116 replies
Had this thought while planning a new article...

Why should I spend all my time learning SEO when every time I do a search I find the 1st 3-4 entries to be paid ads? Think of it! You could be right up there with Forbes and Hubspot!

Yes, yes ads cost money. But I've spend a great deal of time and energy and have paid for the occasional SEO course.

And the SEO ranking methods can be quite formidable if you are starting from scratch. If you don't take a sizable risk in paying for links you can spend eons contacting possible webmaster who will take a link.

Of course, there are those who will say, 'why don't you do both?' Which is what will probably be doing. Still, the question lingers...
#ads #paid #seo
  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    The answer to the question is pretty simple ... it depends on what it costs you for a conversion. If you are paying more for your ads than you make, it really doesn't make much sense to advertise!

    Don't forget to also factor in your time as an expense. Making $1 per sale profit after ad expenses doesn't pay for your time to process the order (or even manage the ad campaign). So, if you want to make $25 per hour and it takes you 15 minutes to process an order, you need to add an extra $6.25 as a processing cost for each order.

    We don't even bother with SEO-only niches anymore. If we can't make some profit with advertising, we definitely aren't going to take the time to implement SEO. But, if a niche IS profitable with ads, we'll typically start working on the slow, uphill SEO climb, as well (free traffic is always better than paid).
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  • Profile picture of the author joaquin112
    Start with paid ads and slowly transition into SEO and having a large e-mail list of prospects/buyers. You'll probably be stuck paying for ads forever, though.
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    • Profile picture of the author mdibrahim2007
      Perfect answer
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    • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
      Originally Posted by joaquin112 View Post

      Start with paid ads and slowly transition into SEO.
      Wouldn't getting lots of traffic from paid ads improve your SEO organically anyway?
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  • Profile picture of the author George Flm
    ===> SEO. You can practically force feed search engines eating from your palm, if done right.

    And you can save a lot of money. With PPC you are at the mercy of bidding wars with ridiculous CPC.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    It appears you have a BUDGET to spend on traffic

    If so, why not place small orders with paid traffic specialists and see which one(s) produce the best results

    Scale up your campaign once you've found the right seller(s)

    PRO TIP: It helps tremendously if you OPTIMIZE your conversion pages - these are the pages your paid traffic ultimately ends up on and which actually make you money.

    Do this AFTER you've found the right traffic specialist

    You can also outsource conversion optimization
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    I know which method will get the best results. The question is do I want to spend the money to get to the point where I would continue to spend. And, as suggested, there will need to be some testing and more money to see which ones perform the best.

    And I will not be giving up on SEO. With the possible exception of Neil Patel I'm not familiar with any SEO guru who doesn't advocate some form of monetary investment in link building. Expenses aside, in the majority of instances SEO will bring me to a place close to or below the fold. In any case, I appreciate all your responses.
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    • Profile picture of the author writeaway
      Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

      The question is do I want to spend the money to get to the point where I would continue to spend. And, as suggested, there will need to be some testing and more money to see which ones perform the best.
      Any online business requires investment. It's not a hobby nor is it a 'one time big time' kind of deal where you put your money in, make it big, and get out or (even more unrealistic) the 'money machine keeps spitting out cash'

      SEO can actually burn up more cash since it takes a lot of time to
      - find the right keywords
      - build or earn the right links
      - properly optimize the inbound and conversion parts of your funnel

      Time is money and since most people who try their hand in SEO (using outdated methods like exact match domain names or tiered links) put in a lot of time and come out empty handed, it's better to invest in existing traffic platforms and optimize for them.
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    • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
      Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

      With the possible exception of Neil Patel I'm not familiar with any SEO guru who doesn't advocate some form of monetary investment in link building.
      You should definitely check out Brian Dean for commonsense approaches to SEO that actually work. I don't recall him ever advocating paid links - Backlinko Blog
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    Just to add some more insight into my thinking: SEO is Dead and Always Was..

    Google, by the way, has some ant-trust issues pending. I wonder if the paid ad vs. legitimate SEO ranking success might be one them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mabu Map
    Paid ads. I'm a big fan of paid ads

    we can see results quick

    Awesome
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    • Profile picture of the author jacko308
      Hi, I am only new to SEO and paid google add's as i have just bought a new starter site from Flippa 2 months ago and am trying to do social media without success, I was wondering how much do google add's cost.
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      • Profile picture of the author luciesmazanska
        Originally Posted by jacko308 View Post

        Hi, I am only new to SEO and paid google add's as i have just bought a new starter site from Flippa 2 months ago and am trying to do social media without success, I was wondering how much do google add's cost.
        buying something from a Flippa, you must be careful as there is a lot of shady projects....
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        • Profile picture of the author jacko308
          Yes i agree but if you don't buy from them who is a better option. Any advice would be appreciated
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          • Profile picture of the author skzahidul2
            You can check out EmpireFlippers where you will get a lot of authority sites. And Flippa is also good if you pick the right one with carefully.
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            • Profile picture of the author jacko308
              Thanks for the advice, Empire Flippers don't seem to have anything under about 15K, But I suppose you get what you pay for. On Flippa you can sometimes pick up good starter sites, but then you have the problem of getting traffic to them. Any idea's about getting good organic traffic. Any advice is appreciated
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    Thank you. I am a fan of Brian Dean. I apologize for leaving him out. I'm sure there are others, but I'm just not aware of them.
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    Here's another thought that might satisfy both interests:

    Back in earlier days Google had their ads on a sidebar on the right of the page and, if I can recall correctly, on a panel at the bottom of the page.

    That's something I could live with. Memo to John Mueller..
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  • Profile picture of the author luciesmazanska
    Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

    Had this thought while planning a new article...

    Why should I spend all my time learning SEO when every time I do a search I find the 1st 3-4 entries to be paid ads? Think of it! You could be right up there with Forbes and Hubspot!

    Yes, yes ads cost money. But I've spend a great deal of time and energy and have paid for the occasional SEO course.

    And the SEO ranking methods can be quite formidable if you are starting from scratch. If you don't take a sizable risk in paying for links you can spend eons contacting possible webmaster who will take a link.

    Of course, there are those who will say, 'why don't you do both?' Which is what will probably be doing. Still, the question lingers...
    all depends if you are patient or not.
    Patience is a key, but if you have some budget I would prefer paid ads
    If you dont, then learn everything from a scratch
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  • Profile picture of the author david@seoextent
    Continual SEO together with occasional Ads should be the best.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jarrod Edmondson
    Paid ads, for those who don't work with a restricted budget.
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  • Profile picture of the author surajbag94
    Both are Great Way....
    if you want to quick result than you go with paid Ads but SEO is evergreen technique in Search Engine Marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    Well i think paid ads are the way to go but if you have free time why not to worl with seo also ? Why to lose time on tv ,social.media when you can work at your dream
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  • Profile picture of the author samsabir
    Organic and paid both techniques are necessary to build a sturdy and powerful online reputation. Instead of choosing between the two of them, try leveraging both as both of them are equally important and impactful.
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  • Profile picture of the author shahriardxb
    It takes more times to make money in SEO, so in the first stage you can use paid ad.
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  • Profile picture of the author adoptdigital
    SEO is a long term process and other paid marketing is one time, when you spend your money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shreevidhya
    If you are looking for instant results then Ads will be the better option for you to move with. But it matters only when you gain from the investment. Else otherwise your investment could go vain. My opinion is SEO as it produces long lasting results even though it is long term process.
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  • Profile picture of the author dominicwhittaker
    Think of using both to obtain the same goal. Paid ads to a squeeze page then use your leads as a means of putting them through your blog/customer experience. If your blog is well siloed then your customer experience and SEO should be good. Use emails to your leads to drive them through your blog posts with the aim of building trust and later on sales
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  • Profile picture of the author Thinkfast
    According to me.


    If website is brand new and want to start earning from starting then i will choose advertisement along with SEO link building work ...... Because once we achieve place in search engines then no need of advertisement.


    SEO is forever thing means once you got good position then you can be there for long time by manage online reputation but with advertisement you are on top only till you are paying and after that you are on no where (May be).


    So i will prefer both according to situation and status of website.
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    • Profile picture of the author david@seoextent
      Correct to an extent! Ads are not for all businesses, and Ads give you ranks, not sales. For actual sales, you need to work hard right on your website including on-site adjustments, total reputation, user experience and a lot more...

      When you're doing all of that, you're actually doing SEO for the site (unknowingly). So, learning and doing real SEO is not a waste of your time or efforts. It should be in place!
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin black
    Both are good. If you have money then you can use Paid ads and if you are interested in long term marketing then you can use SEO. You can read my full article.

    SEO- or Search Engine Optimization- can help your content rank higher and longer. Organic content found via search engines is more likely to be clicked on and trusted by audiences, more effective for local searches, and can grow your online presence for longer. PPC -- or Pay-Per-Click -- on the other hand, requires you to spend ad money to get your content in front of an audience.

    Here are some facts about both SEO and PPC:

    PPC

    The top 3 paid advertising spots get 46% of the clicks on the page. According to Power Traffick, the top three links on a search engine results page (SERP) capture almost half of all traffic for that keyword. This data supports the PPC method as it involves buying ad space at the top of the SERP.

    More than 615 million devices use Adblock. As a consumer, Adblock is amazing: it stops all those eerily targeted ads from popping up on your Facebook feed. However, as a marketer, it can be frustrating to invest in PPC if huge numbers of your target consumers will never see your ad.

    Google's algorithm updates don't affect PPC. While not a stat per se, a big benefit of PPC is that it's immune to Google's changing SERP ranking algorithm. In 2018, Google reported that it had updated its algorithm 3,234 times! If you're using the SEO method, you have to adjust your content optimization to rank better according to the updated algorithm requirements.

    75% say it's easier to find what they're looking for from paid ads. The reason the first page of search results -- especially the few hits -- get the vast majority of clicks is due to the combination of ease of use and finding what the searcher is looking for. Bidding on target keywords through PPC accomplishes both of these needs: the paid ads are easy to find at the top of the SERP and they answer the question of the searcher.

    SEO

    Nearly 80% of users ignore paid ads in search results. People tend to prefer organic links more than paid ones.

    SEO drives 30% of traffic, and 20% of revenue. SEO ROI accumulates over time as content creators establish authority and visibility. Prospects often visit a website more than once before filling out a form or making a purchase, so ranking higher for more keywords increases the likelihood of conversions over time.

    36.2% of consumers recognize links that are paid advertisements but don't click on them. Many search users aren't able to differentiate between paid ads and organic links -- in fact, only half of the searchers correctly identify ads. In spite of this, consumers are still preferring the organic links over the PPC ones.

    Organic SEO is about 5.66 times better than paid search ads. HubSpot's co-founder, Brian Halligan, ardently believes in an organic-first strategy for its longevity and strong conversion performance. According to HubSpot's inbound marketing philosophy, paid outbound marketing interrupts audiences with outreach they don't want, whereas organic optimization draws in consumers with content they love.

    Suppose if you want to promote your Vacuum Cleaners business then you have two option one is SEO and another is PPC.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by Justin black View Post

      Both are good. If you have money then you can use Paid ads and if you are interested in long term marketing then you can use SEO.
      That's ridiculous. Paid ads are just as much of a long-term strategy as SEO.
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      • Profile picture of the author david@seoextent
        To me, yes, both are long-term strategies, but it's that paid Ads are faster to see results than Organic SEO. However, what matters more is the rate of conversion. Nobody knows Google, so it's all 'heat and trial'.
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        • Profile picture of the author luciesmazanska
          Originally Posted by david@seoextent View Post

          To me, yes, both are long-term strategies, but it's that paid Ads are faster to see results than Organic SEO. However, what matters more is the rate of conversion. Nobody knows Google, so it's all 'heat and trial'.
          I agree with faster results regarding to Ads, but we have to also think about NO SALES lol
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  • Profile picture of the author xesports
    Most people I see that seem to pay for ads don't do so well.
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    • Profile picture of the author TobiMDD
      Originally Posted by xesports View Post

      Most people I see that seem to pay for ads don't do so well.

      That's probably because they promote the wrong products and or the wrong funnel.
      Especially with paid ads it's extremely important to promote a funnel which can lead to high-ticket commissions of $1000 or more to be in profit and to not lose money.
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  • Profile picture of the author oppyeaunome
    Paying for traffic can cost more if you don't know what you're doing. Although SEO is more expensive than it was before it is still the better option.

    You won't spend as much money and you will learn a valuable skill which can serve you for the rest of your life.
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

    Had this thought while planning a new article...

    Why should I spend all my time learning SEO when every time I do a search I find the 1st 3-4 entries to be paid ads? Think of it! You could be right up there with Forbes and Hubspot!

    Yes, yes ads cost money. But I've spend a great deal of time and energy and have paid for the occasional SEO course.

    And the SEO ranking methods can be quite formidable if you are starting from scratch. If you don't take a sizable risk in paying for links you can spend eons contacting possible webmaster who will take a link.

    Of course, there are those who will say, 'why don't you do both?' Which is what will probably be doing. Still, the question lingers...
    You have the answer brother! money is the cause of all these evil. Google should appear on the list of corrupt people. It explains why paid ads will always appear at the top of the search.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by Medon View Post

      You have the answer brother! money is the cause of all these evil. Google should appear on the list of corrupt people. It explains why paid ads will always appear at the top of the search.
      That is literally the dumbest thing I have read today. How in the hell is that corrupt at all? It's their ******* platform. They can show as many ads as they want.

      By your logic, anyone showing ads on their own sites or selling anything is corrupt.
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  • Profile picture of the author itsmohiit
    Start with paid ads and blogging .
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  • Profile picture of the author incomenow
    Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

    Had this thought while planning a new article...

    Why should I spend all my time learning SEO when every time I do a search I find the 1st 3-4 entries to be paid ads? Think of it! You could be right up there with Forbes and Hubspot!

    Yes, yes ads cost money. But I've spend a great deal of time and energy and have paid for the occasional SEO course.

    And the SEO ranking methods can be quite formidable if you are starting from scratch. If you don't take a sizable risk in paying for links you can spend eons contacting possible webmaster who will take a link.

    Of course, there are those who will say, 'why don't you do both?' Which is what will probably be doing. Still, the question lingers...
    SEO is better, safer, and long-lasting, though comes with a lot of challenges especially for the newbie. Google prefers that all links should be generated organically while links bought will subject your blog to a severe penalty from Google. In that regard, it's better and safer to concentrate on SEO (on-page and off-page) while you forget about the black hat way of building traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author vishwa
    SEO needs patience and lots of hard work to pay off you residual traffic. However, paid sources need some budget and experience too. if you are new to it then you cannot able to make most out of your paid campaigns.
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  • Profile picture of the author samsabir
    SEO and paid ads are both important to a huge extent. SEO requires consistency and gives long-term results if performed correctly, so both are equally useful and should not be prioritized over the other.
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  • Profile picture of the author DURABLEOILCOM
    Everyone and their brother is hoping SEO will be their claim to fame. The truth is SEO is a thing of the past. Google Adwords is known as King their Paid Ads will always take priority over SEO efforts. Find quality keywords and track conversions that will laser focus finding customers for your niche.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by DURABLEOILCOM View Post

      Everyone and their brother is hoping SEO will be their claim to fame. The truth is SEO is a thing of the past. Google Adwords is known as King their Paid Ads will always take priority over SEO efforts. Find quality keywords and track conversions that will laser focus finding customers for your niche.
      SEO is a thing of the past? WTF are you talking about? Last I checked, search engines are still providing search results. Nothing has changed there.

      Google Ads gets a far lower percentage of the total clicks than the organic search results do.

      Any successful marketing campaign should be focusing heavily on both.
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    In Google Web Stories WordPress Plugin for More Traffic from Search Engine Journal you can find out more about a plugin that could help. Official release supposed to be coming out at the end of the month.
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  • It depends on your budget at present time, if you have no problem related to budge the rational ways would be starting with PPC, and gradually start with SEO.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve L
    Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

    Had this thought while planning a new article...

    Why should I spend all my time learning SEO when every time I do a search I find the 1st 3-4 entries to be paid ads? Think of it! You could be right up there with Forbes and Hubspot!

    Yes, yes ads cost money. But I've spend a great deal of time and energy and have paid for the occasional SEO course.

    And the SEO ranking methods can be quite formidable if you are starting from scratch. If you don't take a sizable risk in paying for links you can spend eons contacting possible webmaster who will take a link.

    Of course, there are those who will say, 'why don't you do both?' Which is what will probably be doing. Still, the question lingers...
    There's no reason not to do both. That is if you can afford ads. A lot of people can't afford ads so organic growth is all they're left with which is fine. Just because organic SEO takes time doesn't mean it's not worth it. Organic SEO has a snowball effect over time. One day you wake up and you have an unstoppable flood of traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author jacko308
      Hi Steve L, How long do you think I should do SEO for, I have been doing it for 3 months now at a total cost of $300 and have seen O results so far.
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      • Profile picture of the author George Flm
        Originally Posted by jacko308 View Post

        Hi Steve L, How long do you think I should do SEO for, I have been doing it for 3 months now at a total cost of $300 and have seen O results so far.
        300 smackers/month would get you very far in SEO, I noticed that neophytes are losing their shirt due to ignorance. Yes ignorance. SEO is like a surgical operation. What you put on the table must be done/dissected with very delicate and precise moves. For example one new site gets the wrong backlink to BEGIN with.

        Poof, thousands down the drain.
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        • Profile picture of the author jacko308
          Hi Steve, I am only new to websites and SEO and asked the question as i don't know how much is the going rate for SEO. I was interested to know if I am being charged to much as I have been charged $100 per month for the last 3 months.with 150 to 250 back links included, is this the going rate or am I being charged to much, because if i continue for a year, that $1200 would buy a lot of paid adds Thanks for your reply all information is appreciated.
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  • Profile picture of the author Md Nadeem Raza
    If you are new venture and have enough money to invest on add then go for it, but side by side don't forget to SEO. Because the ad will only work until you have money. That's why SEO in helpful.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

    Had this thought while planning a new article...

    Why should I spend all my time learning SEO when every time I do a search I find the 1st 3-4 entries to be paid ads? Think of it! You could be right up there with Forbes and Hubspot!

    Yes, yes ads cost money. But I've spend a great deal of time and energy and have paid for the occasional SEO course.

    And the SEO ranking methods can be quite formidable if you are starting from scratch. If you don't take a sizable risk in paying for links you can spend eons contacting possible webmaster who will take a link.

    Of course, there are those who will say, 'why don't you do both?' Which is what will probably be doing. Still, the question lingers...
    I agree with doing both. In my opinion, get everything setup for SEO. Then work on running the paid ads. SEO is a great way to get traffic, but often takes time. Running Paid ads while you get your links and ranks up will help and should also serve as a learning experience. I find many aspects of PPC and SEO can be intertwined and you can learn from both.
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  • Profile picture of the author skzahidul2
    SEO is a long term process and it needs time and some investment as well. But if you want quick money then you might go for Ads. For my personal project, I always do SEO and if I see it taking a lot of time to rank a hard keyword then I start paid ads. Once I get some good clicks then my site automatically ranks Google top page.
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  • Profile picture of the author shakila6795
    I think that these have to be useful and adding value to the post.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    They say that 20% of your efforts will get you 80% of the results. Paid ads should be 19% of that 20% and 1% should be devoted to SEO.

    Niches that have less SEO competition is worth it.

    Niches like "internet marketing" and "make money online" should not even be touched and focused on PAID ads only. That's my opinion.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

      Had this thought while planning a new article...
      Consider connecting with sites which are already targeting your prospective audience. They may be receptive to publishing your article ideas. I have found that using this method, one can quickly drive traffic without the lag time and hassles of direct SEO or paid ads at all. You can leverage the heavy lifting of SEO by just riding along at the top.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
        Originally Posted by myob View Post

        Consider connecting with sites which are already targeting your prospective audience. They may be receptive to publishing your article ideas. I have found that using this method, one can quickly drive traffic without the lag time and hassles of direct SEO or paid ads at all. You can leverage the heavy lifting of SEO by just riding along at the top.
        ^ This ^

        i.e. follow the money and using MYOB's method the money will follow you.
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        • Profile picture of the author myob
          Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

          follow the money and using MYOB's method the money will follow you.
          This is not just MYOB's method. Back in ancient times, it was called "article syndication". Many online tribal warriors are still using it, although it is far more prevalent among offline marketing civilizations.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
      Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

      Interesting article in Bloomberg 7/14/20: Google Search Upgrades Make It Harder For Websites to Win Traffic
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      I hate articles like this. They take the stance that website owners are somehow entitled to traffic from Google and that Google is evil for pushing ads on its own platform.

      You are entitled to absolutely nothing from Google and if you do not like them, you are free to block Googlebot.
      Agreed. Few minutes ago I submitted a thread about the article in the Search Engine Optimization forum. It will be interesting to see if anyone takes an interest.
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    • Profile picture of the author Profit Traveler
      Banned
      If I had more than one way to make money the only thing that stops me from one or the other is trying and measuring results.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jack Bane
    i concur with George Troy, if they sell I buy them for a more extensive review, if they're duds I dump them.
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  • Profile picture of the author hsvdm
    Hello, this just goes hand in hand. You need both, when you first start out your authority blog or site you can kickstart the traffic with paid ads.


    And when you blog grows naturally, the seo effect will start too. Some sort of both things together is for example fb marketing. You can do that without buying fb ads and get targeted leads!


    Mirko
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  • Profile picture of the author Erfan MMS
    Yes I agree. but it totally depends on your niche and also the amount of time you dedicate to promote something. But in general, paid ads are always on top if you really know the game and you are sure that you can become profitable by what you are offering
    I hope that helps
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
      Originally Posted by Erfan MMS View Post

      Yes I agree. but it totally depends on your niche and also the amount of time you dedicate to promote something. But in general, paid ads are always on top if you really know the game and you are sure that you can become profitable by what you are offering
      I hope that helps
      What do you agree with?
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  • Profile picture of the author AlexWilliams0
    Exactly. I do both and I see results in short terms. As for me SEO and paid ads go hand in hand and they're more efficient if implemented together. I've been doing this for long enough to know that this is true and paid ads are incomplete without an SEO campaign. I learned much about content creating, also from similarcontent.com but not only. Many people choose only one because this can get expensive, but it's better to invest a little bit more and to have good results rather than to invest less and get a lower outcome.
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  • Profile picture of the author Pia Obrero
    You've to learn both SEO and ADS to strategize on how you make a deal/ bid with your potential clients. With that way, you will earn what you've worked and it will minimize the amount of money you should spend in every ads you're going to make but it will maximize the amount you will earn.
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  • Profile picture of the author HappyClean
    We find having both helps. While we work a lot on our SEO that takes time and having paid ads is the quick way in front of the competition. Also GMB is great for putting your business up for local customers
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  • Profile picture of the author Erfan MMS
    you can easily start with paid ads and then work on SEO and then build a massive e-mail list of real buyers buyers.Otherwise, you'll be paying for ads forever, though.
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  • Profile picture of the author brorisholt95
    SEO is a long term process and also has long term benefits. But you have to be patient because if you think that you build a site and that site will rank over night, then you should quit SEO, and pay paid advertisement. But here is one thing to keep in mind, if you do not know about the paid advertisement, then appoint some expert for it. Paid advertisements are like leeches if they start sucking your money once they are pocketed.
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    Interesting article in Bloomberg 7/14/20: Google Search Upgrades Make It Harder For Websites to Win Traffic
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

      Interesting article in Bloomberg 7/14/20: Google Search Upgrades Make It Harder For Websites to Win Traffic

      I hate articles like this. They take the stance that website owners are somehow entitled to traffic from Google and that Google is evil for pushing ads on its own platform.

      You are entitled to absolutely nothing from Google and if you do not like them, you are free to block Googlebot.
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    Here's another interesting article from Reuters: U.S. and states' Google antitrust probe nears finish line

    You might also be interested in this definition of a monopoly from Investopia:
    A monopoly refers to when a company and its product offerings dominate a sector or industry. Monopolies can be considered an extreme result of free-market capitalism in that absent any restriction or restraints, a single company or group becomes large enough to own all or nearly all of the market (goods, supplies, commodities, infrastructure, and assets) for a particular type of product or service. The term monopoly is often used to describe an entity that has total or near-total control of a market.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

      Here's another interesting article from Reuters: U.S. and states' Google antitrust probe nears finish line

      You might also be interested in this definition of a monopoly from Investopia:
      A monopoly refers to when a company and its product offerings dominate a sector or industry. Monopolies can be considered an extreme result of free-market capitalism in that absent any restriction or restraints, a single company or group becomes large enough to own all or nearly all of the market (goods, supplies, commodities, infrastructure, and assets) for a particular type of product or service. The term monopoly is often used to describe an entity that has total or near-total control of a market.

      The problem with looking at a service like Google being a monopoly, is even if it is a monopoly, what are you going to break it up into? Are you going to do regional search engines as they did with the Baby Bell's? Are you going to take YouTube away from them? That still leaves them with the dominant search engine.

      That's what I never understand. You can't force people to use Bing.

      So what is the solution?
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    I don't have an easy answer and, frankly, I haven't given it much thought until recently. Google has almost always been there and even with all the traumatic algorithm changes and other difficulties it's not easy to switch to, say, Bing or Duckduckgo and they don't have Google's depth.

    I just remember that the internet was a U.S. government project that changed the world and cyberspace was free for everyone. How one navigates it and whether one company should be overlord for most, if not all, is another matter.

    Google has made many valuable and useful contributions to life online. Still, considering all of Google's various enterprises I think adjusting how they deal with their paid ads within their search engine should be a topic of discussion.
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  • Profile picture of the author petermei
    Eh, I'd say it's a toss up depending on what you are trying to accomplish, in the first place. SEO accomplishes a lot more things than simple conversion and won't necessarily involve payment if you do it yourself. Whereas paid ads will cost you money no matter what.



    Of course, paid ads is essentially paid traffic anyway, so one could argue why not just buy website traffic directly? It would certainly cut the middle man out of the equation. Google, Facebook, and services like Maxvisits.com, fiverr, and other social networks offer this in one form or another anyway.



    I think the main point that needs to be considered, though, is what you are getting for what you are spending. If paid ads gets you more ROI than SEO and faster conversion, you might as well go with it. However, it can also be argued that not having a solid SEO foundation can leave a pretty big weakness for your site
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  • Profile picture of the author Amal Hani
    For Long Term SEO is the best option and If you need instant result then SEM is the best option.
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  • Profile picture of the author mellisas
    Yes, need to be used both with a specific % ratio out of 100% of our work for traffic, a new website with 65% paid, and 35% SEO will help to generate traffic, and decreaase the paid once you satisfied with SEO work.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rajamanickam
    I am also using both together for my business better sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author susan2015parker
    I like the most SEO.
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  • Profile picture of the author alminhaliab
    I am also using both together for my business.
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  • Profile picture of the author vladamir
    both, use ppc while your seo fills out
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  • Profile picture of the author hsvdm
    You have to use both techniques, SEO is great you need more time and investment . But if you do it right this is a gold mine. How ever if you want quick results or sales, you need to use paid ads,
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  • Profile picture of the author Lilach Bullock
    SEO and Ads are completely different and the results will depend on many variables. As a writer on Forbes, the results I get back are more SEO juice (so helps build my DA and authority as well as driving some traffic back). But an ad would be more direct and targeted. Ideally, both is good but if budget is limited I'd recommend ads over SEO as it takes so long to build up and can be more expensive than ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author itsmohiit
    SEO and paid ads are very important for digital marketing..
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  • Profile picture of the author culpetm
    Do both, obviously. Try to get both to where they are profitable. And DON'T rely on either one, exclusively, for your business.

    SEO is good, but it is vulnerable because a google algorithm tweak can eliminate your site from google search results overnight (depending on what methods you've been using).

    PPC is less vulnerable, but fluctuations in the cost of ads could potentially hurt you in the future, especially if you're in a niche where advertisers (competition for ads) are growing faster than demand (people searching in your niche). This will lead to higher and higher prices for ads.

    Another option is to build your own legitimate, engaged, audience through a list. That's not really vulnerable to anything. No one can take that away from you.
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  • Profile picture of the author David McGimpsey
    Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

    Had this thought while planning a new article...

    Why should I spend all my time learning SEO when every time I do a search I find the 1st 3-4 entries to be paid ads? Think of it! You could be right up there with Forbes and Hubspot!

    Yes, yes ads cost money. But I've spend a great deal of time and energy and have paid for the occasional SEO course.

    And the SEO ranking methods can be quite formidable if you are starting from scratch. If you don't take a sizable risk in paying for links you can spend eons contacting possible webmaster who will take a link.

    Of course, there are those who will say, 'why don't you do both?' Which is what will probably be doing. Still, the question lingers...
    My approach is paid ads first.

    Find what works and then build content around the working stuff in the background. If I keep SEO in the background I can enjoy it more and not get frustrated when I can't achieve particular rankings quickly enough (or Google demotes me from page 1 to page 20).

    Paid ads cost a lot of money, but I'd rather have more time, than more money and no time to enjoy it.
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  • Profile picture of the author ank27
    I totally agree. And I'm sure it's easier and safer to use paid advertising.
    There are few real SEO specialists and there are no guarantees to get the result. Thank you for this topic!
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  • Profile picture of the author ravikumarfront
    I suggest start with paid ads and slowly transition into SEO and having a large e-mail list of prospects/buyers. Continual SEO together with occasional Ads should be the best.
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    To me, SEO is a natural process while buying ads is artificial . So what is the best option for you? A natural process or buying artificial products?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
      Originally Posted by Medon View Post

      To me, SEO is a natural process while buying ads is artificial . So what is the best option for you? A natural process or buying artificial products?
      The one that coverts of course. After all, natural or artificial (whatever that means) both will make money when/if it converts.
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  • Profile picture of the author xeniux
    My answer would be always SEO first, then Paid Ads, with SEO if you could get long tail keywords on page 1 you could save a great sum of money for the Paid ads.

    Yes of course SEO would need to invest more time and less money, vice versa for paid ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author MoneyPools
    both are good long term.
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  • Profile picture of the author shawaizahmed
    my opinion is to do SEO because it helps to completely optimize your website and you also get traffic for a long time but in paid add you get traffic but your website will not optimized.
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  • Profile picture of the author BeginnersAngel
    Believe it or not most people don't click on the ads. People click on the SEO websites more. I was wondering the same thing at one time.

    Studies indicates that the first 5 SEO searches on the first page gets over 67% of the clicks alone.

    Paid ads get around 20% of the clicks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Shabat
    In my opinion, it's always worth investing in SEO.

    First off, I think we all know that organic search results will get more clicks than Google Ads - that's no shocker. But let's imagine, for arguement's sake, that you had a limitless e-commerce marketing budget and you wanted to dump a ton into PPC ads. It still wouldn't do much to contribute to your business's brand uniqueness. SEO does!

    Yes, the primary goal of SEO is to rank higher. But it'll require that you produce a consistent stream of high-quality content. In doing so, you'll simulatenously be illustrating your expertise and reliability as a source of dependable information in your line of work.

    Paid ads are a quick solution, but when you run a small[er] online business, using your own words, your own voice, and your own image to communicate with your audience can be immensely beneficial. Imagine the different reactions you'll get from leads when they visit your site and see your face and read your words - as opposed to seeing shutterstock images and reading copy that comes off as 'artificial'.

    Bottom line: SEO does more than just generate traffic, leads, and sales. It helps you build up your brand awareness - something that you'd end up paying quite a bit to achieve through paid ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author GoldTruffles
    I am testing out paid ads, if anyone has a good adwords beginner guide, please let me know!
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  • Profile picture of the author hardworker2013
    Paid Ads is the easy way out, but can be very expensive. SEO takes time before you see any results depending on the keyword competition.
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    • Profile picture of the author Profit Traveler
      Banned
      After alot of time and hard work your SEO will generate leads/sales in your sleep for you if you set things up efficiently in an evergreen niche.

      With Paid...
      Sometimes your insights, landing page, daily spend will all be aligned so you hit it out the park. Then scale time.

      But for many they do not test long enough, do not know what to test and they lose a lot of money learning what not to do.

      If possible if you are affiliate the product owner may be able to give you some training like Mike Geary used to do with 6 Pack Abs.

      His affiliates training was incredible and detailed what he shared to help people promote and that is how he got up to a Million Dollars per Month.
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  • Profile picture of the author rattan007
    For long term solution and save money on ads, Go for SEO. But start with ads to get quick results.
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  • Profile picture of the author WINstore
    SEO and paid ads are both equally responsible for creating a powerful online reputation. Organic and paid traffic has a huge impact when leveraged simultaneously. One should start paid ads from significant but easy-to-manage social campaigns like Facebook and Google ads to understand its impact better. One simply can't choose between the two. Choosing both is equally important for an above-par performance.
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  • Profile picture of the author aaq870069
    It depends on your marketing strategy and objectives.

    Implementing the right PPC campaigns will get you short-term results. You have to pay to play in the Ads arena.

    Applying the right SEO strategies, incrementally, can yield positive results over time.
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  • Profile picture of the author gayatri s
    if you want instant traffic or sale then you can start with paid ads. but simultaneously if you focus on organic seo, it will give you lifelong results
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  • Profile picture of the author drjetri
    IF you CPA is so high that you generate a negative ROI, try content marketing + SEO and retargeting ads for people that get close to the convertion action.
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  • Profile picture of the author habibamin
    Of course SEO. Paid add will rank when you pay. Stop paid and rank down. To keep rank a long time you have to implement white hat SEO.
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  • Profile picture of the author norcalrich
    Originally Posted by SiteNameSales View Post

    Had this thought while planning a new article...

    Why should I spend all my time learning SEO when every time I do a search I find the 1st 3-4 entries to be paid ads? Think of it! You could be right up there with Forbes and Hubspot!

    Yes, yes ads cost money. But I've spend a great deal of time and energy and have paid for the occasional SEO course.

    And the SEO ranking methods can be quite formidable if you are starting from scratch. If you don't take a sizable risk in paying for links you can spend eons contacting possible webmaster who will take a link.

    Of course, there are those who will say, 'why don't you do both?' Which is what will probably be doing. Still, the question lingers...
    I would definitely opt for using paid ads initially to test which keywords convert best with your audience. Implementing SEO is a long term strategy which should only be used on keywords that actually convert for you.

    Once you've figured out which keywords convert well and generate a good ROI for you with sufficient traffic, start implementing SEO with the keywords you found. Once your website is ranking well and getting sufficient traffic, start optimizing for conversions.

    When you maximize conversions and revenue, give yourself a raise by repeating the process with new keywords. At some point it would benefit you to capture emails of these targeted leads that are coming to your website so you can follow up, educate and eventually sell additional products or services to your starving audience.
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  • Profile picture of the author bracknelson
    I think both are complementary to each other you need to work on both. SEO is something that is a must for every website. And ads are more focused on transactional queries. So for the overall growth of your business online you need to be good at both. As people are becoming more aware they trust to click on organic results.
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  • Profile picture of the author writer1972
    IMO You should do both. Do paid ads until you can rank organically through SEO. Once you rank organically, you won't have to pay for ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author extrememan
    Personally, paid ads but that's just me. I find it faster. However, you need to test, tweak and stick to a budget if possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author seoexpertinindia
    SEO is a long term strategy and paid ads takes a lot of budget. If you really do have a lot of budget and want instant sales you can go for paid ads. and if you are tight on budget go for SEO
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  • Profile picture of the author toysoldier80
    There is nothing like building a business for free.

    Why not build a great website that ranks well for many keywords. Long tail keywords, short tail ones, and gain highly targeted traffic to your site. You will build an evergreen site that can last a lifetime.

    All you need is a great SEO keyword tool. You will plug in a site idea and get a list of keywords related to your niche. If it s a niche you love, you will love to write about it and show off your expertise to the world. People will flock to your site who also share your same interests and your traffic and customers will begin to rise. You will make friends with other website owners inside your niche who will want you to maybe guest post and will share your links across their social media platforms or even email lists.
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  • Profile picture of the author swapon kumar
    I am also using both together for my business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nadine123
    Interesting on both! It's thought provoking.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sidra Jafri
    This is a very typical question every one of us had in mind initially when we started with SEO and website traffic generation. But eventually, we get to a point where we understand that spending money on ads is a costly procedure, its a matter of fact that we can't spend more money than we make, so eventually, we tend to go for organic SEO.
    However, Google does not let an ill-handled website with poor content, poor backlink, and poor authority website rank higher even if it's paid.
    check it yourself, put a paid ad website on any SEO tool and check its keywords, content, and links. You'll get your answer.
    Good Luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author socialprachar10
    Start with paid ads for article after 2 months do SEO
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