For most companies, a PPC strategy comes before an SEO one because it seems easier and faster (and in some cases it is). However, it’s important to understand how PPC and SEO mesh together when you first get starting with online marketing so that you can make sure you’re doing what’s best for your company. While both an SEO and a PPC strategy is important to your overall success, you have to start somewhere, and for some companies SEO is a better place to start than PPC.

When Your SEO Strategy Needs to Come before PPC

As discussed a little bit above, SEO is going to take some time before you see results, which is why so many companies focus on PPC first. While this is a good strategy for many, those websites that thrive on quality content will benefit more by putting more resources into SEO than PPC right at the start. This is because people generally tend to turn to organic results (where SEO is beneficial) as opposed to paid results (where PPC is beneficial) when looking for the answer to a question or looking to learn more. In short, if you have a blog and that is the main goal of your website, it’s SEO results that you want. Although it will take several months to really see solid results, a startup can make it happen by spending time and hiring an SEO expert or agency right away.

Of course, many companies do sell products but still have blogs and quality content. However, if selling is your main goal, PPC might still be the better option right at the start. In other words, this is not to say you don’t have quality content, but a blog or content just may not be your end goal. More on this point in the next section.

Should PPC Ever Come First?

So this one is a little bit more obvious. PPC should be your first priority if you have a product or service you are trying to sell. People will check out PPC ads when they are ready to buy, so you want to make sure you’re website is right there and ready to be clicked. Again, this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t have quality content on your site to help people research. This simply means that your end goal is to convert visitors and make a sale.

With PPC marketing, you earn quicker results and can be sure that whatever you bid will put your ad in the correct spot. In other words, it’s reliable. Most PPC campaigns will send a searcher to the homepage of a website, but you can get advanced and create different ads for different queries that will help you send users to the most relevant pages possible. If you’re interested in learning more about PPC, particularly about your budget and how it all works, then visit here.

What It Means to You

Once again, the sooner you can get started with an SEO and PPC approach the better. Having a little bit of both right at the start is probably your best option because it’s a great way to get a feel for what each has to offer your company. Nonetheless, if you have to put a focus on one over the other at first, it’s important to always make sure that you’re following best practices for both SEO and PPC no matter where your attention lies. Visit this article to learn more in depth about how the two can work together to help you understand and reach your audience.

Which approach did your company focus on right at the start? Let us know your story in the comment section below.