Trying to determine whether PPC or SEO renders "better" traffic is similar to advising which food is healthier - spinach or carrots. That depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Spinach has its health benefits and carrots have theirs
Instead of focusing on which is better, I can offer a few foundational facts to help navigate PPC and SEO:
- PPC is a direct response phenomenon, enabling you to bid on certain keyword combinations and acquire prospects for immediate sales potential. Stated differently, with the right skills and budgetary considerations, you can start bidding on keywords as soon as you start your business, and begin selling immediately.
- PPC does NOT render any long term residual business. Think of running on a treadmill. While you are actively running, all is well. If you stop running without shutting off the treadmill, you are thrown off. PPC works in the exact same manner - while you are actively bidding and investing into keywords, you are visible to potential buyers and have an opportunity to sell your product or service. Once you stop bidding, this potential largely disappears or is severely diminished.
- A word of caution about PPC: We have observed that a minimum of 25% of the traffic generated from PPC consists of solicitors and questionable parties who click on results to drain their competitors' budgets. I have seen this percentage rise to as much as 50-60%, so for every 10 clicks you will be lucky to see 5 or 6 prospective buyers.
- Calculating ROI on a PPC campaign is basically a function of sales relative to the PPC spend
- SEO is a long term investment of time and money
- There is virtually no short term potential in SEO, but it enables you to gain visibility across numerous channels over time.
- SEO is not a direct response phenomenon and there is no bidding. However, by systematically pushing content and building a backlink foundation, you are growing the bigger picture of your online presence.
- Measuring results in SEO is a multi-variable concept, because you must consider your progress in search rankings AND the sales resulting from these rankings.
In short, neither SEO nor PPC is better - just as spinach is not better than carrots. Both contain essential nutrients that help you stay in good health.
