Why does everyone talk so much about SEO? Isn’t it far easier to get traffic to your site by paying Google to advertise it for you? In this blog post, we will explain the key differences between SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, focusing on why organic SEO is (and will continue to be) the superior strategy for businesses to flourish online.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
What is Organic SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, a process in which you improve your website, pages, and posts to help them reach the top of the organic search results of a search engine. This process includes technical optimization, copywriting, keyword research, blogging, local “near me” optimization, and site structure, among other things.
What is PPC advertising?
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are the search results marked as “Ad”, usually along the top of the Google search results page for certain queries. In this advertising model, the advertiser pays whenever someone clicks on the ad.
Benefits of Organic SEO over PPC
1. SEO has a higher return on investment (ROI)
Organic SEO (when done properly) requires quite an investment. Your content needs to be top-notch, your keyword research thorough, and your site structure solid. Doing all of these things right takes significant time and effort. But it always pays off.
Not only does organic SEO result in higher average conversion rates than advertising, but it also continues paying off over time. Once you go through the initial optimization of your website, your SEO remains “on”. You may need to update things (like your site speed and content) every now and then, as well as post new content to show Google your site is still relevant. But you won’t have to pay to keep your spot in the search results.
Whether you choose organic SEO or PPC advertising, the content of your site determines whether someone will buy your product or service. So why not choose the path that will help you rank in the search engines without draining your budget? Organic SEO is quite literally designed to make your content the best result, which is what Google likes to see. And it won’t cost you a cent!
2. Organic SEO is sustainable
PPC advertising is never a sustainable way to attract traffic to your website. You will always need to keep paying if you expect to keep attracting visitors. And even then, the number of visitors you attract won’t come anywhere close to those organic SEO can bring in for you (more on this in a bit).
Investing in organic SEO helps you maintain a consistent presence in the search results without killing your budget. Your business can thrive with a sustainable strategy to build up and maintain your rankings for certain keywords. On the other hand, the moment you can’t pay for those PPC ads anymore, poof! Your site disappears from the search results, and all that money you spent along with it.
3. SEO doesn’t annoy your customers the way ads do
Think about the number of ads your potential customers see on a daily basis. Now think about how many of those ads succeed in convincing those people to actually buy the product. Not too many of them, right? In fact, nearly 82% of Americans ignore ads when browsing online. And as privacy laws become stricter, this kind of advertising is becoming more difficult (and less profitable) for businesses.
SEO, on the other hand, is straightforward. You don’t need to pay for advertising online to succeed as a business. You can (and will) attract the right audience and run a profitable operation if you invest in a sustainable organic SEO strategy that focuses on the quality of your website and its content.
4. Organic SEO results in more traffic
Organic search results have a much higher click-through rate than advertisements in Google. With a quarter of internet searchers now using ad blockers, chances are many of your potential customers won’t even see your ad to begin with.
Therefore, the websites that rank high in Google’s organic search results attract the majority of the traffic for any given search. The first organic result claiming nearly one third of all clicks in the search results, so you will want to try for that coveted top spot. Sometimes this isn’t possible, depending on the amount of competition for a particular keyword or phrase. However, aiming for the second, third, or even fourth spot are worthwhile goals in a competitive industry. Being one of the top results can bring in handsome rewards, and only a solid, long-term SEO strategy can get (and keep) you there.
5. Organic SEO brings in people who actually want to find your content
When people search for something on Google or any other search engine, they have a reason why they’re searching for it. We call this their search intent. When optimizing your posts and pages, you create content that matches the intent of the searcher. In other words, if someone is searching for a specific product, chances are they want to buy it (transactional intent); therefore, you would make sure your product page ranked high in the search results for that term or phrase.
Organic searchers are highly motivated to have their questions answered and find the product/service they are looking for. And that is your goal with SEO: to attract these types of people and keep them on your site. Make sure you are ranking with the right pages for the right search queries to maximize your ROI.
SEO is becoming more and more important
As Google becomes more intelligent when it comes to understanding text, SEO is becoming more important for website owners. If you want Google to reward you with one of the top three spots in the organic search results, you need to create the kind of content Google wants to see. That means writing readable texts that are properly optimized for your keyword/keyphrase.
In order to have a chance to outrank your competitors in the search engines, you need to do your very best! And while organic SEO will be a bit more work than setting up an advertising campaign, it is the most effective way to attract sustained traffic to your website and grow your business. Don’t underestimate the power of SEO! Get started working on your SEO today!
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