SEO vs. PPC – What’s best for your buisness?  

The short answer is both.  You should use any form of marketing that gets results – content, email, influencer, etc. 

But that’s a cop-out. 

So let me tell you which one I would choose if I had to choose between SEO & PPC. 

But first, let’s break down SEO & PPC in simpler terms and then compare the two…

SEO stands for search engine optimization.  It’s the process of getting your content to rank higher in the organic search results.  

PPC stands for pay-per-click. It’s all paid advertisements – Google, YouTube, Facebook, etc. 

Speed of Results: SEO is a long-term investment.  Sometimes you won’t see results for 6 months to a year.  PPC gives you instant traffic even if you have a brand-new site.  

Conversion:  SEO converts better.  More people trust organic search results over ads.  

Targeting: SEO is limited when it comes to targeting.  PPC is more specific.  You can run ads for different demographics – location, age, gender, political party, etc.  

Visibility: PPC ads are placed on the top of the search results page.  Organic results are placed underneath ads.  

Predictability: With SEO you’re at the whim of Google’s algorithm updates.  What worked today might not work in the future.  With PPC there’s more predictability because it’s easier to track.

So which one would I pick if I could only pick one?

SEO.

Why?

SEO will convert better and be cheaper in the long run.  It’s an investment. The work you put in today pays dividends years into the future.  

PPC is a one-off.  You pay money you get traffic.  If you stop paying money you don’t get traffic.  

You’ll still pay for SEO traffic through content and backlinks.  But that content and those backlinks will give you a higher ROI further down the line.  

That’s just my opinion.  Then again, I do SEO. I’m biased.  What’s your opinion?