Your SEO strategy is incomplete without PPC
Google has begun working to encrypt all searches, even for those users who are not logged into Google. This means little to no keyword data for you unless, of course, you use PPC. You can get away without coding. But you can’t get away without PPC anymore.
Your SEO strategy is incomplete without PPC as you can’t truly optimize your SEO campaigns without leveraging paid search, especially in the upcoming 100% not provided world.
PPC is the best keyword research tool for SEO
Beyond doubt, the success of any SEO campaign mainly depends upon the keywords you have selected for your website. It can take several months to years to rank for your primary keywords.
So if you ended up optimizing your website for keywords that didn’t generate the traffic and conversions as you expected then all of your hard work (along with the client’s money) goes down the drain.
SEO mistakes are so costly that it is better to make some relatively cheap PPC mistakes by testing your targeted keywords first.
Let’s say you have come up with some 750 keywords for your website after an exhaustive keyword research. Now you would like to know whether these keywords are really worth the time and effort of attempting to rank for them.
By running a PPC campaign for 3 to 6 weeks you can get a fairly accurate estimate of a keyword’s search volume and its potential to convert.
No keyword research tool other than PPC can tell you how a particular keyword will perform for your business or the type of product/service you sell. The kind of analytical insight you get about your targeted keywords is unparalleled.
PPC opens up a flood gate of Keyword opportunities
Search term reports are gold mine of profitable keywords.
Within a few hours of running a PPC campaign, you can find out what exactly people are typing on search engines to find your website. This eliminates a lot of guesswork and brainstorming sessions.
You now know the keywords which are actually generating traffic and conversions. You can determine long tail keywords by bidding on broad match industry keywords.
PPC is an awesome keyword testing platform for SEO
Through PPC campaigns you can test hundreds and thousands of keywords for dozens of clients in few weeks and find out quickly which keywords and keywords variations may work well for your landing pages.
Since PPC lets you do precise keyword targeting (by letting you select geo-location, language, network, and devices to display your ads on) its results are pretty accurate. Much more accurate than other keyword tools out there.
PPC can assess the effectiveness of your branded keywords
Should I optimize my website for branded keywords? Do people choose my client over their competitors? A PPC campaign can tell you that. Within a few weeks of running the campaign, you can assess the market value of your client’s brand.
If non branded terms result in more conversions than the branded terms or if the branded terms resulted in little to no conversions/clicks then the client has serious branding issues.
Bid on the competitors’ brand name. Does your client get any business? If not then either your competitors are very strong or your client has got branding issues.
You can get fairly accurate traffic and revenue projections
If you have the actual search volume and conversion data for your targeted keywords then you can make better projections of what an increase in traffic/ranking for targeted keywords would look like in ££££ terms.
Through traditional tools like the Google Keyword Tool, you can do only very vague traffic estimates and can’t make any type of revenue projections. PPC lets you present the SEO project as a quantifiable investment to your client at least to a degree if not fully.
You can get instant feedback on landing pages
Through PPC campaigns you can easily find out which landing pages need redesign, which page version can deliver better results and what type of wording works.
The cold hard figures (conversions) that you get from PPC reports can help you in justifying the cost associated with improvement in site architecture and usability.
You can assess the effectiveness of your SEO strategy in advance
Through conversion data, you can get a good idea of which keywords will work and which won’t work. Which landing pages and site issues require urgent attention. All this insight can help you in refining your SEO strategy.
Other SEO benefits of PPC
- PPC campaigns can have a direct impact on the website’s organic traffic. Often people who click on the ads return to a site via organic branded search. I have found a considerable increase in organic brand searches through prolonged PPC campaigns.
- Running both PPC and SEO campaigns side by side can improve the CTR and perceived value of both organic and paid search listings as well as the brand.
- PPC can actually improve your SEO skills by making you more ROI and conversions driven.
Other Posts you may find useful:
- Excel for SEO – Powerful Cheat Sheet to Boost Productivity
- How to do Site Speed Optimisation
- Ultimate Data Visualization Guide for SEO
- How to write a SEO Contract?
- How to Automate Event Tracking in Google Analytics
- Social interactions tracking through Google Analytics
- Google Analytics Account Setup Checklist
- SEO Contract | Sample SEO Contract Template
- Event Tracking – Google Analytics (Simplified Version)
Google has begun working to encrypt all searches, even for those users who are not logged into Google. This means little to no keyword data for you unless, of course, you use PPC. You can get away without coding. But you can’t get away without PPC anymore.
Your SEO strategy is incomplete without PPC as you can’t truly optimize your SEO campaigns without leveraging paid search, especially in the upcoming 100% not provided world.
PPC is the best keyword research tool for SEO
Beyond doubt, the success of any SEO campaign mainly depends upon the keywords you have selected for your website. It can take several months to years to rank for your primary keywords.
So if you ended up optimizing your website for keywords that didn’t generate the traffic and conversions as you expected then all of your hard work (along with the client’s money) goes down the drain.
SEO mistakes are so costly that it is better to make some relatively cheap PPC mistakes by testing your targeted keywords first.
Let’s say you have come up with some 750 keywords for your website after an exhaustive keyword research. Now you would like to know whether these keywords are really worth the time and effort of attempting to rank for them.
By running a PPC campaign for 3 to 6 weeks you can get a fairly accurate estimate of a keyword’s search volume and its potential to convert.
No keyword research tool other than PPC can tell you how a particular keyword will perform for your business or the type of product/service you sell. The kind of analytical insight you get about your targeted keywords is unparalleled.
PPC opens up a flood gate of Keyword opportunities
Search term reports are gold mine of profitable keywords.
Within a few hours of running a PPC campaign, you can find out what exactly people are typing on search engines to find your website. This eliminates a lot of guesswork and brainstorming sessions.
You now know the keywords which are actually generating traffic and conversions. You can determine long tail keywords by bidding on broad match industry keywords.
PPC is an awesome keyword testing platform for SEO
Through PPC campaigns you can test hundreds and thousands of keywords for dozens of clients in few weeks and find out quickly which keywords and keywords variations may work well for your landing pages.
Since PPC lets you do precise keyword targeting (by letting you select geo-location, language, network, and devices to display your ads on) its results are pretty accurate. Much more accurate than other keyword tools out there.
PPC can assess the effectiveness of your branded keywords
Should I optimize my website for branded keywords? Do people choose my client over their competitors? A PPC campaign can tell you that. Within a few weeks of running the campaign, you can assess the market value of your client’s brand.
If non branded terms result in more conversions than the branded terms or if the branded terms resulted in little to no conversions/clicks then the client has serious branding issues.
Bid on the competitors’ brand name. Does your client get any business? If not then either your competitors are very strong or your client has got branding issues.
You can get fairly accurate traffic and revenue projections
If you have the actual search volume and conversion data for your targeted keywords then you can make better projections of what an increase in traffic/ranking for targeted keywords would look like in ££££ terms.
Through traditional tools like the Google Keyword Tool, you can do only very vague traffic estimates and can’t make any type of revenue projections. PPC lets you present the SEO project as a quantifiable investment to your client at least to a degree if not fully.
You can get instant feedback on landing pages
Through PPC campaigns you can easily find out which landing pages need redesign, which page version can deliver better results and what type of wording works.
The cold hard figures (conversions) that you get from PPC reports can help you in justifying the cost associated with improvement in site architecture and usability.
You can assess the effectiveness of your SEO strategy in advance
Through conversion data, you can get a good idea of which keywords will work and which won’t work. Which landing pages and site issues require urgent attention. All this insight can help you in refining your SEO strategy.
Other SEO benefits of PPC
- PPC campaigns can have a direct impact on the website’s organic traffic. Often people who click on the ads return to a site via organic branded search. I have found a considerable increase in organic brand searches through prolonged PPC campaigns.
- Running both PPC and SEO campaigns side by side can improve the CTR and perceived value of both organic and paid search listings as well as the brand.
- PPC can actually improve your SEO skills by making you more ROI and conversions driven.
Other Posts you may find useful:
- Excel for SEO – Powerful Cheat Sheet to Boost Productivity
- How to do Site Speed Optimisation
- Ultimate Data Visualization Guide for SEO
- How to write a SEO Contract?
- How to Automate Event Tracking in Google Analytics
- Social interactions tracking through Google Analytics
- Google Analytics Account Setup Checklist
- SEO Contract | Sample SEO Contract Template
- Event Tracking – Google Analytics (Simplified Version)
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and BeyondSECOND EDITION OUT NOW!
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
About the Author
Himanshu Sharma
