That’s a question we answer a lot at Seattle SEO Consultant from business owners that want maximum results for their online marketing dollars. To answer this question, let’s first take a look at each strategy and then determine which one would the best one for your business.

Pay Per Click (PPC)

At its core, PPC is paid advertising for your business. If you’re willing to shell out the cash, you can appear high in the sponsored results sections from search engines. The higher your bid, the more likely you are to reach the number one spot. With PPC, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This means that it pays off to do some research as to what are keywords that not only drive clicks but end in sales.

The biggest advantage from PPC is that it can get your website to page one in a matter of minutes. The biggest challenge with PPC is that to get the best bang out of your buck; you need to spend a lot of time optimizing your campaigns with the right keywords and copy.

Organic SEO

The term “organic SEO” sounds a lot more mystical than it really is. Basically, it boils down to optimizing your website, so the search engines understand it, like it, and reward it with high rankings in the “natural” or “organic” search results.

Searchers like to click on websites at the top of the organic search results for one really good reason: If Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and any other search engine think your website is worthy of a front page results, searchers will think you must be the best at what you do.

While, in the past, it was possible to trick the system, search engines are getting much better at providing relevant results based on content. Investing in organic SEO strategies will help you avoid any penalties from search engines.

Which Strategy Is Best For You?

It depends on your current situation:

Need immediate traffic today and have the money to pay for it? PPC is probably best for you. A well oiled PPC campaign can get you fast results, however, PPC isn’t necessarily a good long term strategy on its own.

Are you able to wait a bit for traffic? Organic SEO strategies will set your website “right” with the Google Gods and potentially bring you long term traffic and higher rankings. While organic SEO services can be costly in the long run, the price of getting hit by search engines algorithm updates due to shady SEO practices can be very costly and potentially devastating.

Which is best for you? Maybe using BOTH online marketing techniques is right for your business. They complement each other nicely when done right. One could say they are a match made in SEO heaven.

Get Your Free Consultation

Ready to get started with your PPC or organic SEO campaign, or want to learn more? We’ve got a free deal for you. Click to schedule your free, no-obligation 30-minute consultation with Seattle SEO Consultant’s resident PPC/organic SEO experts.

We are more than happy to talk about your options, answer your questions, and show you how the appropriate mix of these two strategies can help your business thrive long term.