Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click (PPC): A Holistic Approach

Far too often, online marketers separate natural search engine optimization practices from pay-per-click (also known as PPC or paid search). Clearly, they both involve very distinct disciplines, but they may have a common landing page or potentially keyword and traffic data that can be shared to make initiatives more powerful and efficient. In this guide, we’ll take a look at how the two facets of search engine marketing can work together. In additionally, we’ll provide insights about how to make the most of SEO and PPC in their own right. Paid search involves the sponsored listings at the top and to the right of the natural results that dominate the top search engine results pages (also known as SERPs). Industry Trends Within five years, search engine marketing is expected to exceed $44 billion on a global level, largely because of the amount of money companies will continue to send to Google and Yahoo!
In North America, between 2004 and 2006, the search engine marketing industry grew to $9.3 billion – a 126% increase over 2004, according to the “State of Search Engine Marketing 2006” – an annual survey by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization. Paid search (also known as Pay-Per-Click) got an amazing 85.9% of that industry total in 2006 (with search media engines gobbling up a 76.7% share of paid advertising dollars).
What about natural search engine optimization? The SEO portion of the $9.3 billion total was a paltry 11.8% or $1.1 billion. As with PPC, the vast majority of SEO spending went in-house. Just in terms of the workers – consultants or in-house staffs – the $1.1 billion associated with SEO activities outpaced the $887 million spent on PPC management fees, which typically range from 12% to 15% plus creative costs. Clearly, companies see the value in working with both PPC and SEO. “Although most of the SEM budget is allocated to paid search media, strategic SEO is a high priority,” according to the SEMPO annual survey. “To the extent that the search engines can support the legitimate efforts of marketers to get their sites found when relevant to searchers, there is both an opportunity to capture more revenue and to better service those business customers.” They key is to see how they can best work together. Let’s examine some potential synergies that result in coordination between paid search (PPC) and organic search (SEO) initiatives.
How Paid Search (also known as Pay-Per-Click or PPC) Works With SEO
- Share keyword research, drawing from different databases. Sometimes people working on both PPC and SEO may use different databases to generate ideas for possible keywords and phrases. It’s important to draw from the best resources and share that data. It would be too short-sighted to stick with one or two sources when a few may offer a deeper and perspective (i.e. looking at the language people use in social communities and internal site search engines).
- Assess performance of paid ads, organic page titles (what is effective). Click date and web analytics can provide exceptional perspective. Natural search may be able to improve conversions by adapting an ad title that works well in PPC. Similarly, conversion date from natural search may shape future paid search ads.
- Review impact of ad copy/SEO keyword meta descriptions. Similar in purpose, the actual ad copy and meta descriptions are intended to offer a glimpse about the company, product, service or offer. PPC and SEO marketers should compare notes about what works and what doesn’t.
- Revise website architecture and landing pages - including calls to action. Everything has room for improvement and landing pages are the key. Traffic, page views and conversion trends can inspire changes to the content, including page headings and other marketing text. Share performance data so PPC and search engine optimization programs can benefit.
- Evaluate natural rankings to determine when PPC ads should stop – if at all. When you achieve a top three ranking for a competitive search term, it may be a good opportunity to pause the PPC ad and save some cash. Your company may have different trigger levels for any number of search terms (i.e. a number two or a top five ranking) before pausing an ad.