Janeth, you are so right.
I've done them both (and still do). It's a process, not a "set it and forget it" play.
An additional approach I'd like to mention is what I call "Long-form PPC" or
"Persistent PPC".
Once I have collected my keywords from Google's suggestion box and my own research, I do the following:
1) Create a press release, primed with the top 3 keyphrases on your list.
2) Upload it to
PRWeb.com, and optimize the URL and Technorati tagging, as well as images and attachments (I recommend at least one optimized PDF as well).
3) Post for a Tuesday release.
4) Create your landing pages and optimize your conversion process.
5) Do it again.
The press release acts as a long-form (350-800 word) advertisement... but more subtle and often more powerful. It's broadcast into the news and syndication channels, and to journalists and other media folks, the blogsphere, etc.
So they visit your press release based on keyword searches, then click the links within the copy (use your keywords as anchor tags) and are even exposed to your landing page in the press release's iFrame at the bottom of the page on PRWeb.
I find that once I've nailed my keyphrases and the conversion process, I can achieve a very significant click-to-conversion rate (I find that the more expensive the product, the more iterative my conversion process tends t be. A $20 item is a one-element conversion, whereas a $500 item might be a series of 3-7 iterations to create a dedicated conversion, and an evangelist for the product).
Each press release also acts as an optimized page of content that lasts indefinitely, which is always good (and you can iterate the links at any time, as well as the keywords, so you can fine-tune legacy releases to make them perform even better over time).
Anyhow, using this approach, and layering multiple releases over 4-6 weeks, I can usually dominate my keyphrases and create a nice blended campaign using PPC,
PR and
SEO.
Best of success to everyone this coming year. It promises to be phenomenal.
Best,
ME