The best strategy uses a combination of SEO and PPC. Here’s why.
Google’s Never-Ending Mission to Improve Search Results
Google is constantly working to improve the SERP (search engine results page) layout to better meet users’ needs.
Everyday users appreciate this ongoing effort to make search more relevant – while online marketers curse the constantly changing algorithms and penalties.
Given Google’s frequent adjustments, marketing strategists need to utilize both SEO and PPC to connect with qualified consumers.
Here are some tips for combining SEO and PPC for greater visibility.
Share keyword data between SEO and PPC teams
Keywords are at the heart of a successful SEO or PPC campaign.
Since consumers today are using long-tail keywords more than ever, sharing keyword data across teams is essential to generate conversions.
You can use keywords from your PPC campaign to develop your SEO strategy. PPC ads give you insight into which keywords have already garnered clicks and led to conversions.
This can help inform your SEO plan.
Long-tail keywords can also help you identify negative keywords (keywords that prevent your ad from being triggered by a certain word or phrase) that aren’t working for your PPC campaign.
You don’t want a person searching for “how to bake perfect chocolate chip cookies” to see your pay-per-click ad for “buy our delicious chocolate chip cookies.”
Use remarketing to bring customers back to your site
Even if you’ve nailed down your SEO keyword strategy and you’re seeing returns in the form of better rankings, your conversions might still be a bit lackluster.
You’ll want to ensure your site loads fast, is well laid out, and has great content, but this can only take you so far.
There are a variety of reasons people might abandon their cart or leave your site after browsing items.
Potential leads may want to compare your product with those offered on other sites. While others may be reluctant to buy on mobile.
Most of these leads will be lost forever, especially first-time visitors to your site.
But you can help recapture some of them with remarketing.
It’s a form of online advertising that shows targeted ads to users who have visited product pages on your site or abandoned their cart.
They’ll see these ads while browsing the web.
By adding a simple tag or pixel (remarketing code) to your website, you can start remarketing to leads through browser cookies.
Paid ads can bring visitors back to your site, but, again, make sure your site is well-designed and has helpful content (SEO) to seal the deal.
Use your PPC data to develop a content campaign
Your PPC data can tell you a lot. Here a few ideas for squeezing the most out of it:
- Track which ads perform well and use the text in those ads to inspire ideas for SEO content.
- Pull out PPC data from Google Ads or Analytics to find out which of your landing pages are working best, then create content around those pages.
- Track your highest click-through-rates for content network ads to glean insights about which topics are popular; then create content around these topics to boost organic traffic to your site.
Fight back against negative PR
Negative reviews and bad press can hurt your business.
PPC can help you do damage control.
While your instinct may be to retreat and lay low after bad press, this is really the worst reaction.
Silence can be disastrous—your goal is to guide the conversation.
That’s why it’s critical to have a team proactively managing paid search accounts in a PR crisis.
BP provides a good example. After the Gulf oil spill, the company paid for PPC ads linked to the keyword “oil spill,” which led to a page on their site about the cleanup effort.
This move allowed BP to better manage the conversation and show people they were committed to taking responsibility after the disaster.
If you find yourself in a bad PR situation—whether it’s from comments on social media taken out of context or something else—PPC ads can help you save face.
Get Help from the Pros
Combining SEO and PPC can help you create a more successful search strategy.
Running side-by-side organic and paid campaigns gives you more data to collect and analyze—and this information can give you new insights about your target audience, so you can refine your SEO and PPC strategies.
Need help managing your SEO and PPC campaigns? The pros at National Positions can help. Our SEO experts and PPC analysts work together to build a targeted campaign that meets your goals. We’re constantly researching and finding new ways to empower your campaign with the most innovative technology. Give us a call today at (877) 866-6699 for help with PPC, SEO, and much more.