SEO v PPC: What is the Difference?

Without traffic, your website is dead. Barren. Lifeless.

Your website needs visitors. But how do you get traffic? A few suggestions:

You could spam your friends on Facebook. Not advised.
You could stand in a busy street with a big sign. Also not advised.
Or you could do what most other people do and invest in either PPC, SEO, or both.

But when it comes to SEO v PPC, what’s the difference? What do they even mean? What are the benefits of PPC and the benefits of SEO? And which is best for your business?

That’s what we’ll look at now.

Let’s get started.

SEO: Casting a wide net

We’ll kick things off with SEO.

What does SEO mean?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation.

What that means is setting your website up to make it more visible in search engine results.

Everyone wants to be on page one of Google. Why? Because the number one spot on Google gets 32% of all clicks (Backlinko). Page one of Google actually commands 88% of all traffic.

So yeah – page one is definitely the place to be! But how do you get there?

How does SEO work?

That’s a simple question with a complex answer.

In short, there are loads of different ‘parts’ of SEO that all affect which page of Google your website lives on:

Technical SEO
Content
SEO research
Citations
Page Optimisation
Competitor analysis
Link outreach
User experience

If we went into even a tiny amount of detail about any of these now, we’d be here all day.

If you’d like to find out more about these SEO services, click here to do that.

Benefits of SEO

The more you learn about SEO, the more benefits of SEO you’ll come to appreciate. Here are the main three for now:

Organic traffic

What we mean by ‘organic’ traffic is traffic you’ve not paid for.

Organic traffic is people who are searching for the information you’ve shared or the product you sell.

Organic traffic is the best type of traffic.

Free clicks (kinda)

Unlike PPC (which we’ll look at in just a sec), you’re not charged a fee every time someone clicks on your link.

We say it’s ‘kinda’ free because to get to page one on google needs some investment – whether that’s cash, time, or both.

Sustainable

It’s rare a competitor boots you off page one completely without warning. You may lose the top spot but going from the top spot to page two overnight is unlikely.

If you do begin to slip down the pecking order, we can look at why it’s happened and put a strategy in place to put you back on top.

Downsides of SEO

It’s not all traffic and good times. If we’re looking at the benefits of SEO, it’s only fair to look at the downsides too. You’ll notice, however, they aren’t that bad.

The big boys

If huge companies with deep wallets are competing for the same keywords and search terms as you, it can be difficult to out trump them.

Not impossible, but difficult.

Often, it requires a change in strategy. That’s something we will help with.

Speed

SEO is the long game.

Nothing can happen for a while and then BANG, your SEO starts working in sweet harmony and your traffic goes through the roof.

Let’s pretend you’re hungry. If you need food right now and you need it fast, you’d grab McDonald’s, Greggs, or a healthy takeaway salad (if you’re like that).

That fast food will fill you for a few hours, but then you’re hungry again.

SEO, on the other hand, is like planting vegetables in your garden. They’re not ready right now, but when they are, they’ll feed you for a long time.

For a more in-depth look at what SEO is, click here

PPC: Specific targetting

While SEO casts a big net, PPC lets you target specific people.

PPC meaning

PPC (meaning ‘pay per click’) are the ads you see at the very top of Google above the organic search results.

And – as the name suggests – you’re charged every time someone clicks on your ad.

How PPC works

Setting up a PPC campaign is a lot simpler than an SEO campaign:

Create a Google Ads account
Write your ad
Select the geographical area you want to target
Set the keywords you want to target
Decide on your budget
And away you go!

When someone in the area you specified searches for the keyword you selected, your ad will show at the top of the search results.

You only get charged every time someone clicks on your link.

We’ll look at the downsides of PPC later but just to cover this now – if someone was to click on your link, then click the back button, then click your link again, you get charged for every click.

This leaves you wide open to nasty competitors stealing all your clicks. But before we get too negative, PPC does have its positives.

Benefits of PPC

Top of the page

PPC ads will always show above the organic search results. That’s the luxury you pay for.

So unlike SEO where you’re not sure where you’ll end up, you’re on top with PPC, meaning your ad is highly visible.

Easy budgeting

With PPC, you can set fixed daily limits on how much you want to spend.

When you run out of money, your ad stops showing. Simple as that.

Speed

You could run a PPC ad today and enjoy leads tomorrow.

Unlike SEO (which is a slow burner), the benefits of PPC can be immediate.

Visual

Thanks to Google’s new shopping feature, you can include images of your product (along with its price – including regular and sale prices).

This is a massive opportunity for eCommerce stores.

Downsides of PPC

Like SEO, there are some downsides to PPC. However, PPC’s downsides are a bit more damning.

People know they’re ads

Google clearly displays which search results are ads and which aren’t.

Some people automatically think: ‘ad = bad’ and will skip past your result, opting instead for the organic search result (powered by SEO).

Costs can ramp up

It’s easy to get caught in a spiral of spending with PPC.

It’s kind of a gamble, after all. And like gambling, people find it hard to know when to quit.

You may think: ‘I’ve invested £X, and I’m not leaving before I make a sale’, investing more into an ad that doesn’t work (either because of the ad copy or the targeting).

No cash, no ad

The moment you stop spending, your ad disappears.

Poof. Gone.

SEO, on the other hand, doesn’t need you to pay cash daily to maintain its position.

Bidding wars

PPC can be a battlefield.

It’s easy for your rivals to copy your ads word-for-word and redirect traffic through to their websites.

After all, you can bid on any keywords you want.

Let’s pretend you sell protein bars. Your brand is called Protein House.

A rival brand (let’s call them Power Protein) can bid on the keyword ‘protein house’ so when someone searches for your business, their ad shows top of page.

This can mean your PPC campaign gets very pricey very quickly.

SEO v PPC: The main differences

Speed

SEO = can take a while to build, but the wait is worth it.

PPC = potentially quick (but fleeting) results.

Position

PPC = PPC is at the top of the pile. In the penthouse. The only thing is PPC is renting the penthouse on Airbnb. Someone is waiting to move in the same day.

SEO = You might be in the lower levels of the apartment block, but your lease is more secure.

Costs

PPC = Needs a constant cash injection to work.

SEO = Works without constant spending.

SEO v PPC: What is best for your business?

There are too many factors involved for us to give you that answer now.

The best thing you can do now is to get in touch with our strategy expert, Kathy, who will work with you to understand your business goals.

Email her now on kathy@staging.white.digital.