Since the onset of the pandemic, businesses have been forced to rely on various methods and strategies to generate leads, increase traffic, and drive conversions.
But there seems to be a split in schools of thought on SEO and PPC. Many claim that SEO is the best way to generate website traffic, while others still rely on PPC to drive higher traffic more quickly.
In this article:
- What does SEO stand for?
- What does PPC stand for?
- How do SEO and PPC Work Together?
- 5 Tips for Creating an SEO and PPC Strategy
With multi-channel marketing becoming a key component of successful digital marketing strategies, it’s more important than ever to create a comprehensive and streamlined approach.
Social media marketing, advanced SEO techniques, PPC, influencers — there is so much data for marketers to harness to get it right.
Combining SEO and PPC strategies can help reduce the chatter so that the data can speak for itself in the form of increased traffic and profits.
What does SEO stand for?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It refers to the process of improving a website’s visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) through various techniques and strategies.
This includes keyword research, on-page optimization, link building, and improving site speed, among other factors.
For your ecommerce website to appear higher in search engine rankings, it’s important to invest in a comprehensive SEO strategy.
When it comes to spending, SEO can be free. All it takes is time and effort to learn about your target audience, the keywords they search for to find websites like yours, and how to leverage that information in your content strategy.
Generating organic traffic to your ecommerce site this way is a slower process that requires continuous maintenance and keyword research.
Rising to the top of search engine results helps lock in a consistent stream of traffic to your site.
What does PPC stand for?
PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click, a type of online advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.
It’s commonly associated with platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads, as well as social media networks such as Facebook and Instagram.
This model drives traffic to websites by allowing advertisers to bid on keywords relevant to their target audience.
The advertiser pays a publisher (like Google) every time the ad is clicked, while the publisher puts your ad in front of audiences likely to be interested in your products.
These ads can be placed anywhere online. You can find them on other ecommerce pages, social media networks, and anywhere ads can be found online.
Publishers often leverage AI-powered integrations to analyze buying behavior and consumer activity to place ads with the most appropriate audiences.
How do SEO and PPC work together?
Using both SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) together can be a powerful way to get more leads and increase sales for your ecommerce store. Both strategies focus on using keywords to reach people who are ready to buy or take action.
SEO helps your website show up in search results without paying for ads, while PPC gets your paid ads to the top of the page.
When you combine them, you’re covering more ground on search engines, making it easier to attract customers. This combined strategy is often called Search Engine Marketing (SEM), which means using both free and paid methods to show up in search results.
Using SEO and PPC together works well because PPC can quickly show which keywords drive the most traffic. You can then use those keywords to improve your SEO.
On the flip side, a strong SEO presence can lower the cost of your PPC ads because your website already ranks well.
Finally, choosing a payment service that offers crucial features like invoicing, easy integrations, and automatic payments can make managing your store easier while you focus on improving your SEM strategy.
5 Tips for Creating an SEO & PPC Strategy
- Keep it consistent
- Share relevant data
- Test your keywords
- Build trust
- Optimize your ecommerce site
Making the most of your SEO and PPC strategies as a synergized process is not as complicated as it sounds.
Here are some tips to get you on the right track to create a successful combined SEO and PPC strategy:
1. Keep it consistent
To make the most of integrating marketing strategies, consistency is key.
Make sure your tone and customer impact align with your brand goals, so you can attract the right audiences from the start, no matter how they encounter your site.
2. Share relevant data
Running two campaigns simultaneously means that there is twice as much data to analyze. Luckily, this can work to your advantage.
Determine what keywords achieve the highest conversion rates, and use that information to optimize your strategy.
Next, leverage that information to inform your content strategy. Other relevant data, such as site search information, customer behavior, and other metrics, can help increase the efficiency of your SEO and PPC campaigns.
3. Test your keywords
A/B testing is crucial to any successful digital marketing strategy, and a combined approach to SEO and PPC can further enhance your testing capabilities.
Testing is crucial for brands that really want to leave an impression on consumers and increase traffic to their ecommerce pages. To ensure that your messaging is effective, A/B testing is the way to go.
4. Build trust
In addition to increasing traffic and profits and reducing ad spend, another great reason to combine your PPC and SEO approaches is to build trust with your consumers.
Consistent brand messaging across multiple channels and a combined focus on finances build credibility and ensure compliance with PCI standards.
This lets your customers know you are an authentic brand with the online expertise to keep their data secure.
5. Optimize your eCommerce site
Website optimization is the foundation of your entire brand as an ecommerce site. If your ecommerce brand is serious about making money online, then you have to make your website easy to use and navigate.
Even sites with high-quality content and informed PPC campaigns that generate high traffic struggle to convert when page speeds are slow.
Every element on your website should scale across screens of different sizes. Opt for a mobile-first design and consider your mobile shoppers at every step.
Conclusion
The internet is full of ecommerce sites and advertisers that are all fighting for visual real estate.
As the holiday shopping season ramps up, it’s even more important for ecommerce sites to pull their resources together and commit to an integrated advertising plan with SEO and PPC.
At first glance, it’s easy to categorize SEO and PPC as two completely separate digital marketing strategies.
However, it might be more helpful to think of them as two parts of a whole that work together to maximize the value of your digital marketing strategy.
There are many ways SEO and PPC efforts complement each other and can lead to a more complete search engine strategy.
Author Bio:
Shanice Jones is a techy nerd and copywriter from Chicago. For the last five years, she has helped over 20 startups build B2C and B2B content strategies that have enabled them to scale their businesses and reach users worldwide.
