When beginning a SEM (search engine marketing) campaign, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed about the difference between PPC and SEO. It is easy to confuse the two, and it can make determining where to invest your marketing budget difficult. The vast majority of internet users will use their most liked search engine when searching for their desired quarry; however, most users do not look past the fifth search result listed. For this reason, SEM plays a large role in your overall marketing approach.

What Does PPC and SEO Mean?

Typically, in a search engine marketing campaign, search engine results are separated into two different categories: PPC advertisements and organic SEO.  Studies show that 70% of internet traffic clicks on organic SEO results. In comparison, only 30% of traffic clicks on PPC results.

PPC stands for pay per click. PPC is an advertising model that directs internet traffic to linked websites or products. Advertisers then pay the publisher (most commonly the webpage owner) every time the ad is clicked. Advertisers will bid on keywords related to the advertisements. This allows them to achieve a higher spot on search engine result pages.

SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is a process where websites and webpages are made more visible in search engine results by unpaid means. This means that websites achieve a higher spot in search engine results by using unpaid keywords.

How Are They Different?

One of the key differences is the price. There may be a beginning fee or an ongoing fee for either the SEO or PPC professionals who create the campaign for your business. PPC will have an ongoing fee for every click or visitor. With SEO, there is no fee for clicks or visitors.

PPC are displayed on the right side or at the top of web pages as ‘Sponsored Links’. SEO search results will be found on search engine result pages (SERPs). Organic search results include all keywords and web pages related to the search quarry.

PPC is based on paying for higher positions on SERPs. If you do not hold a high position on SERPs, people may find your site unreliable, causing the number of clicks you will receive to dwindle. The more money you invest in PPC, the higher your position will be. The higher the position you have, the higher the number of clicks you will receive. Organic SEO is found to be more trustworthy by the public than that of PPC. SEO is not paid for, and it relies on certain pages and keywords.

What’s the Bottom Line?

When put together, PPC and SEO are highly effective tools for a SEM campaign. However, SEO is a more cost-effective plan in the long run. SEO is often found more reliable than PPC, and it has been proven to generate higher numbers of clicks than PPC.