A lot of the time, online business owners think of running Google Adwords OR making effort towards SEO: One OR the other but not both together. This is often because of budget constraints or the need to see a quick ROI so the business owner cannot wait for the long term results that you typically see with SEO… When it’s done right. Adwords is more likely to make a short term profit… But the two actually work really well together.
Use PPC Keywords For SEO
There was a time when we could see nearly all the keywords sending organic traffic but now we have ‘Keyword Not Provided” in Google Webmaster Tools which effectively means we cannot see the terms sending our site traffic from our natural listings.
Adwords To The Rescue!
Using the terms you’re bidding on and the data they have accumulated , you can see which keywords actually earn you money. You can then use these terms to optimise your website and improve landing pages or in some cases create new landing pages which will not only help your organic listings but potentially improve your Adwords conversion rates!
Better SEO = Better Ad Quality Scores & Conversions
If the landing pages that you direct your paid search traffic to could be improved then you are potentially limiting your conversion potential and costing yourself extra money on the ad campaign. Making the effort to ensure that once a visitor to your site has good quality landing pages to view is worthwhile. In fact, you’re doubling your chances at gaining an enquiry or sale.
This is especially true of Product Listing Ads on Google shopping: Improving your on page quality will have a fantastic effect on your PLA listings. It’s worth taking the time.
Take Note of PPC Ad Copy
This is simple: Which ads do best? Look at the calls to action and ad copy to get an idea of which ad text works best and implement on page changes accordingly. You may even be able use this information to tweak your meta-titles, on-page descriptions and use as inspiration for blogs, as well as where to actually optimise in terms of products of services.
Timescale.
SEO takes times, there are no two ways about it. It is an ongoing effort that will require ongoing work and you definitely will not have overnight successes. You will a slow rise in traffic, rankings and hopefully conversions. Adwords can be a much quicker route to see a positive return, I would always advise that you run Adwords alongside ongoing SEO, ideally focusing your Ad campaign on pages that have already been optimised but need time to get indexed and settle on search engines. It is worth noting that Adwords can also take time but you will likely see results and return much more quickly.
Expensive Key Terms to Optimise For.
Some key words will cost you an absolute fortune to bid on. Assuming you don’t have an unlimited Adwords budget (who does?), it may be preferable to look at other variations of the keyword to bid on whilst optimising your website from an SEO standpoint to try and rank for those head terms. It may not be possible to rank for those terms at all if there is high competition but it is worth a shot.
You’ll Never Rank Naturally For Certain Terms.
Leading on from that last point, you may never rank naturally for certain terms that you would like to rank for or feel are of a great sense of value for sales or enquiries. Even if those key terms are expensive, they may well be worth bidding on. One example would be “Personal Injury” terms will can cost over £65+ PER CLICK!
Remember that so long as cost and return are relative then you’ll only be able to see results by taking the chance and bidding on that term. What if every five clicks lead to an enquiry and every enquiry was worth £5000+? The cost per return would be validated. But ranking naturally for the head term would be practically impossible in a crowded market… Why not try the alternative Adwords route? Bear in mind that 75% of users never scroll past page one of search results, it may be worth paying for your ad to appear on that critical first page in a prominent position.
Double Your Chances
There are hundreds of reasons that PPC and SEO should be conducted side-by-side. In short, one compliments the other and you are getting two bites of the apple instead of just the one. In fact, with re-marketing, you may be getting several bites of the apple to keep visitors coming back until they eventually make that enquiry or purchase.
In a world where everyone wants instant gratification, it’s worth noting that long term efforts will yield long term rewards.
