PPC vs. SEO: Which Comes First?

For many, the New Year means time for a new business. If you’re thinking of starting that company you’ve always dreamed of, it’s important you understand the basics of marketing. Being that Google is one of the most popular ways for consumers to get information, it is crucial that your new company it working to gain visibility on the search engine. There are two ways to get your new company website on Google: SEO and PPC. These are two terms that business owners use frequently. PPC stands for “pay per click” and SEO stands for “search engine optimization. Both work to drive traffic to a company website, so it’s important that even at the start of a company both are used as much as possible. After all, how can you expect your business to succeed if no one knows it exists? In other words, this type of marketing should be at the top of your priority list when starting a business. Although both methods work great, they work differently and for different reasons. Consider the two methods and when you should choose one over the other: This deals with getting your page ranked on the top of a Google search engine page. When working with SEO, there are a few things to keep in mind: • Large Amount of Work – A lot of work goes into SEO. Google puts pages on the top of their results pages if they have unique content, a good number of visitors, and a good relationship with other authoritative sites (if they link back to your site. This is often done through guest posting). Therefore, it takes a lot of time to cater to Google’s requirements. • Slow Results – It typically takes a website a while to get to the top of a search engine page simply because it is so much work to make it happen. It’s tough to have a lot of unique content and a lot of visitors in a short time and then manage the website/comments, and the results will reflect that. • Big Payoff – Not only will you have a quality site after working hard to improve SEO but you will see a dramatic increase in visitors. According to a study completed by Optify, a large majority of Google users never even look past the third page. Why PPC Means Instant SuccessrnThis type of marketing allows you to put your advertisement right on that first page of Google, but you’ll have to pay for it. While you have to “pay” with time when it comes to SEO, PPC wants your dollar bills. Consider a few of the things that will be in store when utilizing PPC: • Immediate Results – This type of marketing gives you results when you need them the most. If you have a big promotion coming out and you want people to know, consider using PPC. You will need to make a bid on a spot, but your ad will surely catch the eyes of many readers. If may seem expensive, but it works well when you have a big event coming up. • Value – Sometimes the easiest way to drive traffic to a website is through PPC. If your website simply isn’t valued yet by Google, you really have no choice but PPC to help get the fire going. Whether you’re a startup company or a company looking to get back to the basics, SEO and PPC are important. You should create a solid balance between the two; however it is a good idea to use them at different times. PPC could be great to spread the word about something specific going on in your company, and SEO should be started early, right at the get-go.