Improve Your Search Value by Combining PPC & SEO
Endless streams of organic Web traffic is what every marketer dreams about as soon as their head hits the pillow at night. Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to get those server-crashing kind of results-especially not without some major SEO work. Even then, there's no guarantee that a Web page will end up in the top 10 search results.
But, savvy search marketers have got a little trick up their sleeves that's worth looking into: PPC advertising with Google AdWords. Mixing paid and organic search strategies can give marketers the traffic boost they crave. In fact, more than 64 percent of consumers using Google click on ads instead of organic results. Running well-optimized PPC ads with AdWords will not only help maintain a steady flow of traffic but can improve SEO value as well.
Top 3 Ways to Get SEO and PPC Strategies to Work for Each Other
Mixing SEO and PPC strategies can lead to some pretty stellar results, but it's not as easy as just running a few search ads. To get the best results, marketers need to follow a few distinct strategies:
- Use PPC Campaigns' Real-Time Keyword Data
All the data gathered from PPC campaigns can help improve SEO strategy. SEO can be a laborious process that can take months before producing any real results-PPC campaign results are much faster. After completing keyword research and coming up with a keyword list, marketers should try testing them out in PPC campaigns first. The keywords that perform the best should be added to the SEO strategy. Eventually, the SEO and PPC results may show up together for a particular keyword, which will significantly improve the chance of prospects clicking through to the site.
It's important to remember that it's best to choose long-tail keywords with low competition and high search volume when selecting keywords for PPC and SEO. Tools like Ahrefs can provide information on keyword difficulty, paid and organic monthly clicks, as well as search suggestions.
- Use Expensive PPC Keywords in the SEO Strategy Instead
Some more competitive keywords can be particularly expensive to bid on in PPC campaigns (especially in the software as a service realm). Instead of throwing half of the marketing budget on high cost-per-click (CPC) keywords, marketers should use them in their SEO strategies instead.
In the screenshot above, there are a lot of good keywords with a high price tag. At $26.49 a click, they could drain a marketer's budget pretty quickly. But using these popular keywords in the SEO strategy will help reach the same traffic organically. This technique is especially valuable for businesses with conservative PPC budgets. - Use PPC Ads to Reel In Interested Organic Prospects
Sometimes, the people who find a site organically may browse around for a bit and then leave the page without converting. Instead of counting those prospects as a loss, marketers can get them back with retargeting PPC ads.
AdWords allows marketers to target prospects based on their browsing history. So if a visitor looked at a few products or looked through some service pages, custom retargeting ads can help encourage those viewers to return to the site and convert. Marketers can choose to use search ads or display ads for this method. For example, take a look at these display and search ads from Tillamook:
Improve Search Value
While there are a great deal more SEO and PPC strategies to try, these three are a good place to start. Implementing them today can help entice more prospects and improve search value. Marketers should monitor each strategy as they go and look for areas to improve. With a little elbow grease, it won't take long to start seeing real results.
About the Author
Andy Beohar is the Chief Inbound Marketing Strategist at SevenAtoms Inc, a San Francisco Inbound Marketing and PPC Agency. At SevenAtoms, he manages and develops inbound marketing and Google AdWords strategies for companies with the goal to substantially increase their online visibility, grow their brand and bring in more leads and conversions.
