Which is the best? SEO or PPC?

by 107 replies
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Hello warriors,

Me and my friend had a long discussion about PPC versus SEO. And we argued too much and didn't come to conclusion as I supported SEO a lot. Am so confused of this argument. Can anyone explain me in detail?
#search engine optimization #ppc #seo
  • Keep in mind I am new at this..but it is my view/opinion

    PPC: Paid traffic, while you do have more control over how much you are getting and it can be more focused on your actual topic.. you do pay for it.

    SEO: Free, some what interested in your niche at the very least. Takes work and time to build though and you are at the whim of Google updates if you choose to use black hat methods.
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    • I think SEO is better because it is not instant compared to PPC where you have to pay for it and the traffic that search engines can instantly suspected
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    • Of-course, SEO without any doubt.
  • Depends on what your goals and targets are.
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  • SEO is a natural way to get traffic and PPC is the paid mode. Using PPC you will have more control over to get the right visitors on the targeted pages and this will costs you money. Also PPC is a quick way to get traffic while SEO may take times depends upon how you implement the rules.
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    • Hi Josh,

      Why waste time arguing?

      They are both excellent methods of promoting your website, they both work well when properly executed. You do not need to choose one, or the other, best practice is to use both simultaneously. In fact, stats show that you get a great deal of synergy by employing both simultaneously.

      If a keyword is worth ranking by SEO then it is likely worth advertising as well. One of the key advantages that PPC has over nearly all other forms of promotion, including SEO, is that you gather useful data very quickly. That data can then be used to inform your strategy for other promotional techniques, including SEO campaigns. Anyone trying to run an SEO campaign without the benefit of PPC campaign data is disadvantaged by that lack of data.

      @Aarav,

      I love having competitors that think like you.

      @Nelapsi,

      I often hear people refer to SEO as "free". Maybe to you it is free, but to me time is money.

      I can always get more money, but time is a very limited resource. No matter what I try, I can never get more than 24 hours out of a day, so I always have to employ others to get more time onto a project. I do not have a limitless source of free labor. If you can please share where you, and others, that refer to SEO as "free", find all of that free labor I would appreciate it.
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  • Both of them are very good, the best thing is to have both . You'll get much much better results and sales using both of them
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    • I agree. Its never wise to put all your eggs in one basket. Both sides have thier strengths and weaknesses:

      PPC:
      Pros: high level of control, with a little research you can fine-tune your bids to save $$$
      Cons: Increasing % of bot clicks, newbs can configure it wrong and blow through $1000+ in a day

      SEO:
      pros: sites ranking high organically have that much more credibility in the eyes of visitors, is cheaper over the long term
      cons: takes time, vulnerable to the whims of google
  • PPC is great for quickly testing a new market to see if it can generate a profit. SEO is a long term strategy but can deliver "free" traffic alongside PPC.
  • I am going to have a go at PPC when I get time. I have tried to register with a few PPC sites but like everything on the internet, I find the jargon too much. I can never get past the registering bit - the questions are too complicated

    I think if you are doing IM seriously and want quick feedback and possible returns then PPC is the way to go. As said before: no harm in having a liitle go at both of them.
  • You're comparing night and day, apples vs oranges, BJJ vs Muay Thai.
    You already know the pros and cons of each, use both at the same time if you have the budget
  • They two different ways to great traffic.

    So many difference you can't compare them.

    My best advice is to learn both. Then decide what works best on a case to case basis with your sites.
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    • I agree Big Norm. I started using long tail keywords and got my cost down to a minimum. My mailing list grew much quicker and I was able to see what keywords were getting the best response and then incorporating them into my web text in turn improving my SEO.
  • You need to use both strategies. Start out with SEO on your website. Then focus on traffic generation techniques that will bring you long term results. They take time but they are worth it. Use the following traffic tactics, social media marketing (various social networking sites, video sites, wiki authority sites, blog commenting, social bookmarking, etc.). Use article marketing on the high pr article sites. Create quality content. Create link wheels.

    PPC involves testing. Your gonna want to learn more about PPC before you get started on.
  • I agree with Aarav because if you are doing a promo for a short period of time PPC. Looking to rank long term SEO.
  • Hello Friends,
    I am providing a great solution based on SEO and PPC.
    Websites need to mark their presence on the Internet to get more traffic. This can be done using appropriate online marketing techniques that serve to promote a given website. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) are two such marketing techniques that are used to draw the attention of the end-user by ensuring that the website is displayed prominently on the result pages of popular search engines such as Bing, Yahoo and Google.SEO continues to be the top lead generating channel among U.S. digital marketers, while PPC's effectiveness as a lead gen channel is dropping significantly. So i think that social media marketing is now more effective than PPC as a lead gen channel.


    Thank you,
  • They are both good but one is a lot easier to control then the other.

    If anything you can use PPC to find a high converting ad and use it in your title and description tag.

    Personally I love both
  • SEO is best option to have quality links and organic one too,But PPC don't bring any organic traffic which will not going to help in your rankings.Its just the add which is placed on the top search results.
  • @ All replied here.

    Hello my dear Warriors, I think now I am clear but with some doubts. You have explained me a lot. Thanks for that. I wish to tell my point of view. I supported and argued for SEO because of its long time visibility and permanent back links. But SEO is not suitable for instant traffic or sale while PPC perfectly matches for instant sale.

    PPC mostly used for instant traffic and selling deals like Festival deals, event deals, black friday deals and so on. SEO is the long term and confirmed sales for certain time till the visibility in SERP.

    Am I right or need to know something more?
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  • I don't like PPC as I was coming up in different states for my local service company as well as a huge click through rate. And yes I was opted out of the display network as well
  • After all your replies, I have come to the conclusion that both are well and some warriors posted useful replies for me and I've known something from them. I expected to know more form you. Anyway thanks for your valuable replies.

    Thank you..
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    SEO is better then PPC. In PPC we do not get the maximum advantage of the online visitors or popularity. SEO is the best way for getting popularity for a website as well as exposure. SEO will also generate the online business through a website.
  • Hi Josh Jocky,
    Don't be confuse. SEO only the best for anytime. If you start PPC, how many days or how many years will you spend money for it. After PPC period if you start seo only you will get ranking for long period.
    I think you got an idea..
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    • I accept your reply that we can't do PPC for long time. But, SEO takes long time, If I need to sell my products within a week (for Christmas Deals, New year deals and like that), Have i to choose PPC or SEO?
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  • Of-course, SEO! It's more cheaper than PPC
  • Both of them are very good, the best thing is to have both . You'll get much much better results and sales using both of them
  • I think seo is the best for a website. its natural way to optimize..
  • I'm going to disagree with most people on here and say PPC. Yes it does cost money split testing campaigns and finding which promotions/ads/keywords work best, but once you've done it for awhile you begin to understand how to best set up your test campaigns where you minimize the cost and maximize your bottom line PLUS you don't have to rely on search engines for traffic.

    While SEO is a great long term goal for any site, I want to see a return for my investment now, not months down the track, plus money made from successful PPC campaigns can be used to help fund SEO projects, so it's a win/win situation. PPC funds SEO, really couldn't ask for a better partnership.
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  • I think that as a business owner....you need to work on both SEO and PPC. One isn't better than the other....and it is like comparing apples and oranges. PPC is awesome for getting immediate traffic that you can track and find which keywords are winners. SEO takes time and alot of trial and error...and you finally get traffic but it is over time....yeah it's free traffic but you sacrifice time in order to achieve any results.
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  • organic seo is the best..
  • SEO is better on the long run
  • SEO is much cheaper!
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    • :rolleyes: Tell that to all the people who brought SEO services and ended up tanking after Googles last major update.
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  • SEO > PPC unless you are confident your PPC spend will produce more ROI.
  • Personally I have always preferred paid traffic then with the profits you earn hire a professional team to handle on going SEO

    It all comes down to your budget however!
  • Well, I suggest SEO too..As PPC is if invest you get results..and always on risks..
  • Penguin and Panda did not affect PPC. Enough said.
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    • Yeah.. I accept. penguin and panda won't affect, But if you do SEO perfectly, who will suffer you.. Its all based on our needs. SEO is mainly for traffic but PPC is mainly for Instant Sales.

      Through both, we can get the ROI surely but the matter is how quickly we get it. Got it?
  • In choosing between SEO and PPC, you first need to decide what size advertising budget your business can support. You can set your daily spending limit as low as you'd like, but it can be a good idea to start with a minimum of $5 to $10 a day.
  • I would spend 70% of my efforts and money on SEO, and 30% on PPC . SEO alone is very great, but takes a long time to achieve results . with a little PPC, you can grow your site much faster
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    • hey josh..

      i think this discussion will takes some more days to get finished....anyway here is my contribution. It was already explained clearly what SEO and PPC is for in the earlier posts. Im just putting a conclusion here.
      Actually SEO deserves when there is a need for long term ruling at SERP. SEO can do the best in keeping you at top for very long time so you can get your clients right to you throughout the days. If you are running a electronics or clothes like businesses you need to pick SEO to run your business its life long. And i can say that PPC is additional tag to SEO in promoting the online business. PPC needs more money that SEO needs. but there is an benefit from PPC which gives instant traffic thus sales. If you are running a online gifts shop or crackers shop or something that got sale seasonally and occasionally, PPC can help you the best.

      So thats it a SEO and PPC are meant for. Hope this will help dude.
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    • SEO is a slow process to push up your website on the top of search engine and its cost very little. and the second part PPC is very different than SEO,PPC give you results on Search Engine Instantly,but its cost is very high.
  • I think you can determine which is better after you determine your ROI. Which will depend on so many factors. Some people blow tons of money on SEO and the ROI in the end winds up being far worse than PPC. Other people have developed economical/efficient ways to rank their sites and in that case its definitely worth it.

    Then the same thing applies to PPC. Some people optimize pages poorly, and will have a crappy ROI. Others know what they're doing, and so its worth it for them.
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    • Well,i think PPC can be great for seeding content.That doesn't mean Seo is not best.but You will need to follow SEO best practices to try to get your site displayed on these pages more prominently and more often.
  • SEO takes more time to get results, but it's a long-term solution.

    PPC is short-term, but the results are almost instantaneous.

    Now it's up to you which of these you choose. Best practice is to do both.
  • PPC is a stable, reliable source of traffic and income. I've been able to tune campaigns to get traffic to my offers and profit consistently day in and day out. There's no faster method to test the effectiveness of your sales funnel.
  • SEO because it can give you long term benefits unlike the PPC. PPC stops as soon as u stop paying for it.
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    • Ahhhhh, wrong. PPC set up right on a site can help improve SEO by increasing your target traffic, reducing your bounce rate(once again if your site is set up right) by increasing onsite time and page views.

      It's not hard to set up your site where people will want to do 2-3 page views on your site. Something structured like this:

      Home Page: Content with link to another page on your site which goes to a video embedded. The video link opens in a new tab or window which ever you choose makes no difference.

      Video Page: Has a short 1 minute video based around something related to your site. Start of the video mention that the end of the video will provide a free download. At the end of the video you tell the user to scroll to the bottom of the page for the download link. The user needs to scroll down to the download link. When they click it, it goes to another page on your site. This can either open a new tab or in the same one, makes no difference at this stage.

      Download page: Short opt in form the user needs to fill in to get the free download. If you wanted to be a little black hat, you could blur out the opt in form forcing the user to "like" your site before getting access to the form. I've never really tried this method, but have seen something similar which is completely white hat on SEORush which I thought was very cool, they delayed the results page with a pop up recommending people to like their page while they waited. Very cool idea and stays within FB terms and conditions.

      Right there, three page views where your on site time has increased, your bounce rate has dropped and you have now got a new subscriber and maybe even a FB like.

      So tell me once again, how does PPC have no long term benefits?
  • As with anything in life, it's about horses for courses.
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    • LOL..

      Can't understand whats your idea about PPC. Let me give my words.

      PPC(Pay-Per-Click) is an online advertising method where you have to pay some bidding money to get a position in paid results at your targeted keyword SERP. So users who came for the search results of your targeted keyword can click on these results to buy your services/products. If what you are providing is fine then you can get more sales. PPC, SEO, Affliate marketing, Emarketing, Forum marketing, whatever you are doing is just to take people before your services/products (your website). Then website qualities, popularity, reviews, and many more plays the role of running a sale.

      YES, i agree that PPC or any other marketing campaign is to get sales which comes only when traffic comes to your site. In simple words, conversion of traffic to further step is called Sales.

      Sorry i can't help you more than this. If still you are finding mistakes, Report error to WIKIPEDIA/wiki/Pay_per_click.
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  • PPC is used for only getting Instant lead for your business but low traffic,
    If you are doing White Hat SEO technique, surely you getting the long time SERP, More traffic and also Lead for your business.
    In my point of view SEO is the best.
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    • Thanks for replying me.. Anyway, you've started the topic of white hat seo techniques.. thread is Going very interesting..
  • Off-site SEO should always be done after the PPC campaign depending on the competition. It really boils down to the fact that off-site SEO is cost-effective over at long duration of time after you have determine which keywords are profitable by testing with PPC.

    It is important to understand there's on-site SEO and off-site SEO and you are absolutely want to implement on-site SEO before running PPC campaigns as it was drastically decrease year cost per click by increasing your quality score.
  • There is no options without SEO to get good traffic.
  • When you start your website then PPC is useful because by using this your website appear on first page of search engines,

    and if you want your website ranks always on desired keywords then SEO is the best .
  • Hey buddy, you are comparing Apples with Oranges

    PPC is for those who want quick results but there also you need to keep a track of whether your ad is ranking on 1st page or not. Are you bidding properly or not and so many things.

    In SEO, results are slow but once you pick up you can stay there for long.

    So if you are new to SEO, I would suggest you to opt for an SEO and learn for sometime. Once you get an idea about all this, go for PPC too!!
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    • Better idea.. I'll keep following..
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  • I have used both ppc and seo for my online campaigns. If you want immediate results, go with PPC. PPC is very effective if you have the right keywords, you work on the budget and you make really good ads for good quality score, and etc. With seo, results may take longer to see but also very effective. Well, you can also do both.
  • Both are components into making a site. Build SEO to create traffic and good traffic will give you good PPC return.
  • It all depends on the site business.
    Lets say you have an eCommerce sites, for which PPC will work better than SEO, BUT this doesn`t mean SEO won`t work for eCommerce site. (For those business people who need instant results PPC is the best option)

    SEO is the way through which you can get long term benefits. Now-a-days all big businesses are concentrating both SEO & PPC. I think it`s enough to tell that SEO is equally important to PPC.
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    • Yeah.. you're right... PPC is more appropriate for E-Commerce while SEO is not much suitable for E-Commerce. Because, SEO has to be done using certain keywords only.. E-commerce sites have more products to sell so that PPC suits for E-commerce...
  • SEO is the best..I don't like PPC..I like technics in SEO and I can learn more about it
  • In my opinion, SEO is better,as more and more people use serch engines to find information.
  • Hi guys, also a newbie.... but i think both serves its own purpose... both are best to serve your income generate skyrocket cash.....that is the most important, right? better implement both methods...i bet, these are inseparable.....majority if not all use both....right? Thanks, it got me thinking....
  • Hi,
    PPC is one of the greatest way to tests ! but you have to know exactly what you are doing. Better get some professional advises.
    Good day to all of you
    Patrick
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  • I would say to Mix it up . PPC can bring in immediate results but cost you more. where as SEO may cost less and can take time. So If you are in a hurry , start with PPC and do SEO parallel , then keep reducing PPC budget as you get the results from SEO.
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    • Good Idea. I ll keep in my mind.. What u r coming to say is, should not do PPC forever, when you get results from SEO, there is no need of PPC. Am I right?
      • [1] reply
  • Which approach is better? It depends on your needs and budget. If you want more traffic fast and are willing to pay for it, then PPC might be right for you. But if you're operating on a shoestring budget, it may make more sense to invest time in chasing high search rankings through SEO.
  • I prefer SEO as compared to PPC since if done in right way SEO is having more long term oppurtunity with less investment as compared to PPC where to run your campaign every day you need cash to invest.
  • Is there any fine and equivalent method for getting targeted traffic other than SEO and PPC? Kindly list for me...i can't able to spend more money and not even time...
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    • No other methods will work for you to get targeted traffic. Either, you should spend your time for SEO or you've to pay for traffic...

      Other methods,

      SMO(Takes time), Affiliate marketing (CPA)

    • A really simple way which people never seem to make more use of is joining FB groups and pages related to your niche. Create a FB account for your business, then use the search function to look for related groups.

      Lets say you built a review site on power drills. You create your FB page and then use the search function at the top to look for groups related to DIY, Woodworking, Handymen etc. But when you do your search don't pick one of the top 8 results, click the "See more results for "keyword" then use the tabs on the left to look for pages and groups.

      Then begin to join in the discussions providing real posts and comments, nothing spammy. People will begin to look at your profile and then your site from there. You can also provide a free download with an opt in list either from FB or website.

      As previously stated it does take time, but if you do this with Twitter and Google+, you'll begin to get alot more targeted traffic and it helps your rankings as well with occasional social signals dropped in here and there.
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  • I like PPC -- it's FAST.

    As long as you split-test and track your results, it's great.

    John
  • I also think SEO is better than PPC.
  • PPC is a quick way to get traffic while SEO may take times depends upon how you implement the rules.But, I think SEO is good among PPC.
  • I agree on dburk. Its good to have balance on everything. SEO is good for creating backlinks and site traffic. However, if you want to have an instant visitor and if you have a budget try PPC also. They are both beneficial to your site.
  • They are two different things PPC is purchasing your place in your market/ niche which could be extremely costly especially if your new and not sure what your doing.
    On the other hand SEO is earning your place within your market/ niche through providing value and some elbow grease and I believe it has much greater benefits down the road.

    You've gotta decide what's more important or convenient for you and what type of business and reputation your trying to build.
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    • hmmmm. ok. Actually, most of fellow warriors told to do both in same time for better result. I think, both will be convenient for me. Anyway, I will try both at once. Thank you for reply...
    • Do ppc if you want to achieve immediate results. SEO may take for a while before you get the results but it's long term. I use both in my online campaigns.
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  • Go for SEO.
  • To me, I think here is nothing to compare with each other
    cause they are different topic, I can't understand why did you ask this .
    But To me SEO is always best. I'm already involved .
  • I used to love SEO but nowadays I believe Google Adwords is the best since I can advertise myself on unlimited keywords unlike SEO where even ranking number one for a keyword can take many months if not years.
  • I am new to this, but from what I understand they both have their benefits and uses, like PPC is great for CPA and product offers...where SEO can be great for adsense
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    • SEO cant be great for AdSense. May be related to Adsense. Because, in PPC your site is getting placed depending Quality of the Site and it is based on the 3 factors upon the bidding amount.

      1. Landing Page of the site
      2. Relevancy
      3. CTR

      So, SEO has nothing to do in PPC.
  • PPC is paid mode.
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    • Effective SEO is not free. Sure, you can do things manually, but it just eats up so much time.

      Even if you are really picky and refined with your keyword research, you're still going to need to build back links even to rank the zero competition keywords to the top, and these are keywords that garner anywhere from 100-1000 search a month, a little more if you're lucky.

      SEO and PPC should be used in conjunction honestly; in actuality, PPC may be a better educator in learning what the 'real' profitable keywords are (laser targeted keywords).

      SEO means executing proper keyword research to find keywords that are profitable, yet have very low competition. PPC involves using laser targeted keywords right off the bat, and writing/creating ads that get high CTR rates. High ad CTR rates = Google makes more money = your cpc bids are lowered = everyone wins.
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  • SEO or PPC both are best in their own ways ! SEO is a natural way to get traffic & another way PPC is different that SEO, PPC is paid mode. PPC is best way to get fast traffic.
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  • Each type has particular useful but in my opinion, SEO is better.
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  • There's really nothing to argue about. SEO gives you free traffic if you do it yourself and the traffic lasts as long as you keep your ranking. PPC is paid traffic. You get traffic as long as you have the money to spend. The question on which one is better depends on how well you can convert traffic to sales.
  • I am new at this, but based on what I learned, I think you need to use both strategies,
    PPC and SEO, as they are both great methods for promoting your websites.
    SEO, although it takes long time but it can generate long term result.
    PPC, is a quick way to get highly targetted traffic, but you need to spend money.
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    Which is the best? SEO or PPC?

    Hello warriors, Me and my friend had a long discussion about PPC versus SEO. And we argued too much and didn't come to conclusion as I supported SEO a lot. Am so confused of this argument. Can anyone explain me in detail?