We’re getting perilously close to THAT time of year. Mince pies, chocolates-a-plenty and the start of the Christmas period.
What does that mean for your business? If you’re a Christmas wrapping paper seller, you’re probably sweating an awful lot and putting in some serious hours. But if you’re NOT in the Christmas-orientated trade, it is often a period in which you’ll be assessing processes and winding down, preparing for the start of the next year.
This often includes marketing. Two hugely effective ways to utilise digital marketing budgets are search engine optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC).
Both are very valuable but very different. Whilst we’d encourage both to be conducted alongside one another, companies may want to start with just one. Here’s a guide to understanding the service and deciding what you’re going to choose first.
What is PPC?
Also known as paid search, Pay Per Click (PPC) is the process of generating more traffic to your website thanks to Google Ads. These are the adverts that you often see at the top of Google when you search for a term like ‘local Italian restaurant’.
These adverts have been paid for, and as the name suggests, the company pays for every click they receive. Because you’re paying, your page is prioritised by Google and, as a result, you can often expect to see a huge boost in traffic to your website. Often, your web design agency may have created bespoke ‘landing pages’ that are optimised to increase conversions depending on search terms. The higher the conversion rate, the more value you’ll receive per click.
For companies with low-cost items, PPC can become expensive. For service providers with a high lifetime value of a customer, it can unlock extreme levels of new growth. With the support of our PPC experience, we’ve helped our customers skyrocket their online sales and change their businesses trajectory.
Who it’s GREAT for
If you’ve got a team that are itching for more work, you’re going to love PPC. With extra capacity and money to invest in marketing, PPC is a fantastic choice.
Done correctly, a successful PPC campaign can utilise and build an entirely new market for businesses online. By directly appearing for those who are searching for your products or services, you’re appealing to people who are actively hunting for you. All that’s left is to show why you’re the best option for them.
Similarly to SEO, you can also research search traffic, but with PPC you can bid on the search terms you feel will generate you the most leads.
Don’t forget…
Budgets are vital for successful PPC campaigns. When done right, as we can attest to, they can become expensive. Not because you’re not getting results – but because you are. The more successful your campaigns, the more your phone is going to ring.
With every click, there’s a cost associated. And paired with a great conversion rate, you’re going to end up dealing with a LOT of new business. If you don’t want to spend a large sum straight away, or don’t think you can handle an immediate influx of work, it might be worthwhile starting on a smaller budget, or potentially thinking about SEO.
What is SEO?
SEO is the art of increasing the visibility of your website. That should be a no-brainer, right? Especially if you’ve invested in using a web designer to make your digital presence look tip-top. SEO optimisation is conducted by tailoring your website content to match the terms that are being searched by your audience the most. The more relevant Google believes your site to be, the more people it’s going to show it to. The result? More organic traffic.
This is a fantastic long-term lead-generation strategy that can transform how companies use their website and help them achieve the next level of growth.
You’re gonna love it if…
You think you’ve got a great website and a memorable brand. An SEO specialist will help create a list of keyword targets to optimise your site for, which will then be regularly checked and updated as search trends change.
If you’re looking to grow in the longer term, SEO is a tried and tested method to make your digital audience grow and generate more income for your business. It won’t happen immediately, but once you’ve reached higher rankings with Google, it’s much easier to hold on to.
What to remember with SEO
This isn’t an overnight win. SEO takes many months to start taking effect, but when the results DO arrive – they can be very impressive.
What this means is that if you’re looking for new traffic now, entering into a lengthy SEO campaign might not be the best choice. You might be more suited to PPC. However, with every month that passes where you’re NOT investing in SEO – your competitors are, and your future results are going to be even harder to achieve.
We manage PPC and SEO campaigns that help clients win big
Our customers have seen transformative effects, both with PPC and SEO managed by our in-house specialists.
Ready to see some results yourself and get busier in the new year? Give us a call to explore your options, get our opinion on the best plan and then get to work putting it into practice.
