For years, digital agencies have separated Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) functions into two separate operations. Both SEO and PPC require similar process to complete, but many digital agencies avoid mixing the two together.
When you work with an agency that allows SEO and PPC to work together, you will get more comprehensive results and you will be able to identify your target audience more precisely. While SEO and PPC function well on their own, they are even more effective when you put them together.
The primary difference between SEO and PPC is time. An SEO project is a long-term operation that constantly gathers and analyzes data and makes content changes based on that data. A PPC project is generally a short-term operation that is focused on a single goal and collects and analyzes a lot of data to be used in future projects.
With PPC campaigns, you can create keywords designed to target specific geographic regions or other precise parts of your target audience. A PPC campaign is built around a single purpose or message, which allows you to collect very specific information about how your audience reacts to certain keywords and phrases.
The data you collect on a PPC campaign can be used to enhance the effectiveness of an SEO project. The keyword data you collect from a particular PPC campaign designed to affect a very specific audience can be used to create keywords that will reach a similar audience with your SEO information.
Since an SEO campaign is ongoing, it has a very different budget structure than a PPC campaign. With PPC, you pay for every click you get on a particular link, which can sometimes create a tight budget situation.
By using the ongoing data on keywords you have gathered from your long-term SEO project, you can be more precise in what audience you want to reach with your PPC campaign and what message you want to deliver. This allows you to get better value for your clicks, and that helps to keep your PPC budget under control.
The intent of a PPC campaign is to target potential clients that are close to becoming paying customers. With SEO marketing, the process is more gradual and reaches out a broader audience. But when you put PPC data together with SEO traffic data, you suddenly start to see patterns that allow you to make more accurate traffic projections for future SEO and PPC campaigns.
The PPC side of the process will show you how your audience reacts to various keywords and advertising text, while the SEO side will show real trends when it comes to your audience’s reaction to certain types of content. When you put this data together, you can get a surprisingly accurate projection on how much traffic you can expect from both PPC and SEO campaigns.
In a digital agency, there are good reasons for keeping PPC and SEO professionals separate from each other. Each group has its own way of collecting and analyzing data that is ideal for their marketing goals. But it also pays to bring the two groups together to give you the kind of accurate data you need to increase the return on investment you get with your marketing efforts.
