21 Sep 2022
Insights, Marketing, Web
PPC or SEO? Ah, the big debate. Marketers have long been arguing over which method produces better marketing results. But what does each marketing tactic mean?
PPC stands for pay-per-click and is a paid form of advertising that usually takes the form of Google Ads. The ads include a CTA button, that when clicked (you guessed it), you can pay anywhere from £0.5 to £20+ to get a user onto your SaaS website.
SEO, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast. It’s the process of “optimising” your website to satisfy a set of best practices and adding target keywords into your website copy so your website becomes easier to find online.
So, which is better for marketing, PPC or SEO? Let’s find out by analysing the pros and cons of each!
Let’s explore why a massive 79% of marketers say that PPC is hugely beneficial for their business.
Okay, maybe not instant, but PPC definitely delivers conversions far quicker than SEO. Within a matter of days – or even minutes – of setting up an ad, you can get people clicking and onto your website for a possible call, purchase, or demo!
PPC ads make it very clear what’s working and what isn’t through an analytics tool like Google Analytics. By seeing what campaigns are converting customers, you can easily turn on/off the ads that are giving you a good ROI and spend more budget on what’s already working to accelerate results.
Now you understand the benefits of PPC ads for your SaaS business, let’s take a look at the disadvantages:
Crafting successful PPC campaigns isn’t something you can master in a day. There’s a steep learning curve involved in understanding an ad platform. Even when you get the basics right, PPC ads require a constant watchful eye to optimise campaigns and ensure you’re spending your marketing budget accordingly.
PPC isn’t the most budget-friendly solution out there, especially if you’re not seeing results. You can end up wasting thousands on marketing campaigns that aren’t picking up enough conversions. Even though you might only pay £0.10 per click, this can quickly add up and make a big dent in your pocket if no clicks lead to conversions.
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, so you can see why it’s a fundamental part of so many SaaS strategies.
Before you start racing to set up a Google Ads account for PPC ads, it’s time to take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of our good old friend, SEO.
Well, the clicks are (you’ll still have to invest in the talent to implement your SEO strategy!) One of the biggest advantages of implementing an SEO strategy is that when you appear in the “organic” search results (pages that appear underneath the ads on Google), you don’t pay a penny for people clicking on and visiting your website.
P.S. Customers also tend to trust organic search results more – because they know you’re not paying to be there!
SEO is a long-term lead generation strategy that tends to produce higher-quality traffic to your website. Some people may click on your ads by accident, with organic search results, they’re looking for high-quality content to help them solve a particular problem.
Blogging nurtures leads from awareness to consideration to conversion by delivering content that appeals to users at every stage of their buyer journey.
And finally, here are some of the main disadvantages of SEO for SaaS marketing.
While PPC can get you results almost immediately, SEO can take anywhere from 6 to 12 months before you start seeing tangible results. However, after you begin climbing the ranks on Google, you’ll find results continuously improve and almost “snowball” the longer you build upon your SEO strategy.
Another key disadvantage of SEO is the fact that you’re at the behest of Google. Since they regularly change their algorithms and “ranking factors” (a set of guidelines that inform what makes websites rank highly online), you have to constantly stay in the loop and might notice sudden drops in ranking due to Google changing their systems. SEO can be unpredictable.
Well, it really depends. Do you have the budget to pump money into PPC ads to achieve quick results or do you want to take a higher-quality, longer-term approach with SEO?
At the end of the day, both SEO and PPC are vital elements of any marketing strategy, and the one you give the most budget and attention to will most likely come out the winner.
Let us do it for you! With rolling monthly price plans starting from just £3,000 per month, we join or become your dedicated SaaS marketing and web design partner, taking your online presence to sky-high success with proven content strategies, comprehensive digital marketing, and high-converting websites.
Get in touch with us today to get started.
