How To Make PPC and SEO Work Together

Forget “PPC vs SEO” — it’s all about “PPC and SEO”. Both organic and paid media are essential components of a successful digital marketing strategy, and making them work together is key to a luxury brand’s success. While the two strategies have different goals and require different tactics, there are several ways in which brands can leverage the synergies between SEO and PPC to maximize their impact and achieve their marketing goals.

In this article, we explore what SEO and PPC are, the key differences between them, and how to create an effective strategy with PPC and SEO working together.  

What Is PPC?

PPC (pay-per-click) is a form of online advertising. You know when you Google something and sometimes the top results have a little label that says ‘Sponsored’? Those are PPC search ads, where, instead of paying a flat placement rate, the advertiser pays each time the ad is clicked on. 

PPC ads aren’t limited to Google, though. They also include YouTube videos, Amazon storefronts, social media platforms, and website banners. When done right, PPC is an efficient way to engineer genuine leads.

There are many types of PPC ads that brands can take advantage of. For example, remarketing PPC ads appear to people who have visited your site previously. Search ads are based on keywords that you choose, which are associated with your products. Display ads are served to users who, based on previous browsing history, have shown interest in your brand or competitors.

THE BENEFITS OF PPC ADVERTISING

The benefits of PPC advertising include:

• Effective targeting allows you to reach very specific audiences

• See traffic spikes from the very first day you start your campaign

• Decide in advance how much you want to spend, and have better control over your budget

• Hard data and analytics help you inform future campaigns

• Manage the ad and make changes on the go

What Is SEO?

Google sees billions of searches every single day. The only way to cut through that noise and reach customers is with good SEO practices.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a set of processes that aim to improve a website’s visibility in search engines to gain more organic traffic. While PPC works on user data, SEO is more like a mathematical formula. By optimizing your site with the right metadata and keywords, you’ll rank higher in search engine results. In turn, more people will visit your page. And the more quality clicks your site receives, the better for your ranking.

There are 3 core pillars of SEO:

• Quality content — Unfortunately, it’s not enough to just pepper your content with keywords and hope for the best. Quality matters. Not only does content have to be optimized, but it needs to serve a purpose. From informative blog posts to FAQ pages, give people a reason to spend time on your page. 

• Technical SEO — The technical aspects of your website are also important for SEO: page speed, website user experience, and mobile-friendliness are all things to consider. When people click out of your site soon after arriving, it can negatively impact your search engine ranking.

• Digital PR — Digital PR strategies can also give you a huge SEO advantage. This is all about getting your links into the hands of people in high places—journalists, industry professionals, and other authorities—who can write about your site and link back to it. Sometimes called link baiting, this can give your search engine ranking a huge boost.

Difference Between PPC and SEO 

While both PPC and SEO are important marketing strategies, they have different applications, and each comes with its own pros and cons. 

PPC

Pros:

• Highly-targeted

• Reach the right audience immediately

• Great ROI

Cons:

• It’s a short-term way to get clicks 

• Costs can quickly add up when not monitored

SEO

Pros:

• Free to implement

• Can have a long-term impact

Cons:

• Takes time and patience to set up

• Has a slower ROI

But what do these pros and cons actually tell us? Well, they work in synergy and a combined strategy is the best way to achieve greater marketing results. 

How PPC and SEO Work Together

Essentially, SEO and PPC are two sides of the same coin – SEO is the unpaid side, while PPC is the paid side. Neither is better than the other, so it’s not recommended to think of it as ‘SEO vs PPC’. The best, and most successful strategies involve using both to complement each other. 

Many studies have found that SEO impacts how many clicks PPC ads receive. When a site implements strong SEO practices, it will see more click-throughs on its PPC advertisements.

The reverse is also true: paid search can increase the efficacy of organic SEO campaigns. 

Examples of PPC and SEO Working Together

EXPANDED NAVIGATION AND DYNAMIC SEARCH ADS 

Brands that focus on expanding their navigation for SEO purposes—say, creating indexable pages for all major categories and product variants (yourbrand.com/hats/black)—will benefit hugely from Dynamic search ad (DSA) synergies within paid search. 

For example, terms such as "Women’s Black Hat" should have their own indexable page for these variants. Paid search DSA campaigns will then be able to target very specific, non-branded, and evergreen search terms with tailored ad copy. This provides the customer with exactly what they were searching for, improves user experience, and, ultimately, increases click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend.

SEO-OPTIMIZED LANDING PAGES AND SEARCH ADS 

Brands can enhance their website's overall SEO score by optimizing landing page content with relevant keywords and high-quality meta tags, allowing the pages to rank higher in organic search results and drive free traffic to the website. These pages can also be crafted to provide a good user experience, answer key customer queries, and provide relevant information that will convince them to make a purchase.

Brands can then also use PPC campaigns to drive traffic to these landing pages that are optimized for conversion. By directing users to carefully crafted landing pages, brands can create a seamless and engaging user experience, increasing the likelihood of conversion and ultimately boosting sales. 

CONSISTENT AD COPY CONVEYS TRUST AND BRAND VALUES

When it comes to branding, having a consistent tone of voice is key. It makes you more recognizable and trustworthy while building a strong relationship with your prospects and customers. As such, SEO and PPC work best together when the ad copy is aligned with the SEO meta descriptions and title tags. This, in turn, makes the website's search results more appealing and relevant to users. This alignment often leads to higher click-through rates, as users find the content more enticing and better suited to their search intent. 

REMARKETING IMPROVES SEO USER EXPERIENCE METRICS

Did you know that remarketing ads can be highly personalized based on the pages users visited or the actions they took on the website? By showing relevant products or offers, brands can create a more compelling ad experience, increasing the likelihood of enticing users back to the site. In our experience, users who return through the ads are likely to engage more deeply with the content and products. This not only increases the likelihood of converting them into customers but positively impacts the average time on site as they spend longer browsing. 

The best part? The improved bounce rate and increased time on site (two key SEO factors of positive user experience) resulting from these remarketing campaigns can indirectly benefit the website's search engine rankings because search engines favor websites that provide a positive user experience.

GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING IN PAID ADS INFORMS LOCAL SEO STRATEGY

PPC platforms provide the option to target specific geographic locations, such as countries, states, cities, or even radius targeting around a physical store. By creating targeted PPC campaigns for different regions, brands can analyze the performance of each location based on conversion rates, click-through rates, and other relevant metrics. Brands can then pinpoint areas where their ads are generating higher conversion rates and overall better performance. 

These high-performing locations could indicate strong market demand and higher interest in the brand's offerings. By understanding what resonates with customers in specific locations, brands can tailor their marketing messages, products, or services to cater to the unique preferences and needs of each geographic area. This is particularly beneficial for your local SEO campaigns, as you might then choose to create a localized SEO strategy for key regions with the highest conversion rates. 

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

PPC campaigns provide a wealth of valuable data on competitor strategies, keyword performance, ad copy effectiveness, and user intent. By leveraging this data and applying the insights to the SEO strategy, ecommerce brands can refine their website's content, meta tags, and overall user experience, leading to improved search engine rankings, increased organic traffic, and a more competitive position in the digital landscape. Integrating PPC and SEO efforts in this way enables brands to maximize their online visibility and ultimately drive greater success in the e-commerce space.

Create a Synergized SEO and PPC Strategy Today

Ready to experience the benefits of having PPC and SEO working together? By partnering with PPC and SEO experts like Block & Tam, you can create a cohesive and effective digital marketing strategy that maximizes your impact and achieves your marketing objectives.