PPC vs SEO - which is better or more cost effective?-00-3815
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I have read a lot about this on several posts in the recent month, and even wrote about it on my own blog over at http://www.seo-wizzards.co.c.
I would like to hear from all the moz's out there what you think:
Here is my view - I will list what I see as the pros and cons of both PPC and SEO and then compile a thought or recommendation based on these findings.
PPC - Pros
1. PPC Generates almost instant traffic to your website for which ever industry you are in.
2. No real technical skills needed - simply register for your prefered PPC system (AdWords is my favourate), create a campaign, create an Ad and then load up some keywords. Presto you have a running campaign.
Yes I know all of your out there are going to say, 'well its not that simple' - to me, it is. Yes you can spend hours fining tuning and making sure your ad group matches your keywords and the landing page is top notch. But the fact is, you dont 'need' all that suff. You can run successful PPC campaigs without it - they just going to cost you more.
3. Control - Believe it or not, you actually have a lot of control when it comes to PPC. You set your daily (and therefor monthly) bid, as well as individual bids on a keyword level. The greater your budget, the greater the traffic to your website.
4. No Contracts - MSN, Yahoo and Google dont force you into a 12 month contract for PPC - many SEO companies do.
PPC - Cons
1. Time - Despite the appearance, PPC campaigns are not a set and forget marketing tool. You actually do need to monitor the performance and make adjustments from time to time.
2. Cost - PPC can actually cost a whole lot more than SEO, especially if not done right.
3. No Accountability - You can't blame anyone for messing up your campaign. With SEO, when hiring a company, if they are professional they will be accountable to you.
Final Score +1
SEO - Pros
1. Sustainable Traffic over long term - SEO is a long term investment, but the traffic you gain with page 1 rankings are sustainable an ongoing (as long as you maintain your position)
2. Cost - cost can be a lot lower than PPC, with some companies offering the service for less than $200 a month.
3. 'Free Traffic' - many companies base costs on keywords and success on rankings. The keywords chosen are 'hard fixed' meaning if you agreed on 'life insurance' that is what matters. But you may also get free traffic from longer tail keywords, such as 'term life insurance' or 'life insurance new york' for example.
4. Accountability - You have a contract with a company, and like any service deliverer, they are accountable to you. Some less so than others
5. Free your time - while your SEO company takes care of the campaign, you can spend your time managing and running your business.
SEO - Cons
1. Time - SEO takes time - no instant traffic. Mostly your first hint at traffic will be after a month to three months (depending on keywords and skill of the company).
2. Contract - most companies will force you into a contract term - usually 12 or 24 months. You are bound by law to pay the agreed amount for the duration of the contract. Some companies do offer gaurantees however, so read the contracts carefully.
3. Cowboys and Pirates - you never know who your are getting. Before you signup, research the company. Google their name, their domain name, their MD's name. Get case studies and success stories from them - people you can call. Do your homwework before signing on the dotted line.
If you end up with a bad company, it could cost your thousands and it also could get you into trouble with the search engines.
Final Score +2
So SEO +2 , PPC +1. From my point of view, I believe you should use both in your online campaign. Run PPC and SEO simultaneously and slowly reduce your PPC budget when you start getting traffic from SEO. Overall, your traffic from search engine rankings will cost you a lot less (No paying for clicks etc)
I leave this open to comments and suggestions.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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