Pay per click or search engine optimisation? Two ways of advertising online but which is better? There’s only one way to find out… Amy Rose-Jones referees
We are often asked by clients about PPC vs SEO, and which would be the most appropriate for the practice, and deliver the highest returns. Nearly as often, we’re asked whether there’s any advantage to doing both, or if PPC and SEO are mutually exclusive – in short, there sure is and they’re definitely not!
PPC and SEO both have the same goal: to increase relevant traffic to your website that converts into new patients. Pay per click and SEO accomplish this goal in slightly different ways with different advantages and disadvantages. Here’s a few ways in which PPC trumps SEO:
Speed
PPC advertising is the fastest route to attracting site traffic; a new campaign can be up and running in a day. For me, this is the most significant advantage. For a new website that wants to hit the ground running, PPC is an obvious solution – the same goes if you have an existing website that is generating little organic traffic.
Guaranteed rankings
Whether they claim to or not, no company can promise you first place organic search engine rankings. With PPC, you are paying for the privilege of being at the top. SEO ranking factors change so frequently meaning even if you’re number one today, it doesn’t mean you’ll be there tomorrow, so it’s good to have PPC in your locker. Click through rates have jumped 25% from Q4 2012 to Q4 2015 according to Google, meaning more and more users are clicking on these adverts.
Targeted
Who wants their teeth whitened? A person typing ‘teeth whitening dentist’ into Google does! With PPC you can direct people to a landing page (not just a page within your website) that has been custom designed to encourage action, ie for the patient to book an appointment or at the very least, register their interest. It may even present a special offer. With this targeted approach comes excellent ROI; businesses make an average of £2 in revenue for every £1 spent using PPC.
Your goals
I’d definitely be considering PPC if:
• Your site is new or generating little organic traffic and you want to start getting traffic immediately
• Your site is targeting highly competitive keywords
• You are trying to promote multiple practice locations via one website
• You want to be able to quickly test keyword and landing page effectiveness
• You have a promotion that you want to be able to turn on and off at specific times
• You want to maximise all traffic channels!
For any forward-thinking, marketing-focused business it is very possible to combine both PPC and SEO and enjoy the advantages of each type of traffic generation. The two should not be seen as mutually exclusive. PPC does trump SEO in the ways mentioned however, SEO is still the best long-term traffic generator for your website – so why not combine the two and maximise the benefits of both? Speculate to accumulate is especially true on online marketing but, if it works, and usually does, you have to ask yourself why not…
Amy Rose-Jones is marketing manager at Dental Design Products Ltd, a website design and marketing agency for the dental profession. She has more than 15 years of dental marketing experience which has given her a unique blend of design and online marketing skills.
www.dental-design.co.uk
