SEO or PPC

Search engine marketing (SEM) happens via 2 methods:
1) SEO (Search Engine Optimisation and,
2) PPC (Pay per click)
So what is the difference between them and for your needs, should you be doing SEO or PPC?

Both are fundamentally concerned with generating website traffic (and sales conversions) through search engine results. The difference is in how that end is achieved.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) consists of paid advertisements that are generated based on a particular search query or set of queries. As its name suggests, the advertiser pays the search engine a certain amount of money (the “cost per click,” which can flat rate or competitively bid on) each time their ad is clicked.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) consists of results that are generated “organically” (i.e.without payment to the search engine).SEO strategy is to rank as high as possible on these organic search results.

When you type a keyword/phrase into Google, you will see both types of results. The paid advertisements occupy the top (and sometimes right-hand side) and usually has an “Ad” block next to it. The organic results are beneath these. Do you know where your website ranks organically? If not, click here for a free SEO ranking check.

Now that we know the difference, the next question is which is better for my business?” SEO or PPC?

Both can cost a significant amount of money, but both can have big pay-offs. Lets look at the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Here are a few questions to ask in order to understand how each marketing tactic might apply to your business and whether or not you should be doing SEO or PPC (or both):