If you’re just starting out in marketing your business online, it can be hard to know the best thing to do is.Let’s break it down.
Both search engine optimisation and paid ads are great tools for getting in front of your target audience and, hopefully, converting them into new customers.
Both strategies have their place in your marketing strategy, but when it comes to long-term growth, which one delivers better results?
SEO is the practice of optimising your website and content to rank organically in search engine results.
There are four key pillars of SEO, which are on-page SEO, off-page SEO, technical SEO, and content strategy, meaning that there are plenty of steps to take to get it right.
This includes techniques like keyword optimisation, backlink building, content marketing and optimising the back end of your website.
In pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, you pay a fee each time someone clicks on your online ads, which are typically on search engines or social media.
This means that you can ‘bid’ on keywords relevant to your target audience. Your ads will then appear when users search for these terms, and you only get charged when users click on them.
SEO
While SEO requires an upfront investment in a website’s content, optimisation and technical improvements, the traffic it generates is free and sustainable over time. Once you rank well, you continue to get traffic, but you will need to check your content yearly to make sure it’s at its best.
Paid ads
Paid ads give you immediate results, but they require continuous funding. Once you stop paying, your visibility disappears, making it an ongoing expense rather than a long-term asset.
Winner – SEO is more cost-effective in the long run!
SEO
People looking to find a product or service tend to trust organic search results more than ads. High-ranking websites are seen as authoritative and reliable, leading to better brand trust.
Paid ads
Some users skip ads because they recognise them as promotional content. While they can drive conversions, they don’t necessarily build trust like organic search does.
Winner – SEO is better for credibility and brand authority.
Paid ads
If you need immediate traffic, PPC is the way to go. Paid ads can generate clicks, leads and sales within hours of launching. Perfect for if your business needs a quick boost!
SEO
Optimising your website for search engines is playing the long game. It can take weeks or months to see significant results, depending on the work that has been done, the competition for different keywords and the industry your business is in.
Winner – paid ads give you short-term, fast results.
SEO
As you build your site’s authority and content through your SEO work, your rankings improve, making it easier to scale and outperform competitors in the long run.
Paid ads
When multiple business are competing to be found for the same ad words, it can drive up costs, making it more expensive to maintain results over time.
Winner – SEO gives your website better long-term scalability.
While SEO clearly wins for long-term growth, the best strategy is a combination of both.
You should always invest in having a website that’s search engine optimised because it will give your business a sustainable, cost-effective traffic source that supports business growth over time. Then you can use PPC to get quick bumps in traffic when you need it, boost seasonal campaigns and try out different offers.
