Welcome to the topic “SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION VS. PAID ADVERTISEMENTS”
When it is about digital marketing, especially for the starters, there is always a question about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Advertisements. You must be wondering which option is better for you because the consensus is that PPC brings immediate results but costs more, whereas, SEO takes time but is free. With so many different opinions and advice, you might get confused because you might be interested to learn about new ways to drive traffic to your website.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is part of the search marketing that use different organic ways to gain visibility in SERPs. With SEO, the brands are not required to pay to be placed on SERPs; instead, they use various tactics that help to prompt search engines to show their web content near the top of SERPs because the result is authoritative and valuable.
Many different tactics can help your brand to increase the search rankings. Most of these SEO techniques are grouped into three categories:
On-page SEO
The On-page SEO optimizes every page of a website to target a specific keyword and appeal to the search engines. The different strategies include keyword research, keyword optimization and content creation.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO optimizes different non-content elements of a website as a whole in order to improve its foundation and backend structure. All of these strategies are related to indexing, site speed, mobile-friendliness, site structure, structured data and security. Technical SEO helps to improve the user and search crawler experience, and this leads to higher SEO rankings.
Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO helps to build the reputation of a website and its authority by connecting the website to high-quality websites. Different off-page techniques include link building from other websites, managing the local listings and directory profiles. When many websites are linked to the brand’s website, it shows that the brand’s website is trustworthy, reputable and reliable, and this increases rankings.
What are the paid advertisements?
Online paid to advertise requires you to purchase ad spots to attract internet traffic. Different featured ads show up on the designated websites, and the companies and marketers bid against their competition for keywords that pertains to their products or services. The bidding depends on a certain amount of responses, or the impressions have a fixed price.
Bidding strategies
Paying for online advertisements is much more complicated as compared to the typical transactions because the actions of a customer play a role in the price. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Cost-Per-Mille (CPM) are two predominant bidding avenues.
Formats of paid Ads
The paid ads are split into two formats to determine how the viewers see these.
Search Ads
The search or text ads are showing up on the search result pages, and most of these blend into the search results, thus distinguishing themselves by a small message that reads ‘sponsored’ or ‘ad’.
Display Ads
The display ads appear around content on different website pages rather than the search results pages. They come in various orientations and sizes to fit into ad spaces. Display ads offer exposure, while the text and images are customizable.
Available Ad Networks
If you like to get the most out of the ads, a substantial presence is required on the widely used websites. Google, Bing and different social media platforms are considered as the most popular locations for your search and display ads.
Landing pages
Your online paid advertising requires to lead to clear progress for your company, and it is essential to arrange your landing pages for optimal conversion. The landing pages gain the attention of the incoming visitors and connect them to your website. Rather than the ads directing your visitors to the main page website, the landing page sets apart their first-time experience.
Which one is better for your business?
There will be a number of answers for this question across the web, as the vendors often claim that their SEO or paid advertisement solution makes the ultimate difference. The reality is that both are great for your business, because if you are new to the industry and would like to establish yourself in search engine results, then paid advertisements are the quickest way to do this. On the other hand, building a solid organic foundation with SEO has its importance, but it is really about what you would like to accomplish and in how much time you want to do it.
You have to think about your own search engine behaviour, because if you are a type of a person who clicks on the PPC ads or scrolls down to the organic results, then it depends on your personality. By mapping out your marketing personas, you can get help to determine if SEO or PPC (or both) can be the best way to promote your business. You also have to take into consideration your online advertising budget, find out how expensive are CPCs in the industry and how competitive are organic rankings.
Conclusion
Both SEO and paid advertisements are considered as acceptable methods to market your products. There are many factors to consider as some businesses may choose to focus on SEO, while others may focus on paid advertisements. Sometimes it might be the right approach to implement a combination of both the strategies, but it all depends on your business and the goals that you like to achieve.
Have any questions regarding the topic “SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION VS. PAID ADVERTISEMENTS?” Feel Free to comment down below.
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