Online traffic is what keeps an eCommerce store going. From the huge number of traffic that comes to your website, only a sizable portion are potential customers who will end up paying or using your products and services. Therefore, having huge traffic to your site will lead to better conversions and higher sales. Brands and marketers have equally stressed the importance of using SEO and PPC for increased web traffic. But what marketing technique is best suited to your brand? Do you need SEO, PPC, or an integrated approach? Let’s find out. While their end goal may be the same, they are vastly different concepts requiring different techniques and methodologies.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO refers to the practice of including relevant content to your site that improves the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. It helps your website to show up more often in relevant search results. To grow and improve your site’s SEO, first and foremost, ensure to write clear and concise content in easy to comprehend language, with words that a user might search for when looking online for your offerings. 

When should you use SEO?

  • Require consistent results

SEO results are not quick and immediate. The results are sustainable – that means your ranking is sustained for quite some time even when you stop making active SEO efforts. With SEO, getting on the first page rankings will not come overnight but will be a result of sustained efforts.

  • Cost-effective

SEO doesn’t require spending huge bucks to achieve results. It is a cost-effective strategy that enhances brand awareness and brings quality traffic in comparison to other digital marketing techniques.

  • Higher ROI

Being a cost-effective marketing effort, SEO has a higher ROI in comparison to other digital marketing tactics. In SEO you are not spending on each keyword, and instead, optimize your website to adhere to the algorithm and prescribed guidelines.

  • Building an authority site

If you are looking to build your website as the “go-to” site for niche topics, then SEO can be a great help. Once you get going and reach the top few positions for your targeted keywords, the site will enjoy increased visibility and exposure than other campaigns. It further increases the trust value of your site, eventually building a reputation that helps you dominate the market. 

Pay-per-click or PPC refers to an advertising solution for businesses and websites to bid for a user to click on an ad that is placed on the top of organic search results on SERPs. Simply put, it is buying user rights instead of earning them through organic results or SEO. A PPC ad solution won’t improve your organic search rankings and doesn’t have the same result as SEO. The immediate result is great for small businesses that cannot put efforts into long-term SEO and want instant sales for their offers and promotions. 

When should you use PPC?

  • Require immediate results

Unlike SEO, in PPC the results are more immediate. Once your bids are high enough to merit priority placement, your ads will be immediately visible to your audience, and the traffic will be almost instantaneous. This is an excellent marketing technique for product launch, seasonal promotions, event-focused marketing, etc.

  • Targeted traffic

PPC brings in highly targeted traffic to your website, people who are particularly looking for your products and services. PPC solution allows targeting your audience based on their key demography. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. allow you to target your ad based on audience data like age, gender, income bracket, education level, location, among other factors. 

  • Immediate visibility

PPC offers immediate visibility as opposed to SEO. While SEO efforts take time to show results, with PPC, brands get instant traffic and visibility within the targeted audience. For time-sensitive offers, PPC is a great marketing tool. 

  • To dominate search results for your keyword category

PPC results since paid, are displayed above the organic search results category. Research says that almost 50% of the search traffic goes to the first three sponsored results or links. Therefore, if you are looking to dominate search results for your keyword category, you must absolutely engage in PPC.

PPC and SEO both constitute to be a part of Search Engine Marketing or SEM. While both the marketing techniques are different, there are times when the end goal is the same. Both offer unique possibilities and limitless opportunities for brands to explore. SEO practices build the authority of the site and produce sustained results. Whereas, PPC marketing provides immediate results from a targeted audience even if your website is not particularly designed for SEO. SEO being cost-effective provides higher ROI, PPC on the other hand though costly offers instant visibility. Therefore, the question should not be PPC or SEO, but an integrated approach applying both these marketing techniques for greater results. 

Having worked with countless businesses globally, Citytech has amassed extensive experience when it comes to Digital Marketing and Organic SEO. All our clients vouch for our ethical strategies in creating a successful digital footprint. To get kickstarted on your digital marketing project, contact Citytech at https://www.citytechcorp.com/company/contact-us/.