When it comes to Internet Marketing, there are two options you can choose from - Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Natural Search Engine Optimisation. To help you decide which is the best option for your website, let us clarify what each of these mean and then point out some of their Pros or Cons.
What is Natural Search Engine Optimisation?
Natural Search Engine Optimisation is the process of making changes to a website such as increasing keyword density, altering page names and hidden meta data aswell as creating a strategy to acquire more inbound links. It usually includes a number of steps and processes including keyword research, directory submission, link popularity improvement, site content enhancement and competitor analysis. The changes made to a website can be virtually undetectable to anyone viewing it but can make a big difference to the websites ranking in Search Engines. Natural Search Engine Optimisation can also be referred to as Organic Search Engine Optimisation and improves the position in which a website appears in the natural search engine results rather than the Sponsored Links section.
Pros of Natural Search Engine Optimisation
- Usually involves a one-off fee and smaller ongoing fees
- Over the long-term works out cheaper than pay-per-click
- Produces long lasting results as good optimisation of a website may last for many years
- Free ongoing search engine results
- Users Prefer Natural to Paid Search Results and generally associate more trust with these than Sponsored Links.
- Has the highest conversion rate and best ROI of any online marketing method
Cons of Natural Search Engine Optimisation
- Little control over Search Engine Results
- No guarantees for a specific ranking or position
- Targets a relatively low number of high-trafficked keyword phrases
- Slow Results as search engines can take months to reflect changes to a website
- Uncertainty about results of changes made - some could have a negative impact
- Must continually work on site content, keywords and inbound links.
What is Pay-Per-Click (PPC)?
When you do a query on a search engine, you will see the "Sponsored Links" section at the top of your search results or on the right hand column of your screen. These are the Pay-Per-Click advertisements. If someone clicks on the link, you are charged a fee by the search engine. You can select the keywords and phrases appropriate to your web site. The advertisement appears anytime someone queries these specified keywords. You maintain the ranking by "bidding" an amount that you are willing to pay each time a visitor clicks on the link from a search engine results page. Usually the advertisement from the highest paying bidder appears in the top position. Google and Yahoo run the two most popular pay-per-click services.
Pros of Pay-Per-Click
- Immediate Results as changes can take effect in just a couple of hours
- Performance Tracking is easy and quick to access
- Advertisements can direct prospective customers to the destination of choice, allowing a greater opportunity to convert.
- There are a number of options when choosing pricing and advertisement parameters
- Good for websites that are difficult to modify or can't be changed for various reasons such as a heavy reliance on Flash, frames, or graphics.
- Guaranteed Placement even on high-volume keywords
- Option to frequently change the content of advertisements to promote particular products or to make seasonal offers.
- Excellent for seasonal sales or other time-dependent promotions
- Is a perfect interim measure until your Natural SEO results show up in the search engines.
Cons of Pay-Per-Click
- Can be very expensive, especially with keywords for highly competitive advertisements
- A regular and recurring expense.
- Ranking or position is based on the cost of the advertisement.
- Can be time consuming to monitor and maintain
- Risk of PPC Fraud - competitors can deplete your advertising money by clicking on your advertisements.
- Users generally click on natural search results rather than on paid advertisements.
Is PPC or Natural for you?
Firstly decide whether or not you want your website found by Search Engines for anything other than your business name. Some organisations don't need the expense of Search Engine Optimisation as the majority of their visitors use the business name to find the website. This works well if your business name is the same as your domain name and your website adheres to standard SEO principles. However, if you want your website to be found for keywords other than your business name, you will require at least some basic SEO adjustments.
To be successful online we believe your website should have a mix of both Natural Search Engine Optimisation and Pay-Per-Click marketing. Ideally you should run a Pay-Per-Click campaign until you are happy with the Natural Search Engine Optimisation results.
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