Some businesses are better off focusing on SEO strategies instead of relying on PPC. Some others will get more results with PPC, especially when the keyword competition is really though. Some, however, can get the most on getting the best of both worlds.

So, which one is the best for your business? This guide will attempt to help you answer that question. Before we discuss the factors that might affect your decision, however, let us discuss the key differences between PPC and SEO.

Understanding SEO, PPC, and Their Differences

In my previous post, I discussed SEO, especially Google SEO, its benefits, and the working methods. In its essence, Google SEO is optimizing your site to get a high ranking in the organic search result. There are many strategies we can do to achieve this, but the most important ones are optimizing your on and off-site SEO and getting links from quality sites.

So, in its basic principle, you can be successful in SEO for totally free, provided you got the necessary skills and patience. The catch? SEO strategies require a long-term, consistent effort. If you work with SEO expert Mike, expect to wait for 6 to 12 months before you see results, although in some cases, faster success is possible.

On the other hand, as the name suggests, PPC advertising allows you to advertise your pages faster while targetting a specific keyword. Generally, you will pay the advertising fee based on how many clicks are made, hence the name. There are several options if you want to start a PPC campaign: Google Adwords is the most popular choice since we all know the importance of Google search, there is also Bing ads if you want to target Bing, and Yahoo Search Marketing among others.

So, as you might have guessed, PPC offers a faster, often instantaneous results to your campaigns. However, a click to your advertising doesn’t always translate to conversion. If you are not careful with your PPC campaigns, you can actually lose money even when the traffic has increased.

So, in a perfect world, doing both PPC and SEO is the ideal way. However, there are both internal and external factors that can make doing both not beneficial for your business. So, which one is the ideal one for your business? Let us discuss below.

SEO VS PPC: What’s Right For Your Business?

Now that we have covered the major differences between the two, let us discuss several factors you should consider in an SEO VS PPC case.

1. How Expensive Are The Cost-Per-Click (CPC) of Your Keywords?

We have discussed that although PPC is almost always effective in driving traffic, it is not always cost-effective. So, the cost of the PPC advertising of your keywords and the average in your industry will be the first factor to consider.

PPC platforms like Google Adwords or Bing Ads will allow you to bid for what you are willing to pay for a click, hence the name “cost-per-click” or CPC. For example, if you want to target “best restaurant NYC” as your keyword, you could use the Traffic Estimator within the Google’s Keyword Research Tool for free.

So, if necessary, you can also target your competitor’s business name as a keyword. This can be beneficial in a competitive industry. Some keywords can be below a Dollar, but CPC for competitive keywords can be much higher, in some cases above $50 per click.

This guide can be very useful to determine the average CPC for your industry. After you’ve understood how much you will need to spend for PPC, we can consider the next factor.

2. How Large Is Your Available Budget

First things first, you should remember that SEO and CPC is a part of a larger ballgame: your digital marketing strategy. So, your SEO and/or CPC budget will also be a part of your digital marketing budget. If you are still unsure about your marketing budget, this guide can be a good place to start.

As we have mentioned, PPC is not cheap, so expect to start with at least $8 to $10 a day as your budget. If you are not willing to spend that much on PPC advertising, you will need to stick with free SEO tactics, although you will still need to spend on manpower unless you will be doing it yourself.

If you are already successful with SEO and do have a little capital to invest in PPC, however, consider giving it a try. Another major downside of SEO we haven’t yet to mention here is the constant change of Google’s algorithm.

If you rely solely on SEO, your website can lose significant traffic when there’s an algorithm update affecting your current strategy. By investing on PPC, you can mitigate that risk and still get some traffic.

Before you understand more about the ins and outs of PPC, however, we will advise in starting with a small budget. Always track your campaign with Google Analytics, as well as other third-party tools. If your ROI is negative, evaluate your campaign, target keyword, and other related metrics.

This guide by MainPath will help you plan your PPC budget.

3. How Competitive Is The Natural Search Ranking In Your Industry?

If your niche or industry, in general, is very competitive, it might be totally impossible to compete by using SEO alone. For example, some industries have big brands and high-authority websites dominating the SERP (Search Engine Result Page).

To see how competitive the SERP is for your keywords, use the Google’s Keyword Research and PlannerTool. This way, you can determine the difficulty of your competition, as well as the number of advertisers (your competition).

In highly competitive industries, investing on PPC is almost always an absolute necessity.

Bottom Line

By asking the three questions above, you can determine whether SEO or PPC is the better pick for your business. However, as we have mentioned, if your budget allows and if the CPC still permits a positive ROI, consider combining both for better results.

One thing you should remember is that both SEO and PPC have their own respective learning curve. If you decided to invest in one or both of them, make sure to always evaluate your progress and find out where you can do better.

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What is Retargeting?

First, we should clarify the common misconception regarding retargeting and remarketing. Although they are related to each other, retargeting is not necessarily remarketing, and vice versa.

The term “remarketing” refers to the marketing efforts targeted to the same prospects again and again. When you see the same restaurant ads repeatedly on those billboards beside the road, that is remarketing.

Retargeting, on the other hand, is a new form of remarketing for the digital world. With retargeting, we are shown repeated online ads on the same traffic for a dedicated time. While retargeting is fairly new, it has grown to be the biggest aspect of remarketing in recent years. Generally, there are three main applications of retargeting:

1. Retargeting the audience who have visited your site
2. Retargeting those who have visited your competitors’ sites
3. Retargeting the audience that has taken certain actions depending on your business’s needs (i.e. retargeting those who have tried a free-trial demo on your site)

Why Retargeting?

Since retargeting is technically a form of remarketing, we should first understand the benefits of remarketing. Let’s take the classic iOS vs Android debate, for example. No, we are not going to discuss which one is better, however, there is a high likelihood that the one you prefer is the one you are more exposed to.

If most of your friends are using Android phones (and they recommended it to you, consciously or subconsciously), you are more likely to be an Android user. The idea is, we are more likely to enjoy what we are familiar with.

So how do we build on this with retargeting? Let’s use another example. Let’s say you just browsed on Amazon for a new TV set. Then, for whatever reasons, you decided to stop looking for a TV set that day. A proper retargeting campaign might target you, and when you later on opened your Facebook later that day, a TV ad shows up, effectively reminding you to buy that TV.

If you are familiar with the marketing funnel concept, you might understand that with every step of the buyer’s journey, the possibility of a conversion will be smaller. Retargeting, in essence, is an effort to optimize the chance of conversion in each funnel stage.

Retargeting is also a very effective tactic to build brand awareness, while a study by ComScore suggested that retargeting can increase site visitation by a whopping 726%.

How Retargeting Works

There are two popular ways to run a retargeting campaign: through Google Adwords or Facebook Ads. There are other platforms that offer retargeting services, but considering the size of Google Adwords and Facebook Ads, they should be your first choices.

Retargeting works mainly with the help of a code snippet in the form of a cookie in your customer’s browser. The cookie will then collect their information and based on that gathered data, you can then target those visitors with your promotion.

How about targeting your competitors’ audience?

The best method is using keyword-targeting. Here, you can target a certain keyword related to your industry while excluding your own visitor. This is a pretty reliable method, especially if you are in a competitive industry.

The second, and arguably the easiest method, is to use social media: for example, we can target those who have followed or liked our competitors.

Setting Up Google Ads Retargeting

Google Ads offers a built-in retargeting feature, so you can set up a retargeting campaign easily following these steps:

1. Click on ‘shared library’ on the left of your Ads dashboard
2. Click ‘view’ under Audiences, and you can choose ‘Set Up Remarketing’. Leave the box unchecked for now
3. Google will offer to send you instructions, get it if you want. Check the ‘Use the Google Analytics tag’ box
4. Set up a new list after clicking on ‘Remarketing List’
5. Click on ‘Visitors to a page with a specific tag’, then create a new tag
6. Set the campaign duration
7. Hit “Save,” and you will get your retargeting cookie on the next page

After you’re done, simply copy and paste the retargeting cookie code into the HTML body tag of your site.

There you have it, you’ve set up a Google Ads retargeting campaign!

Setting Up Facebook Ads Retargeting

Facebook Ads are even easier with less necessary steps and Facebook will walk you through every step. Here are 3 things you will need to know before starting a Facebook Ad Campaign, but you can set up your campaign easily through the following steps:

First, click on ‘Tools’ in your ad manager, and select ‘Pixels’

Enter your domain name, and Facebook will walk you through all the necessary steps. You will then get your retargeting cookie code snippet.

The biggest benefit of the retargeting campaign is higher conversions in each stage of your funnel. It is specifically targeted for those who have shown interest in your brand, product, or your niche, so you know they are shopping.

While the concept of retargeting and code snippets might be confusing at first, it is actually quite easy to learn as Google and Facebook have taken the necessary steps to make this comprehensive system easy to operate. However, it takes years of experience to understand where to invest marketing dollars to get the most return, that’s where B2B marketing consultant can help your business on creating content, generating demand, and enabling sales using budget with maximum efficiency.

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