SEO Vs. PPC

[jim60723]

Hi, I am kinda confused here. In a given $1000 how it is advisable to spend in SEO & PPC. Whereas SEO gives me search engine visibility & visitors. In both cases visitors can become prospective clients. Should I consider in paid directory listings like Yahoo directory or concentrate more on PPC. Does buying a subscription in different web analyzer/metrics stand a count here?

[peteark]

A common method used is

PPC from the outset, remember the longer the tail, the cheaper the rate = better conversion, however this is only the case when the terms match the offering and the site validates.

As businesses become more profitable exit strategies are sought from PPC, this is often done by hiring a quality SEO provider. One that will guide the company well into the future. Their work will often lead to PPC being switched off.

The more savvy operators commence SEO right at the beginning, often before the website builds commences.

Once a landing page is in position link building can commence, also an optimisation specialist will have the skills to produce

Site navigation
Target keywords for each page
URL tree
H1’s
Page relevant meta tags

Everything sort of flows from keyword research, sometimes even the domain name.

Many businesses avoid SEO and stick to a diet of PPC, if the margins are healthy and the account is managed in an efficient manner, there’s nothing wrong with it.

[deepsand]

PPC from the outset, remember the longer the tail, the cheaper the rate ...

Maybe; maybe not.

the cheaper the rate = better conversion, ...

Maybe; maybe not.

[Tiggerito]

PPC is instant but you pay for your traffic forever. It's like renting. You stop paying and your traffic stops.
SEO takes time but the rewards continually increase. Like paying off a home loan. At some point you could stop paying and you still get traffic.

[Tiggerito]

That doesn't really answer the question, which can't really be answered.

Where I am $1,000 might get you a years worth of basic SEO, but the traffic levels you get from it are so dependent on the market your targeting and what other work you put into it.

$1,000 in ad campaigns could last yo a week or ten years. Again, it's so dependent on your market and how much traffic you want.

I personally don't pay for any directories, but I'm in Australia and the local free ones do better than the international paid ones.

Getting a subscription for data will not get you more traffic unless you research it and act upon that research.

The only solid advice I can give you is get yourself a free Google AdWords voucher and test out the waters. Then you may have a better clue on how much PPC will cost you and even how hard a job your SEO will have.

[jim60723]

Thanks pete & mccreath for your valuable inputs. It cleared a lot of cloud.

I spoke with couple of PPC Campaign Managers from different companies who asked me to also invest in Facebook, LinkedIn ads for lead generation & brand awareness. Isn't it also possible if I create just Facebook & LinkedIn Pages ?

While reading more about this I came across to an article of Matt McGee in search engine land which says about a survey reflects lead generation like this :40%=SEO, 34.2%=PPC & 24.8%=Social Media Marketing

Or I need to consider all of these as a start-up business?

[keyon]

Or I need to consider all of these as a start-up business?

I think most people would tell you it's not an either/or proposition. A good business plan usually includes a variety of different marketing channels for generating revenue. This has become painfully evident in recent months for website owners who depend on organic search for their sole source of traffic.

[LD]

If an aggressive approach is required, that is, if immediate traffic is requested when a new site is being launched, one could run parallel campaigns of both PPC and Organic in the beginning. The PPC can give immediate traffic and the Organic strategies can begin to build for long-term traffic streams.

Having said that, I personally don't use PPC any longer. Long story. Depending on what Organic strategies are used, a site can receive some immediate traffic within 48 hours or so and then increasingly more traffic after 30-60 days.

[xmachinecorex]

If an aggressive approach is required, that is, if immediate traffic is requested when a new site is being launched, one could run parallel campaigns of both PPC and Organic in the beginning. The PPC can give immediate traffic and the Organic strategies can begin to build for long-term traffic streams.

Having said that, I personally don't use PPC any longer. Long story. Depending on what Organic strategies are used, a site can receive some immediate traffic within 48 hours or so and then increasingly more traffic after 30-60 days.

this has always been my outlook on PPC and exactly how i advise to approach it.

plus i am the same i do not use PPC ads..

BUT- in some heavy markets, it looks like too stand a chance you HAVE to do PPC campaign because the market is already so saturated with other PPC advertisers and there are like 10 results in main results before you get to organic listings.

got a client right now got them to #1 - #2 PG 1 google for many popular saturated terms - and barely get any organic traffic because of adwords clutter

[Sweet Tooth #3]

Thanks pete & mccreath for your valuable inputs. It cleared a lot of cloud.

I spoke with couple of PPC Campaign Managers from different companies who asked me to also invest in Facebook, LinkedIn ads for lead generation & brand awareness. Isn't it also possible if I create just Facebook & LinkedIn Pages ?

While reading more about this I came across to an article of Matt McGee in search engine land which says about a survey reflects lead generation like this :40%=SEO, 34.2%=PPC & 24.8%=Social Media Marketing

Or I need to consider all of these as a start-up business?

That's a nice formula, but without more details it's impossible to give you any suggestions.

Would the keywords you want to target be competitive? If they are competitive, they may be hard to rank. But that also means you will have to pay more for an ad click. Without some context, the $1,000 figure mentioned is meaningless. Would you be paying 10 cents for a click, or $10 for a click. If you did get a lead from Adwords, what are the odds you would get recurring business from that lead? Do you need visitors now, or a month from now?

Lot of variables here.

If you spent $1,000 on seo, how would you spend it? I've heard it can be a crapshoot hiring an seo company. If you want to hire it out like that, I would encourage you to look at the signatures of some of the senior members of this forum. Some offer seo services, and bullshitters get called out quick around here.

Just don't go to eBay or fiverr and start ordering links unless you have some experience with seo. Much of the positive feedback left is by people who have no idea they just got hosed.

Find someone you can trust...maybe pay them for an assessment of your situation.

Good luck

Addition: I have no idea if you can get any traffic from directories, but social bookmarking might be something else you want to consider. You have the possibility for instant traffic without having to pay. And there's endless possibilities for networking online.