One question that many businesses struggle with is “Should I do Organic SEO or Pay-Per-Click?” This is not a straightforward answer as we are comparing two completely different items. Did you know, there are over 200 million searches done on search engines every day. Wow! With all that searching, you have probably noticed that paid results (aka Sponsored Links) appear at the top of the search results above the organic search results. But which one is better for SEO?

Organic SEO vs PPC

I have listed the pros and cons of both methods below.

Organic SEO (Pros):

Long term and very cost-effective (there is an initial cost but it diminishes over time because organic SEO is ongoing).
Your business’ ROI should be held at a constant throughout the campaign (no added expenses).
It is a long term method for continued success for your business (not just a one time ordeal).
SEO is easily budgeted and planned (even when analytics keep changing, you can alwyas do tweaks).

Organic SEO (Cons):

It can takes months to see changes in search result rankings.
Pay-Per-Click (Pros):

Displays immediate results.
Pay-Per-Click (Cons):

ppc vs organic seo
While PPC is quick, the ad results don’t last.
Your business will have to pay each time it receive a click (and not all clicks end up in a sale).
PPC advertising is seen as “advertising” by many web users (which lacks credibility and trust).
Many users don’t pay attention to these ads and skip over them to go to the first few organic search results displayed.
The winner? Organic SEO!

Tip: Organic SEO and PPC advertising can also be used together to reap both the rewards and attract traffic to your website. PPC advertising is a great way to begin your SEO efforts while you are waiting on a full organic SEO campaign that will eventually permeate the internet. This duo combo can assist your organic SEO in the long-run since an increase in visitors translates into an increase in organic SEO value from search engines. It is also important to note that you should Create Content Not Just SEO!