PPC Vs SEO... Or is it?

It seems like I'm always caught in the middle of this argument

People say things to me like... "You're an SEO guy, tell 'em it's waaaaayyyyy better than PPC". The thing is though, I completely disagree with the question. Not specifically either side, but the whole question of which is better.

Let me explain

SEO is cool, because you can do the work, put in the time, and have your site sit on some great real estate for sometimes years pulling traffic. No more cost per click, and views are free. Studies show that peoples eyes actually go to the organic results first too, so that's a big plus.

So the big SEO argument is...

You can get free clicks, more clicks and be thought of as having more authority with that keyword, just by sitting in the #1 spot in organic as opposed to paid. And hey, it's a good argument that I totally agree with. But there are many other variables to consider. I think that this argument has a lot to do with industry brainwashing.

Every time a new SEO product launches the best idea's for marketing seem to include the fact that there is no pay per click, pay per view, slap, ban or whatever. I definitely see the benefit of marketing that way with all the talk and fear around the Google slap.  It happens so often that it is the first thought that comes to just about anyones mind in an SEO Vs PPC debate. Even though SEO done wrong has similar worries, and good SEO either takes money or time to pull off. None of that seems to deter the marketing though.

Then there is the whole thought of taking that golden position on page one.

Call it an Electronic High

I spend a great deal of time working on SEO. I won't try and say I don't love it (most of the time). Watching a site I built climb through the rankings and pull of those page one positions is like a drug to me. Especially for those big keywords where you know your competition is fierce. It's a great feeling to pull ahead of them.

The thing is, that kind of SEO is not free. Getting on page one for high competition keywords means you have to know your stuff, and put in the work. If you're not paying someone to write up articles and pile on backlinks then you are looking at a full time job yourself to get those bigger keywords. Not only that, but getting the inside scoop on the market value of your keywords is not so cheap either. Which brings me to why I don't think there really is an argument for which is better at all.

When It Comes To Keywords, Market Value Is King

It all boils down to having the right keywords. If your SEO work hits page one for 20 keywords getting thousands of clicks per day, it still doesn't matter if they are not money keywords. A money keyword being one where people are actively buying after using that search term. SEO is definitely not the proper testing ground for this. And the top tools in the industry still pull market value from the overall industry. The only way to see how that market value applies to you, is by testing it.

PPC is the Ultimate testing ground

With a simple PPC campaign, you can find out what keywords are converting to cash for you in a very short period of time. You can have traffic coming into your site as fast as you can load a campaign, and even be in profit before you make a decision on which keywords to use for SEO. So at the very least, I think all die hard SEO lovers could benefit from PPC as a market testing ground.

Using tools to find market value is great, but knowing what is converting to cash in your personal funnel is even better. Think about setting up the silos for your personal website based off of real data you collected from converting campaigns.

Now let's look at the PPC side of the Argument

PPC is fast. As I said earlier, once you get this stuff down, you can have a campaign loaded and traffic rolling in almost immediately. You can track your results in real time, and make adjustments to your campaign quickly and easily. Not something you want to do often with SEO. With PPC, if you have some adgroups that are converting well, you can crank up your daily spend and drive even more converting traffic. As you find keywords that are getting tons of clicks, but no conversions, you can cut them out and save that money.

Tweaking is a whole different subject that is just as important to SEO as it is to PPC so I'll steer clear of that topic here.

The bottom line is this...

PPC and SEO are both great methods for making money online. With a good knowledge, and a good balance of the two, you can find out exactly what keywords are converting in your funnel, and then promote only money keywords to the top of the search. Get your organic clicks for free, and pay for clicks everywhere you don't have covered in the organic (or both).

If you ask me, it's more of a match made in Heaven than a rivalry. But that's just my opinion.

Chris Owen

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