When dealing with SEO and PPC, it shouldn’t be an “either or” situation. When they work together, it can have exponential benefits on a business’ traffic and revenue.
When it comes to improving online performance, many people think they should choose between an SEO strategy or a PPC campaign for their desired results. While it’s true they ultimately serve different purposes, when combined they can have an even more powerful impact on your business.
When combined, PPC and SEO presents a holistic strategy that drives stronger performance and combines management techniques to save time and effort.
Combined PPC and SEO Strategy
With competing businesses and factors you can’t always predict, it’s important to know your business won’t appear for PPC or SEO in every search. A benefit of PPC is the ability to have controlled visibility for when your business appears and the ability to bid on keywords you are not currently ranking for in organic performance.
Here is an example of this strategy for Adept Marketing client, Elford Properties. The company creates a new website for each apartment complex they build. With the need to quickly fill these apartments, it’s virtually impossible to launch the site near the end of the apartment build and gain domain authority or ranking to appear organically for generic competitive searches that drive traffic to the site. Because of this, we have a different focus for PPC and for SEO. Paid bids on generic terms like “apartment in Italian Village,” to appear for general searches while SEO works on a strong Google My Business performance and brand play for the initial full lease. This allows the apartment building to have a strong appearance in the local pack and visibility when a branded search is conducted.
SEO and PPC Performance
According to Google, multiple results for one brand on the search results page leads to more clicks for that brand. This means it’s beneficial for PPC and SEO to work together to appear as an ad and in the local pack.
An example of this strategy would be to increase budget on PPC to allow for more dollars to be spent on branded keywords. We activated this strategy for a client who wanted to see if increased bids on branded terms would increase traffic to the site.
The results were impressive. The client's performance saw a 27% increase in clicks on branded queries, a 17% percent increase in clicks on non-branded queries, and a revenue increase from the branded queries.
SEO and PPC Management
We know SEO and PPC efforts can ultimately help each other in strategy and performance, but there are also management efficiencies that can be used between the two.
- Keyword Research Tools: Both channels use their own keyword research tools. Typically, SEO uses Google Search Console and PPC uses Google Keyword Planner. Each tool may favor their channel individually, but they can also be used in combination to better understand the search landscape.
- Copy: Using ad copy and meta descriptions in combination can lead to quicker testing for SEO. SEO will optimize meta descriptions and title tags for pages but can only test one at a time. Meanwhile, paid ads can test multiple variations of ad copy for a single page at a time, quickly learning the headlines and descriptions with the highest click-through rate. By combining these insights, SEO can optimize title tags and meta descriptions faster, leading to stronger rankings and better click-through rates.
When used in conjunction, PPC and SEO services can help your business rank in search results, deliver trustworthy content to users, and ultimately lead those users to convert.
Are you interested in learning how a holistic PPC and SEO strategy can improve your online presence? View our services or contact us today.
