SEO or PPC? Which is Right for My Dealership?
- June 11, 2018
- Posted by: Kari Jones
- Category: Search Engine Marketing, Tips For Dealers
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a broad discipline, and SEO and PPC are two of the most popular practices within it.
SEO and PPC both aim to increase website visibility to attract more customers, and sales, from the internet. However, they each do this in very different ways.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search engine optimisation involves making changes to your website structure, copy, media and code in order to improve your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPS) for certain queries that are typed into search engines, like Google.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
PPC is an advertising model, which helps you appear as a paid result on SERPS. It involves bidding on keywords so that you appear in the best possible position on results pages for queries including these keywords, so that you gain more traffic. You are only required to pay when your advert is clicked.
Pros and Cons of SEO and PPC
SEO and PPC operate in very different ways, which gives each their own benefits and limitations.
SEO | PPC | |
Sustainability | Delivers a continuous stream of organic website traffic (long-term solution)
|
As soon as you switch off ads, the flow of traffic stops immediately (short-term solution) |
Cost | Visits to your site are free
|
Visits to your site are paid for
|
Quality of traffic | Generates high-quality traffic (leads with a high-chance of converting) | Allows you to customise your audience, so you gain high-quality traffic without spending too much on clicks that are unlikely to convert
|
Time | Improving your rank and achieving a significant ROI will take time | Gives you instant access to the most-clicked spots on SERPs, so results are quick
|
Control | Only search engines have full control | Puts you in control of your budget and lets you turn campaigns off and on instantly, giving you flexibility
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Complexity | SEO is very complex, involving both creative and technical elements | PPC is complex and without proper training, you could end up spending more than necessary
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Maintenance | Implementing SEO tactics is time consuming | Constant monitoring is required to ensure the best ROI
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Competitors | Competitors have to work hard to outperform you | It is possible for competitors to outperform you simply by bidding more
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Measurement | Results are difficult to measure | Generates measurable results, allowing you to track ROI with conversion pixels
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Extra benefits | Contributes to your online presence and business growth
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All benefits of PPC are temporary, and are lost as soon as you turn off your campaign
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Helps you secure a good rank, which makes users see your business as authoritative
|
Is SEO or PPC Right for Your Dealership?
For every enquiry, search engines will give websites a Quality Score to determine the ranking order. Quality Score is calculated by an assessment of multiple factors: a website’s click-through rate, keyword relevance, landing page quality, relevance of ad text and more. These factors are optimised by using a mixture of SEO and PPC practices.
The best way to gain maximum visibility is to use both, but if you have a limited budget or are nervous about jumping into the deep end head first, try to choose rationally. Establish your SEM goal and using the above table, highlight the pros which match your business model best.
For more information about Click Dealer’s in-house SEM services, email marketing@clickdealer.co.uk, call us on 01782 904 715 or alternatively, you can message us via our contact page.