EO and PPC are two major Search Marketing
strategies which are practiced by Internet marketers to promote their
website on the Net. Both the techniques are entirely different from
each other and play very important role while making the Internet Marketing Strategies.
Both the techniques have their own advantages as well as disadvantages
and thus one should always weigh the pros and cons before proceeding
with the strategy.
First of all let us understand both the techniques - Search Engine
Optimization or SEO is the natural way of ranking in the SERPs. It
includes the process of optimizing any website to gain top positions or
ranks in the Search Engine Result Pages or simply SERPs for various
keywords, and drive more traffic to the website. In order to accomplish
the task the website's search engine compatibility is enhanced by more
effectively formatting the site code, structure and content.
Search Engine Optimization tries to change the ranking by looking at a
number of factors including on page optimization, link popularity, Page
Rank and so on. If your site is well optimized for Search Engine then
obviously there are more chances for your site to get top rankings in
the SERPs. One of the best benefits of SEO is that you don't have to
pay anything for the clicks.
PPC or Pay Per Click advertising is a type of search marketing
technique where the Search Egines place a sponsored link on their SERPs
for the suggested keywords and the advertisers have to pay a set amount
every time their ad is clicked by a prospect. These are instant links
and are based upon sponsorship model. Another benefir of PPC is that,
the more often visitors come to your site, the better is you Click
Through Ratio (CTR) and the better the Search Engines will like your
website.
Now the question arises, which practice is better. Both methods
actually serve different purposes. This is a very subjective question
and the strategies depend totally upon the specific needs and differ
from website to website. To decide which strategy is best, consider the
basics. Always take the big picture into account. Before getting
started with the Search Engine Marketing, you should decide which of
the two strategies will work best for your site. This planning will
help you to stay on the track and not waste time unnecessarily.
Top Search Engine positions and Search engine marketing is undoubtedly
one of the best sources of targeted traffic but it takes some time to
show the results. The major plus point of SEO is that it does not cost
anything to get the ranking (apart from the resources used to do SEO)
on the site. Whereas PPC gets instant traffic but it includes bidding
cost for the sponsored links.
So, in my opinion, the best Search Marketing strategy should be to go
with PPC for newer websites to get immediate traffic and analyze
conversions, and also to carry on the business. In the mean while, SEO
should be started for the sites and should be taken with a long term
view in mind. When the site starts coming in the SERPs, a balance
between the two can be maintained to reap the benefits
Once you have done a thorough analysis of both SEO and PPC, you will be
able to decide the best Search Engine Marketing strategy for your
website.
About the Author
Shilpi
is the Manager - Internet Marketing of a multi national firm with
offices in India, UK and USA. She lives in India and maintains a Blog -
shilpi-e-strategies.blogspot.com on Internet Marketing Strategies to
share her experiences and discuss the latest trends and techniques in
the field.
