Did you know that Google receives over 106,000 searches every second?
With so much traffic, ranking on the site’s first page is great for attracting visitors to your site, and SEO and PPC are great ways to do this.
What are the biggest differences, though? How can you know which would be more beneficial for your business, and how can you decide which to invest in? Luckily, we’re here to help.
Read on to learn what you need to know about the difference between SEO and PPC.
How Does SEO Work?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s dependent on your content strategy, and it’s seen as a long-term effort to bring your site organic traffic. It takes thorough planning to build a decent SEO strategy and a lot of research.
It works best if people are actively searching for the services your firm provides, whether it’s criminal law, family law, or even personal injury. Any practice can take advantage of SEO, you just have to know where to look.
This starts with researching relevant keywords and then incorporating them onto your website through content like web pages or blogs. When people look up the services your firm offers, your firm has a higher chance of gaining that coveted first-page spot.
Benefits of SEO
Other than potentially ranking on Google’s first page, there are a few other benefits you can find from your SEO.
Your business can gain a lot of trust and credibility by being on the first page, and you gain a strong advantage over your competition. You’ll also rank better in local searches, meaning more relevant clients are going to see your services. SEO strategies also go hand in hand with PPC strategies, and they can boost the results of this campaign.
How Does PPC Work?
If you’d like quick results, PPC is a great short-term approach.
You won’t rank organically on the first page of Google, but you’ll land there by paying for it. Your firm’s name will actually be placed above Google’s organic results, but it comes at a price.
Rather than paying a certain amount upfront, though, you’ll pay when the ad is clicked on (hence the name). So, if your ads aren’t getting clicked on, then you don’t have to pay anything.
Depending on what your firm is trying to rank for, it can get expensive. So, if your campaign is successful, you’re going to start racking up charges and it can sometimes cost up to $500 per click. If you continue to get leads through these clicks, though, then your campaign will pay for itself in no time.
Not every firm can afford that number, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of the question. There are lower-ranking keywords that your firm can still utilize and stand to gain a profit from.
Benefits of PPC
The biggest benefit that comes with PPC is the small amount of prep work it takes. Even if you’re far behind your competition, you can catch up easily with the right optimization. In contrast to SEO, this route is definitely the easier one to take if you’re looking for something simple.
PPC is about getting clicks and driving traffic specifically to your website. SEO, on the other hand, is about creating valuable content and then promoting it to get links so your website can rank higher on Google.
There are also a lot more elements at play with SEO like your bounce rate or time spent on the page. Learning about these things is important if you’re utilizing SEO marketing.
PPC campaigns also offer more control. You’re not publishing content with the hopes that it’ll rank, you already know it will. It’s also a great method to use in tandem with other marketing methods, especially SEO.
What Is the Main Difference Between SEO and PPC?
Clearly, the biggest difference between PPC and SEO is the fact that you’re paying for individual clicks with one and not the other.
The results for PPC advertising are somewhat predictable, and you’re going to see results a lot faster. The results for SEO advertising are a bit more volatile, but they’re consistent over time and you’re a lot more likely to get a great return on investment.
Which Is the Better Option?
The answer to this question is mostly going to depend on your firm’s needs. It’s important to sit down and be honest with what your website would benefit the most from, as it’s going to help you choose what’s best.
PPC is a great way to go if you’re looking for fast results to bring traffic to your site, but it requires a bigger budget than SEO. You’re also a lot more likely to see results with this method.
SEO, on the other hand, is great if you’re looking for a long-term approach. It requires more time and effort, but you’re gaining organic traffic that can last a lot longer than a PPC campaign would. You’re also placing a lot of useful content on your website, meaning clients gain more value from visiting.
If you have the choice, though, using both PPC and SEO together is the best option. You can run a PPC campaign to get started while you’re building your website’s SEO, and then you can stop once your SEO has started to work its magic.
Either way, both these methods are great for helping your website gain the traffic it needs to thrive.
Put Your Marketing on Top
Once you know the difference between SEO and PPC, you can work to place your website at the top. Whether you’re looking to grow your organic traffic or just want your page at the top of Google’s results, these two marketing methods can help you out a lot. Luckily, you don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
No matter what you’re looking for, Law Firm Marketing 360 can help you achieve it. Contact us today to get started.
