SEO & PPC: Explained

In today’s digital marketplace, visibility is everything. Organisations are constantly competing. Not only do they compete on product quality and pricing, but they also compete on how easily their customers and prospective customers can find them online. Two of the most powerful and effective ways of ensuring a maximum level of visibility online are search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. 

While both of those things aim to drive traffic from search engines, they work in fundamentally different ways. Understanding how they function and when to use each tactic is paramount for getting the best possible results when it comes to marketing success. In this article, we’ll be explaining what SEO and PPC are, alongside when you should use them. So, let’s dive right in. 

SEO: explained

Let’s delve deeper into SEO. We’ll be explaining what it is, what the key components are, the benefits to be had by implementing SEO strategies for maximum visibility online and when you should use it. So, let’s take a closer look at search engine optimisation:

What is SEO?

Search engine optimisation, more commonly referred to in the industry as SEO, is the process used by businesses and marketers alike to improve a website’s visibility in the organic (non-paid) search results of the search engines. 

When an internet user types in a relevant keyword and searches for it, the engines will rank pages based on relevance, authority and user experience (UX). Essentially, SEO focuses on optimising a website in order for search engines to consider it valuable. The more valuable it is, the higher it will rank in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

What are the core components of SEO?

SEO is made up of several core components and pillars. This includes on-page SEO, technical SEO and off-page SEO. But that doesn’t actually explain a lot, so let’s take a look at those components in more detail:

• On-page SEO – this includes carrying out keyword optimisation, writing title tags and meta descriptions, creating a header structure (H1, H2 and H3), ensuring internal linking and keeping quality and relevance at the forefront of content creation
• Technical SEO – this focuses on improving elements of your website, including its speed, mobile-friendliness, secure connections (HTTPS), structured data and its level of crawlability and, therefore, indexing by the search engines
• Off-page SEO – backlinks, brand mentions, social signals and online reputation are built and used to generate traffic, leads, conversions and sales

What are the benefits of SEO?

There are many ways in which a business or a marketer can benefit from using SEO strategies to get as much exposure online as possible. Some of the main benefits include: generating long-term, sustainable traffic, achieving higher credibility and trust, being cost-effective over time, building strong brand authority and enabling a better user experience.

When should you use SEO?

SEO is an ideal strategy for businesses if they want long-term growth, are aiming to build authority in the industry, need more time to invest in content creation, have limited funds for paid ads or want consistent organic traffic to their website. SEO works well for things like blogs, educational content or businesses that are focused on brand-building, for instance. 

PPC: explained

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising differs from SEO in many ways, but how is it different, and why should you use it? Let’s unpack everything you need to know about PPC, including what it is, how it works, its benefits and when you should use it:

What is PPC?

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a digital advertising model that businesses use. Companies will pay every time an internet user clicks on the ad they have placed. These ads typically appear either at the top or the bottom of the search engine results pages (SERPs). 

For instance, using Google Ads, a business can bid on keywords to enable their ads to appear when users search for the products or services they’re offering. This is done by using and targeting relevant keywords.

How does PPC work?

You might be wondering how PPC is used to benefit businesses online. Here’s how it works: 

• Advertisers choose keywords
• Advertisers set a maximum bid amount
• Ads enter an auction
• The search engine will then determine placement based on things like bid amounts, ad quality score, expected click-through rate and landing page experience

A client will only pay if someone clicks on the ad you’ve put up on the search engine, hence the name: pay-per-click (PPC). 

What are the benefits of PPC?

There are many reasons why businesses and marketers alike will look to PPC as a way to build their online success. This includes generating immediate traffic, utilising highly-targeted campaigns, ensuring measurable return on investment (ROI), controlling budget accurately and promoting product launches and offers. These are just a few of the benefits to be had by using PPC to increase your visibility online. 

When should you use PPC?

PPC should be used when results are needed fast, if you’re launching a new product, if you want to test keywords, if you’re running seasonal promotions or if you operate in a highly competitive market. PPC is often relied upon by e-commerce businesses to drive immediate sales. 

Kumo is pleased to provide customers throughout the country, regardless of the industry you work in, with sterling digital marketing services, including SEO, PPC, content creation, website design, graphic design and more. If you would like further information about how we can propel your business into the spotlight, then get in touch with a member of our friendly knowledgeable team today – our experts are always on hand to help.