Garry West March 15, 2021 
Trying to decide whether to spend marketing resources on PPC or SEO? Alternatively, you could ditch the ‘either/or’ approach and explore ways in which they complement each other. After all, both PPC and SEO are about directing online searchers to your website, so why not combine the two in order to strengthen your search results?
“Mmmm”, you’re thinking, “so why doesn’t everyone do this?” Simple answer is ‘silos’. SEO and PPC tend to be be dealt with by different people, or different departments – it’s the old story. We think, though, that once you see what can be achieved by combining their power, you’ll be ready to break down the barriers.
What’s SEO and PPC Again?
If you’re a regular user you can skip this bit. For those still getting to grips, here’s a quick explainer:
- Pay-Per-Click. You know those online ads that seem to know exactly what you’re looking for? That’s PPC. They target online shoppers who use specific keywords, so they’re uncannily relevant. Advertisers only pay once they get clicked on.
- Search Engine Marketing. Not having SEO on your website is like driving a car without fuel. The only way your website gets found organically is if the major search engines give it a good ranking. SEO is what makes that happen.
4 Ways to use PPC and SEO Together to Generate Leads
Advertisers use PPC because it creates results fast, marketers use SEO for slower, but more stable growth. The first is great for promotions, sales or new products. The second for raising your search engine ranking. Here’s 4 ways you can bring the fast and slow approaches together to strengthen your sales strategy.
1. The Google Pincer Movement
So, you’re already ranking in the top 3 organic results on Google, thanks to successful SEO. ‘Job done!’ you may think. But think again. Research into user behaviour shows that 65% of searchers only look at Page One, and nearly a fifth of those scan the ads first, then scroll down. When they encounter the same business twice near the top of the page, they’re far more likely to click through.
A page one listing is strengthened by a PPC ad. Repeat listings generate more click-throughs.
2. Extend Your Data Dive
Both PPC and SEO depend on detailed keyword research to work successfully. Knowing which words searchers are using to find your products is important to growing your sales. The great thing about PPC ads is that they generate loads of data relating to which keywords achieve the most conversions on any one campaign. This can be used to strengthen your SEO keyword usage in content, titles and meta descriptions.
PPC data can be cross-fertilised for the creation of engaging SEO content.
3. Get to Know Your Potential Customers
When it comes to growing your sales, nothing beats a detailed knowledge of your potential customers. If you want to get to know them better, PPC is a great way to do it. Run an ad with a highly specific target group. Could be people from Nottingham who are tech geeks in their 20s. Retrieving data on how this group responds to your ad will give you detailed insights into how to shape your SEO campaigns for greater engagement.
Focused PPC campaigns provide incredibly detailed insights which can then be used in SEO.
4. Shape the Story You Want To Tell
When things go wrong, being able to shape the narrative to your perspective is hugely important to recovery. Suppose you’ve had a product disaster. Sales plummet. Crisis is in the air. PPC and SEO can be the solution. Use them together to ensure that whenever anyone searches for the negative story, they turn up content explaining how you’re going about successfully solving the problem.
Using SEO and PPC to shape the way you’re seen by customers gives you control over your reputation.
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