Better ROI – SEO or PPC? | Storm Internet

What provides a better return on investment and which one will, therefore, offer the most value to your business? The truth is, there are pros and cons to both of these marketing techniques. Gone are the days where the majority of customers would come directly to your website. Offline marketing used to send people directly. However, these days it’s far easier to remember and quickly Google, brand names instead.

Results from PPC are Instant

When you set-up a new Adwords or Bing Ads campaign that advert is typically live within 24 hours. You could start seeing new visitors within minutes of that ad being approved. Provided it’s been set-up well and you’re being reasonable with your expectations. This is ideal for last-minute campaigns, special time-limited promotions or even newsjacking.

SEO, on the other hand, can take weeks or even months to pay off. You need to wait for an algorithm update to see if your efforts have even been worthwhile. Not only this, but results aren’t guaranteed. In pay per click advertising, it’s easy to see where you sit against competitors in terms of your bid. You know what you need to do in order to beat the competition; whether that’s raising your bid or improving your quality score. You’ll never know who is actively carrying out competitive SEO and where you stand until the search results are updated.

On the flip side…

The Benefits of SEO are Long-Term

When your PPC campaign ends, so does the traffic. If you pause an ad or you reach maximum budget for that week/month, you are no longer showing in the search results. As a result, traffic from PPC immediately stops. Compare this to SEO, and in most cases the results are long-term. Even if you lose ranking position, traffic will not completely halt … only reduce.

SEO Costs Less Than PPC

Assuming you won’t be paying someone else to carry out your SEO, it usually doesn’t cost anywhere near as much as pay per click advertising. It’s an organic way to generate traffic. Having said that, search engine optimisation is a constantly changing practice and is far more of a time commitment.

You Know What You’re Getting With PPC

The thing about SEO is that we’ll only ever know so much. No one really knows exactly how the Google algorithm works. It’s far too complex and Google doesn’t want webmasters and marketers to manipulate it. Whilst they provide some information regarding the need for quality, honesty, and relevance, the rest of SEO is often murky water.

Almost every webmaster will rely on SEO to some degree. It can’t really be ignored. PPC, on the other hand, is typically something brands turn to, once they become a little more established and have the available funds to commit to a campaign. So, if you’re trying to decide where to focus your attention, SEO or PPC. The answer is, SEO should always be a consideration and should actively be undertaken even if it’s just small steps. Pay per click advertising should only be a consideration if you are willing to spend. Be prepared for those first initial campaigns to underperform, as you learn what does and doesn’t work.

If you’d like super-fast hosting for your web site, call us on 0800 817 4727. We’ve been providing ultra fast, secure web hosting services since 2004 and know a thing or two about optimising servers and sites for speed.