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SEO or PPC?
PPC is pretty much instant traffic which means you can quickly test out keyword profitability and landing page performance. If the campaign returns a profit then of course you will want to continue it.
But, once you find a winning combination of keyword and offer, your goal should be to rank number 1 in the Google organic results.
Why pay for SEO though when you can rank number 1 by buying the top PPC spot? The main reason most people cite is the fact that while getting to the top spot of the organic results takes time and might even come with a hefty bill for SEO work, once you get there all your traffic is free.
Another reason often overlooked is the trust factor associated with the top result. It shouldn’t really matter but it does, I’ve experienced it myself many times with various offers.
It may just be a subconscious thing but the fact is no one likes to be sold to and a PPC position is an advert. Google tells its visitors this fact so people know that someone has paid for that ad spot and if they’ve paid there just has to be an offer on the other end of it.
This means before they even click on your ad they are mentally preparing themselves to resist a sales pitch.
Sidebar: One internet marketer tested this theory by selling $50 bills for $10. After 500 clicks he’d sold just 3!
This is one of the reasons you often see a price revealed in the ad. If the price matches the targets price point it relaxes them and lowers their guard before they click plus it helps to keep away the tyre kickers who will click your ad only to fend off the sales pitch no matter how good the offer.
Now compare the above reaction with the mentality of a searcher clicking on the #1 site in the organic results.
The Google user searches for “best offshore bank account on the isle of man” and then Google tells them they believe a particular site to be the users number 1 option. This is a Google recommendation.
Subconsciously the number 1 result already has a head start because the user perceives it to be offering either genuine advice or a genuine offer i.e. it is the best offshore bank account on the Isle of Man.
Does it deserve this trust? Well no not really because the top spot in the organic results can be bought by hiring an SEO expert just the same as you can buy top spot in the PPC ads by outbidding your competition.
The facts are though that click for click your offer will do far better in front of organic traffic than it ever will when advertised via PPC.