PPC AND SEO

Two Acronyms to Put Your Company Over the Top with Top of Mind Awareness

There are only two reasons not to read this article:

• You have all the business you want, and
• Your sales pipeline is overflowing.

OK. Best guess is you’ve chosen to read on. So how do you ensure your pipeline or sales funnel is brimming with customers finding your business online? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google Ads are the big guns that will get you on Page One of Google.

That means your company and offerings will be top-of-mind when your customers, prospects and referral resources are searching for what you can deliver. If you are not at the top of the vendors list, i.e. Page One of Google, then you just lost a customer to a competitor who has successfully done what is necessary to occupy that critical position.

What follows is a quick summary of where SEO and PPC has a place in your online marketing strategy. Plus, we’ll introduce you to a proven resource to put you on Page 1 of Google Searches … at amazingly affordable pricing.

People start their search for a product or service with Google. That underscores the importance for you to be visible where folks are looking for you.

So, let’s take a look at how you can elevate your placement on Google. We’ll start with a review of Google Ads and then PPC – the two main components of search engine marketing. Our objective is to identify how each will enhance your online marketing and drive traffic to your website.

Google Ads

Google Search Ads are the ads that you see in the top four spots of Google’s Search Results Page. These ads are “Pay-per-Click” (PPC). That means it costs you, the advertiser, absolutely nothing to be on the page. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad and is directed to your website.

Think of it as an internet auction system. The price of each click is determined by an auction process for each keyword or key phrase.  If there are many companies bidding for the same phrase, then the cost per click will tend to be much higher.  If there are only a few companies bidding on a phrase, then the cost can be very low.

The advertiser that bids the highest price for the click usually gets placed at the top of the page.  And the top position gets the highest number of clicks.

As discussed earlier in this article, People start their search for a product or service with Google. They enter keywords that relate to your business and your ad appears at the precise moment they have a definite interest in your offerings. That means quality visitors to your website primed to consider or act on your product or service … now. Again, an opportunity to ensure your sales funnel is brimming with activity that is the precursor to sales.

Google Ads allows you to create advertising campaigns almost instantly to drive traffic to your website. The benefit is you will realize results faster than SEO, albeit at a cost. However, if your campaigns prove profitable you can justify your investment by a validated ROI.

At the end of the day, PPC advertising success is totally a function of your online marketing strategy. The key elements are a researched and targeted set of key words or key phrases coupled with a compelling ad and a responsive website. Do-it-yourself PPC campaigns are challenging, if not impossible, for most small business owners to undertake alone.

Enlisting the aid of a seasoned GoogleAds professional comes highly recommended to avoid costly mistakes in both time and money.

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

SEO is directed toward getting better rankings in the Google search engine results pages. Success with SEO is realized in the longer term as it takes time to be recognized by the search engines as delivering relevant content.

“Content is king” is the mantra to embrace … meaning include blogs, newsletters and other relevant information on your website to improve your site’s visibility to search engines and their users. That will help your site to show up more often in searches by folks seeking what you offer in products, services or education.

The good news is that SEO is free. You may choose to do-it-yourself or enlist the aid of an expert to guide you through the process. In addition to search listing being free, no one can “buy” their way in to a better ranking. Google is committed to search content being maintained as useful and trustworthy.

You can further demonstrate that your site and content is relevant to the interests of online searchers by having other sites link to yours, e.g. testimonials, product/service reviews and informational blogs.

Keyword Research: Keywords are the foundation for your SEO campaigns, and researching the keywords and key phrases that your target audience is searching for is critical. The premier tool is Google Ads Keyword Tool.

It is simple to use. Enter some words you believe to be key, and the tool automatically generates a cluster of suggested keywords. Focus your efforts on a select few that seem relevant and demonstrate a decent search volume.

Next step is click on  Google.com  and one at a time enter each of your keywords. Note the number of web results for each. Finally, calculate the competition ratio by dividing the ‘Global search volume’ by the ‘Number of web results’. You’ll find that keywords with the higher ratios are the ones to optimize.

Summary

PPC and SEO are not competing approaches to online marketing. In fact, they are two powerful tools that you can employ in concert. Use GoogleAds to initiate traffic fast and then feed your SEO content marketing plan for long-term online success in driving organic traffic to your site.

Your Next Step.

Now your choices are do-it-yourself or invest in professional SEO/PPC management services. It is likely that you are already wearing several hats as a business owner and ladling yet another marketing responsibility is probably not an option … particularly if you must master the learning curve to effectively marry SEO and PPC.

SEO and PPC strategy and execution is a profession unto itself. You are well-advised to seek proven expertise just as you do with your accountant, attorney or other trusted advisors.

Our strong recommendation is Third Marble Marketing. The Third Marble Team delivers proven, successful strategies to maximize the effectiveness of your Google Ads, improve your SEO strategy, feature you on Page One of Google and drive pre-qualified traffic to your website! Find out how at their website.

The Third Marble Team!