Most businesses today have come to the realization that they need Search Engine Marketing for their business. But, should you do Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) or both? Well, let’s have a look at their pro’s and cons and see which is right for your business.

SEO

Pros:

• Virtually Free (But, it takes time.)
• Long term results
• Good for branding
• More users click on natural listings

Cons:

• Lower conversion rates than PPC
• Limited amount of keywords to advertise on
• Long term investment

PPC

Pros:

• Instant traffic source
• Able to advertise on several keywords
• More traffic outside of search engine searches
• Higher conversion rates
• Better medium for testing
• Geographic targeting

Cons:

• Must pay for ad spend
• Small mistakes can lead to large losses
• Takes time to achieve an ideal ROI

Both

Of course we’d recommend that you do both, but that’s not just because of the industry I’m in, the facts speak for themselves. In a recent conversation with Dave Davies at Bean Stalk SEO he stated that he had read that when users see you in the paid and natural search results it can boost conversion rates by approximately 14%. Also, by doing both you’ll get the long term branding of SEO and the instant traffic that converts from PPC.

CC