The process of driving traffic to your company’s website can seem like a long, frustrating road, but it doesn’t need to be so complicated. Once you have determined your marketing budget, it’s time to allocate those funds to the appropriate channels. Will you focus on organic or paid content? What will you outsource for and what can stay in-house? In this article, we are focusing on the two methods you can use to guide users through the marketing funnel and increase search engine traffic to your site.
What is SEO?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization refers to the process of improving your website’s ranking in search engine results. In other words, SEO helps search engines like Google recognize and understand the content within your website so that users can easily find it when they search for something similar or related to your company. SEO-driven traffic is organic and free, though the process is much more involved than PPC(see below). For a more in depth explanation of SEO, check out our article “SEO for Beginners”.
Pros of SEO
- Organic traffic helps boost search ranking
- SEO works well alongside paid ads
- Helps build credibility and brand recognition
- Higher conversion rate
Cons of SEO
- It’s a long-term process
- Certain keywords have a lot of competition
- Can require a high level of SEO knowledge and strategy
What is PPC?
PPC, or “Pay-Per-Click” is an advertising method used to drive traffic to your website. The term refers to an advertiser paying the publisher for each click received on an ad. Google Ads and Facebook are both examples of PPC publishers, where your ad will appear above the organic results when a user makes an inquiry on the search engine.
Pros of PPC
- Short-Term Results
- A/B Testing
- Adjustable Depending on Budget
- Guaranteed Visibility
Cons of PPC
- Competitive Industries Have a Higher Cost Per Click
- Time Consuming Setup Process
- Can Be Costly if Poorly Managed
- Requires Constant Management
So… Which Should I Use?
This depends on your current budget and goals. While we recommend using both, it’s not always possible for companies to constantly run paid campaigns. If you are looking to increase awareness or your site is relatively new, you can first run paid ads through Google for more immediate results. Once your site is established, optimize your website as much as possible to further improve your ranking and encourage conversions.
Bonus Tips
- Visit the Google Search Console for an audit of your website and receive many helpful insights on your current rank in Google Search along with tips on how you can improve or further optimize your site.
- Conduct extensive keyword research.
- Perform regular competitor analyses. What keywords are they using? How are they ranking? How does their content differ from yours? Make adjustments accordingly.
- Hire a professional to help with both Google Ad Words campaigns and SEO. It’s not impossible to manage these yourself, but be aware that generating website traffic is a very time-consuming and hands-on process. Hiring a professional can help save you time and money in the long run.
If you are aiming to increase traffic and move your site up on the search engine results page(SERPs), our team here at Quantus Creative is happy to deliver lasting results. Contact us here for more information.
