Pay Per Click (PPC) vs. Organic Search: Which method is Best?

One of the age old SEO questions that is frequently asked is, “Should I spend the time and money to improve my organic search ranking or foot the bill for an extensive PPC campaign?”  In this article I will explore both of these options and discover which one seems to be a more viable option for most webmasters.

PPC -

Pay Per Click is the search engine’s bread and butter.  If we were to break down the earnings of all the major search engines at the top of the list of revenue drivers you almost always see PPC.  The numbers speak for themselves; people would not continue to purchase PPC ads if they didn’t convert into sales.

If you are a new business to the web and would like to see immediate results, PPC is the only way to go.  PPC is the only search engine optimization strategy that can yield immediate first-page placement.  Another benefit to using the PPC campaign is that you can set you own fixed budget.  If you want to only spend $100 dollars a month, no problem, $10,000, go for it.   Another advantage to PPC is that you can instantly track your conversion, and success rates through Google Analytics and other PPC management soft wares.

The Best Choice is…

When evaluating both of these online marketing strategies, I have come to the conclusion that they both play key roles in online marketing, yet organic optimization is the better solution for a long term, cost effective marketing campaign.   Don’t get me wrong, I definitely feel that PPC has its place in just about any SEO strategy, but as a secondary tool.   It can also serve as a jumping off point for a brand new site that needs to see immediate results.  A PPC campaign can serve as a temporary solution while an Organic campaign is being built.

I have been an SEO consultant since 2001 and now more than ever has been a great time for the SEO field in Michigan.

As many of you may or may not know, business is extremely slow in Michigan.  The big 3 (Ford, GM, and Chrysler)  are having one hell of a time keeping up with the foreign car makers.  This has caused a falling house of cards effect throughout the state of Michigan.  Just about every business in Michigan is one way or another affected by the automotive industry.   In fact the top 4 out of the top 5 Michigan employers are all automotive related.

What you maybe wondering now is what does any of this have to do with SEO.  My answer… Plenty!! SEO allows any business to branch away from a smaller local market and reach customers all across the world.  If current state or region is in an economic funk, start an SEO campaign that targets areas you have never sold in.

SEO is also an extremely cheap Marketing method.  For some people this method of marketing can cost absolutely nothing.  If you have the time and know how, you can do this yourself without spending a dime.

If you decide to contract out an SEO campign, the ROI is still much better than other traditional marketing methods.

And now for a shameless plug…  If you haven’t noticed, I do offer an SEO consulting service.  My time has been very limited as of late and I am now reserving consulting jobs to small businesses that I find extremely interesting.  So if you have a cool e-commerce site, service, or blog and would like to talk about SEO drop me a line and maybe I will be able to help you with your marketing campaign!!  SEO Consulting sign up