SEO and PPC

February 19, 2013
Mike Dolpies

We figured it was about time for a blog post about the basic difference between “SEO” (Search Engine Optimization) and “PPC” (Pay-Per-Click) Marketing.

English: a chart to describe the search engine...

English: a chart to describe the search engine market (Photo credit: Wikipedia)(Pay – Per – Click) marketing.

SEO really starts with how your site was/is built. It must be built with search engine friendly technology. It must be structured with keywords that represent your services, products and location.

Then, there are steps taken to make the site relevant to search engines like Google and Bing after the site is complete. One of these elements is called on-site optimization which is the building block of a long-lasting SEO campaign and success in the search engine results world. This is foundational.

Once the foundation is in place it is a process that never ends because there is not a moment where change is not happening in the SEO game. It is crucial to stay on top of these changes so your business does not get left behind.

If your business is a local service or serves a local area then a “Local Seo” strategy is a must. This strategy takes place “off-site.” It is how your website is seen by the “local internet” around you. In order for Google or Bing to consider your website “worthy” of a decent ranking it wants to know how other websites consider it. For this it checks to see how many websites link back yours. One strategy for this is submitting your business to search engines, directories, industry directories, etc. Each one of these submissions is a “back-link” to your site.

However – these directory “listings” are not maximized unless they are “owner-verified” and they are in sync. For this you must determine the best NAP (business name, address, phone number and website) you want to use. Every detail counts! And you must ensure all your listings are exactly the same.

Having a review infrastructure is also important. A review infrastructure is an easy way for your customers to review your business on their favorite review sites.

Next… Content Strategy…

When it comes to your organic SEO the question you have to answer is…

What is our content marketing strategy going to be and how are we going to implement it?”

Your blog plays a key role. But you can also get published on other sites. The better those sites – the more weight a “back-link” from that site will have on your SEO.

Now… PPC.

The king of PPC is Google Adwords. Google Adwords is not a replacement to an organic SEO strategy. PPC is a compliment. With a good PPC campaign and a large enough budget your website can come up on the first page of Google almost immediately. Not so with SEO where rankings will take longer to achieve, but once achieved and maintained your site will most-likely keep decent ranking. Whereas with Google Adwords once you stop paying for advertising, your site will no longer show up on the first page.

PPC means that you will only pay when someone clicks on your ad. If you have set up your campaign correctly, are targeting the right keywords for what you are offering and sending those clicks to a page on your site that matches your keywords – your ad will have a pretty good chance of converting a prospect into a lead.

The beauty of Google AdWords is that it is easy to set up an account and get your campaign going. Unfortunately this ease is a double edged sword and you risk throwing away money if your campaign is not properly set up. You’ve been warned!

The cardinal rule in PPC is relevance. Your keywords must be relevant to your ad which must be relevant to your landing page. This makes Google happy! Google rewards you by giving you a high quality score. A decent quality score means that you will pay less for the same ad position than your competitor if they have a low quality score. This means that even if you don’t have a huge budget, with all things in place and optimized you can compete against competitors with larger budgets!

With Google Adwords you should at least test out a few different campaigns and collect data for at least 120 days. Then, study the data and adjust your strategy.

For help with Google Adwords Please see our Adwords Service Page

 

 

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About the author

Mike Dolpies Mike Dolpies (aka Mike D.) owns “Ocean View Publishing, LLC” - a diverse media/Internet Marketing and Consulting Company. He started his first business when he was just 18 years old. By the time he was 23 that business had generated well over a Million Dollars in sales and was consistently in the top 20% of its industry. He's the Author of 6 different books. His first book, “Motion Before Motivation, The Success Secret That Never Fails,” became a bestseller on Amazon.com He's been a guest on the Fox Morning News several times and has been written about in many newspapers. His work has also appeared on Entrepreneur.com and Fox Businsss.com

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