PPC and SEO marketing
Here at Alphaquad we are big advocates of using PPC and SEO marketing alongside each other as they both offer different benefits and together can bring about the best results for your website.
A PPC and SEO strategy
Here are some examples of when to use PPC and what it can do for you when combined strategically with SEO.
To bridge the gap while SEO efforts take effect
As you will know, SEO takes time. You should expect to see an increase in ranking position during the first 6 months which will demonstrate the process is working. However, the speed at which keywords progress is dependent on a number of factors – how much competition there is for terms, how much competitors are investing in SEO and the time and budget you are investing in SEO.
SEO also works on a ‘tipping point’ principle. Generally, results do not manifest into enquiries until you break into the top 10 and not in volume until the top 5 positions, so although SEO will be working it could take several months before this translates into sales.
While this is taking effect, PPC can be used to bring you instantly to the top of the page for your chosen terms, and therefore bring the sales while you wait for the organic rankings to establish.
To give you a presence with highly competitive terms, even if you rank for them
You might think that once organic rankings are achieved then you can drop PPC advertising, but there will still be some terms that it is worth continuing with.
One of our clients occupied 8 of the top 10 positions on Google for a specific branded search, yet 75% of people weren’t landing on their site (based on Google’s data of how many people were searching for this phrase).
On investigation, we discovered that a number of other companies were bidding on their branded terms; these adverts are appearing above the organic listings and so the majority of the 75% of visitors going elsewhere are likely to be clicking on them.
If other people are bidding on your primary target terms then you need to ensure that you are doing the same.
To provide better targeting
With SEO you have no control over who finds your site, yet with PPC you can refine your targeting to bring about the right visitors for you. There are a number of filters you can use to narrow down your target audience with PPC including:
- Geographical location
- Sex
- Age
- Household income
- Interests
- Life events
- Any many more
To reach people who don’t know they need your products or services yet
SEO works for people who already know they need your company or a product you sell (they have to go to Google and search it), but some PPC advertising, e.g. display banners, can reach people who don’t realise they need you yet.
You can refine targeting based on interests they have or websites they have visited in order to show them your adverts on Google’s partner websites. For example, if you sell baby clothes, you can target people who have been reading parenting websites, blogs, and forums and tell them about you.
This kind of advertising works especially well for people whose products and services lend themselves visually as it heavily focuses on image-based adverts.
To inform your SEO priorities
PPC is great because it can give you almost instant data to work with. For example, within 3-4 weeks of running a campaign, you will have valuable information such as
- Which keywords bring the most traffic to your website
- Which keywords convert best on your website
And equally
- Which keywords bring the least traffic to your website
- Which keywords don’t convert on your website
This data can be used to inform your SEO priorities – you can take the list of terms that you have converted for from your PPC campaigns and focus on improving their SEO ranking, as you know that when you achieve better positions for these it will bring you the right type of traffic.
PPC and SEO integration
So if you’ve been convinced that you want to run both together, what do you need to know about PPC and SEO integration? In essence, there isn’t very much to it. Initially most of your SEO-focused landing pages can be used for PPC if you want to get the campaigns up and running quickly.
If you have more time, or over time once the campaign is launched, it is recommended to create separate PPC landing pages – just ensure your PPC agency knows how to index these so your SEO efforts aren’t hampered. Having separate landing pages for your PPC allows you to make refinements without worrying about the impact it will have on your already established SEO rankings. Some of the features you may want to try out on your PPC pages include:
- Shortening copy to make it more conversion focused
- Conversion optimisation – eg button sizes, shape, colours, layouts etc
- Video content
- Case study content
- Reviews
- Tools and widgets
If you find anything particularly effective when experimenting on your PPC pages, these can also be rolled out to your indexed SEO pages too.
AlphaQuad have extensive experience in PPC services so call us now on 01789 491610 or request your free PPC and Digital Advertising Audit to see how we could help you.
