Thursday, August 13, 2009

SEO vs. PPC: The Never Ending Battle

Took special interest in the MediaPost email this morning, titled "SEO Or PPC" because our agency engages with this on almost a daily basis, whether with current clients, or new business. Do more people click on the top listings regardless of a sponsored link (PPC) or organic listing? According to a new study by Engine Ready, PPC performed 50% better (2.03%) when leading users to a retailer's site for a purchase versus users coming from an organic listing (1.26%).

The study measured the 4 major traffic source categories:
  • Direct access and bookmarks
  • Paid listings
  • Organic listings
  • Other referrer
Most likely to buy are consumers who navigate directly to a retailer's site by typing in a URL or clicking on a bookmark (7.38% conversion rate). Consumers who came to an e-commerce site from another site or an e-mail converted at 6.58%.

Although a lot can be said about SEO, PPC according to this study can target more people in the purchase funnel, searching out products/services. PPC allows advertisers to test and optimize their campaigns based on keywords, descriptions, offerings (free shipping, promo codes,etc) all on a budget. PPC is one of the first things we reccomend to any client, current or new. SEO is definitely part of an overall strategy, when PPC is typically campaign focused. The best fit is when you can have your SEO and PPC working in tandem, being listed high in both.

To read more from the MediaPost "SEO or PPC", click here
or to read about it on Internet Retailer click here