I've got a trick question for you. It incorrectly implies that one is superior to the other. Even yet, pitting SEO vs. paid search is one of the most prevalent mistakes businesses makes when attempting to manage digital marketing, sometimes to their cost.
As a result, we propose instead working out:
"Will SEO or PPC deliver the better ROI?"
It's a bit less zingy, but it's a lot more useful.
We'll show you how to answer that second, considerably more profitable question down below. We'll examine the differences between SEO and Paid Search, as well as their benefits and drawbacks, and, most importantly, which is the best investment for your company's unique goals.
Why Should You Be Concerned About SEO and Paid Ads?
The two cornerstones of digital marketing, according to many, are SEO and Paid Search. We can understand why by looking at some organic and sponsored search statistics.
Organic and sponsored search account for 68 percent of all website traffic in total:
Organic search accounts for 53% of site visitors.
Paid search accounts for 15% of total site visitors.
These values represent an average of all industries. (The figures vary depending on the industry.) Organic traffic accounts for 64% of B2B traffic, for example. Paid traffic accounts for almost 24% of all traffic in eCommerce.)
Furthermore, it has been shown that paid and organic search account for 72 % of all revenue.
Perhaps we should pause for a moment to take that in. According to research, organic and paid search account for two-thirds of all income. That's a very high figure. That is why SEO and paid advertising are important.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
The practice of boosting the visibility of your website and webpages in search engine organic results, such as Google and Bing, is known as search engine optimization (SEO).
Trying to get your websites to rank higher and your brand to take up more space on search engine result pages is the most common example (SERP). This is performed by optimizing your web content to please search engine algorithms, which rank you based on the quality and relevancy of your sites.
Advantages of SEO Less expensive in the long-term
It needs little maintenance.
Produces sustained, long-term traffic
Builds brand credibility and trust
Potentially greater reach
Long-term return on investment
SEO's drawbacks
It takes longer to get results.
Poor for time-sensitive material; provides less performance management, and provides more ambiguous statistics
Do you want to learn more? Take a look at the top SEO advantages.
What is Paid Search and How Does It Work?
Paid search is the practice of paying to have your website and web pages appear more prominently on search engines or their partner sites. It's also known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
The goal is to have these paid adverts appear at the top of the SERP. Bidding and keyword targeting are used to accomplish this. Costs are usually incurred when they are clicked (cost-per-click or CPC) or when a large number of individuals see them (cost-per-thousand or CPM).
PPC advertising platforms are available from Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Amazon.
Advantages of Paid Search
Results are produced quickly.
More control over performance, which is useful for time-sensitive material.
Audience targeting that is laser-focused
Analyzes in great detail
Short-term higher ROI
The Drawbacks of Paid Search
Short-term costs are higher.
It needs extra maintenance.
Over time, it becomes less effective and may need larger expenses.
SEO vs. Paid Search: What's the Difference?
The following are the main difference between SEO and paid search ads:
Placement on SERPs: SEO vs. Paid Search
Paid advertisements display at the top of the search results page. They have a strong presence above-the-fold and are always the first thing a user sees. On desktop, they can accept up to four snippets, and on mobile, they can take up to three. Paid advertising can sometimes show at the bottom of a page, making them the last thing a user views.
Organic search results occupy the remaining ten snippet slots on a page, but visitors must scroll through paid adverts to get the top-ranking organic results.
Real Estate on SERPs: SEO vs. Paid Search
Organic content takes up more space than paid adverts, which appear first. Paid advertisements always appear in the same places and are limited in the amount of space they can take up on a page.
The material on organic SERPs is more adaptable.
Thanks to things like FAQ schema, page snippets may extend and include more branded information. With rich snippets, the local Map Pack, and the Knowledge Graph, companies may leverage SEO to appear in extra parts of a results page. All of this adds up to a lot of potential SERP real estate for companies to market via SEO.
Cost of Placement: SEO vs. Paid Search
Businesses must pay for their advertising to appear on SERPs, therefore paid search has a direct cost (via CPC or CPM). As a result, the expenses of paid search advertisements can easily spiral out of control.
There is no direct expense associated with SEO. Search engines give free placement in organic results, making it a far more cost-effective technique in the long run.
Both SEO and paid search involve indirect expenses, of course. For example, the expenditures of creating, developing, and maintaining internet content.
KPIs for SEO vs. Paid Search
The following are two of the most effective key performance indicators (KPIs) for both SEO and PPC:
CTR stands for click-through rate.
CVR stands for conversion rate.
According to the most recent data, the top organic search result on Google has an average CTR of 31.7 %. (The second and third places, respectively, give 24.7 % and 18.6 %.)
Google's paid advertising has a CTR of 5% on average. Their CVR is 3.75 %.
While it's impossible to calculate an average conversion rate for SEO, it's been estimated that organic search results are 8.5 times more likely to be clicked than paid search advertisements, with paid search ads being 1.5 times more likely to convert. That would give SEO a CVR of about 2.5 %.
Goal: Instant Results
Edge: Paid Search
Paid search is the way to go if you want to produce rapid sales.
Purchase intent might be fickle. Consumers are fast to alter their minds, so it's critical for companies to be in front of them when they're ready to buy.
Implementing SEO takes time and yields excellent returns. More quick effects are possible with PPC.
As a result, paid search is an excellent short-term solution for advertising your products and services, particularly if they are seasonal or time-sensitive.
So, if you're looking for a quick fix, go with PPC.
Goal: Exposure
Edge: SEO
The aim of increased exposure boils down to the number of people who can be reached. In this aspect, SEO outperforms paid search.
Not only does SEO allow you to brand more SERP real estate, but it also allows you to rank on various search engines and for multiple search queries with minimal extra effort or money. To deliver paid advertisements in a similar way, you'll need to establish various campaigns and ad sets across a range of channels, which costs time and money.
With SEO, you may enormously and continuously grow your total reach with a single piece of content.
Goal: Targeting Audiences.
Edge: Paid Search
Any marketing plan must have a thorough understanding of your target demographic and the ability to properly target them. SEO can target certain inquiries, but beyond that, the options are restricted. Paid search targeting tactics, on the other hand, have no limitations.
PPC advertising allows you to target your ideal customers in the most thorough way possible.
To guarantee that your advertisements are displayed to the appropriate people at the right time, you may segment your audiences by age, geographic area, gender, affinity, language, device, lookalike audiences, parental status, income, in-market interests, keywords, online behaviour, and a variety of other criteria.
Conclusion: Both SEO and paid search are excellent options.
So, which is better: SEO or Pay-Per-Click (PPC)?
Neither. They're both great.
Both SEO and PPC may help your company grow and deliver fantastic returns. But only if you know when to utilize them to get the most out of them.
If you can't achieve both rights immediately, prioritize your objectives and begin executing the method that best fits the one at the top. In order to stay competitive and dominate your sector, you'll need to use both SEO and PPC successfully. That is the only method to ensure that you achieve all of your company objectives.
Contact us to learn more about how collaboration with our team may help you achieve your objectives by utilizing SEO and PPC.