The main difference between organic search and PPC (pay-per-click) is cost.
Organic Search and SEO
While optimising your business for organic search is free, it is time consuming and if you don’t know what you’re doing it can do more harm than good. There are plenty of training courses you can do, but you need to keep up to date with what Google does and doesn’t like, as it changes frequently. There are business who specialise in SEO and know exactly what to do to get your website ranking high in organic search. They will work with you to develop an effective SEO plan, driving traffic to the website and creating content that converts visitors into customers.
Carrying out an SEO plan takes time and effort, and you don’t get immediate results but after 3-6 months you should start to see a rise in rankings and an increase in traffic. Don’t get disheartened, keep the momentum going or you’ll end up back at square one. The purpose of SEO is to drive traffic to your website and encourage people to buy your products or services. The more traffic, the better Google will view your website, and the higher you’ll get ranked. The higher you’re ranked, the more people will see your site and click on it, and the more traffic etc…
While it’s important to make sure your website is Google-friendly, it’s even more important to make it user-friendly. The current best practice for website content is a good balance of text and images, along with video and graphics. Think about your target market when creating content, and remember the golden rule, keep it original! Keep your site updated regularly with new content that helps your visitors, whether that’s through blogs, news or general content updates.
What you do in the backend of your website helps greatly in driving traffic, meta details are what shows in searches so make them compelling and informative. Make sure your images have ALT text as Google can’t read them. Linking to other websites of relevance is an important ranking factor, as are social media profiles and directory listings.
Pay-Per-Click
As the name suggests, PPC incurs a charge whenever someone clicks on your ad. The main benefit of PPC is that you can be seen on page 1 of Google immediately if you have the budget.
To prevent overspending on PPC advertising it’s important to set up your campaigns correctly so only people who are likely to buy your products or services will click.
Google Ads is set up in a way that helps you get the most clicks for your money, as long as you have a basic understanding of your target market. You need to know the terms people will use to search for what you are selling, and what would make them choose you over your competitors. Examples include free delivery, free returns, discounts etc. Highlighting your USPs will encourage people to visit your website to find out more.
Don’t forget that if your website isn’t up to scratch it may put people off when they do land on it, so pay attention to your SEO. If they are looking for a particular product or service make sure they land on the right page, or you run the risk of losing them if they can’t immediately find what they are looking for.
If all of this sounds daunting we can help. We have worked with businesses in a wide variety of sectors to improve their rankings and run PPC campaigns to drive more traffic to their website.
Get in touch on 01964 542916 or email [email protected] for a no-obligation chat.