4 Ways PPC and SEO Can Work Together (And When They Don’t)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your pages to rank in the organic results of search engines.

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a form of online advertising where advertisers pay a fee each time someone clicks on an ad.

There is no conundrum between the two types of marketing. You don’t have to choose one or the other; the best companies use both.

Here’s how to work together and produce magic:

SEO content creation is the process of understanding what your target audience is searching for on Google and aligning your content to their search intent.

To begin with, you need to know what you are looking for. The easiest way is to use a keyword research tool, like Ahrefs Keyword Explorer.

Here’s how you can find keywords for a hypothetical coffee shop:

1. Go to Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
2. Enter relevant keywords (for example, “coffee”)
3. To Appropriate terms

Go through the list and select keywords that are relevant to the site. For example, the keyword “how to grind coffee beans” seems like a good keyword to target.

After we have chosen our keywords, we want to know what searchers are looking for specifically. Sometimes keywords give us an idea, but for sure, we can see the top pages.

So, click on it SERP button and click Identify the intent to see what you searched for:

We can see that searchers are looking for techniques and ways to grind coffee beans at home, and especially without a grinder. If we want to rank high, we must follow.

This is the foundation of SEO content creation. But just doing this is not enough. After all, the quote goes, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?”

This also applies to your content. You don’t want to create a vacuum; you want people to see and consume your content. This is where PPC comes in. You can run PPC ads to ensure that as many people see your content as possible.

For example, at Ahrefs, we run Facebook ads for our content:

We also run ads on Quora:

This way, we ensure that no content effort is wasted.

Links are an important Google ranking factor. In general, the more links your page has, the more likely it is to rank high in search results.

But get the link grieve. This is why it is still a reliable ranking factor. And that’s also why there’s an entire industry behind link building, and so many tactics that work, all with varying degrees of success.

One way you can consider building links to your page is by running PPC ads. In fact, we did an experiment a few years ago to prove that it works.

We spent ~$1,245 on Google search ads and got a total of 16 backlinks to two different pieces of content. (~$77-78 per backlink.) This is cheaper than if you had to buy backlinks, which according to our research, costs around $361.44.

(It will be more expensive if you get links through outreach, because you have to consider additional costs such as software, labor, etc.)

Retargeting allows you to target visitors who have left your website.

Here’s how retargeting works:

1. Visitors find your article on Google
2. Your ad management software sets cookies on visitors’ browsers, which allows you to show ads to those visitors
3. When visitors leave your website and browse the web, you can show them ads and entice them to return to your website.

Depending on where they are in the buyer’s journey, you can convince them to take the next step.

For example, if someone finds your website through your article about “best espresso machine”, they will probably want to buy it. So, you can set up a retargeting ad to encourage them to visit your espresso machine category page.

On the other hand, if a visitor finds your website from a “what is a coffee grinder” article, it may be too early in their journey. In that case, it might be wise to encourage them to sign up for your email list.

Every site has important keywords. For example, in addition to brand and product terms, critical keywords are “keyword research”, “link building”, and “technical SEO”.

Because these keywords are important, they can dominate SERPs for them. You can do this by simultaneously running ads for them while ranking in organic search. For example, Wix ranks for the keyword “build a free website” in the paid and organic SERPs:

This is especially useful if you are a new or small site. Keywords that are important to you are also important to your competitors. That means you can’t compete with them overnight.

So, a good strategy is to target these keywords through PPC first, while investing in your SEO strategy. Over time, as you get more backlinks and gain more website authority, you can also compete with your competitors in organic search.

While the two channels are complementary, there are better times to choose one over the other.

When choosing PPC

If you fit this scenario, it might be better to switch to PPC:

• You are promoting a limited time offer, event, or product launch. According to our poll, SEO takes three to six months to show results. If an event, offer, or launch is shorter than the expected timeframe, the event will end before SEO has any impact.
• You need immediate and short-term results. If you need to show some results now, then PPC will be a better option.
• You have a disruptive product or service. SEO depends on understanding what people do already look. If your product or service is completely new, no one will be looking for it.
• SERPs are hyper-competitive. Some niches have competing sites with big SEO teams and deep pockets. Combined with Google’s preference for known brands, if you’re in that niche, it can be hard to compete. PPC offers a viable alternative to getting visibility on the first page.

When choosing SEO

Here are the better times to choose SEO:

• Keywords are very expensive. Some industries, such as insurance or finance, have a cost per click (CPC) of several hundred dollars. For example, the keyword “direct car insurance san antonio” has a CPC of $275.
• Your niche is limited. Certain industries or niches (for example, adult, weapons, gambling, etc.) are prohibited or restricted from advertising.
• You have a limited budget. PPC costs money to get started, while SEO can drive traffic to your website at no direct cost per visitor.
• You are building an affiliate site. Affiliate sites earn commissions when people buy from recommendations. While it is not impossible to build an affiliate site from PPC, it is difficult to control the return on investment (ROI) because the owner of the affiliate site cannot control the sales conversion rate.

A final thought

There are cases when focusing on SEO or PPC makes sense.

But in general, the best companies don’t differentiate between channels. If it generates a positive ROI, then you should use all marketing channels.