The most important question nowadays- PAY per Click or Search Engine Optimization? To generate the traffic on your website, there are primarily two options- Pay per Click (PPC) advertising or Search Engine Optimization.

The most common difference between PPC and SEO is that PPC will generate traffic through paid means as you have to pay to the Search Engine for every click on your ad while SEO generates traffic for free.  The question becomes important when you have a small business and budget is an issue. While most of the people rely on Search Engine Optimization for long-term gains, Pay per Click (PPC) can be helpful, when you want instant results.

 When to use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

SEO definitely get the businesses better and authentic traffic and the users will tend to trust you and your business more, if you are on the top rank of Search Engine Results. SEO is an indicator of your credibility and builds your brand and brand awareness. Of course, SEO also requires investment as you will be paying to your in-house SEO team and experts but it is ideal while you are operating in a low budget as PPC advertising campaign requires a significant amount or budget to get the required return on the Investment. SEO undoubtedly gives consistent long-term results but requires a significant amount of time and efforts too. An article published by one of the best resources of SEO i.e. Moz (formerly known as SEOMoz) stated that organic results are 8.5 times more likely to be clicked by the user than the paid ones. In Search Engine Optimization, the traffic comes from the users who are seeking out for your product or service and is more respected by the users.

When to use Pay per Click (PPC)?

PPC can be best used when you want the traffic currently or if your product or service is new to the market and you are introducing it to the audience or even when you are running, some limited time special offers (time-sensitive promotions etc.). While the gestation period is quite long in Search Engine Optimization, PPC will offer you instant results with desired traffic in a day or two. So, if you are an established brand and offering some great discounts or a big sale for particular period, then it will give you results as soon as you your ads are placed and run by the Google AdWords. Visibility is quick in Pay per Click and there is no such algorithm of Google, which gets frequent updates like in SEO thereby reducing the efforts. PPC undoubtedly requires hefty investment but if the campaign is undertaken correctly, can bring results quickly especially in the cases of products and online stores.

Conclusion

Your business needs both! Also, the answer depends upon the given business situation and therefore, you can opt for a mix of both to make your internet marketing campaign a success. They both have their pros and cons and should be used strategically so as to make them work together to derive traffic and results. While PPC can be used to achieve short term, immediate results in a given situation, SEO can help to derive long-term success and qualified leads. So, decide your strategy carefully to use them in the best possible manner taking into consideration, their advantages and related costs.

Before hiring any experts for SEO or PPC, just make sure to check the list of Best SEO Companies in USA and Top PPC Management firms in USA to analyze how the industry experts are working and what they can offer your business.