Consumer Tipsheet: Your Guide for Better Living

When promoting a website, there are many different techniques that can be
used. Ultimately, a decision must be made as to where to invest your hard
earned money. As of February 14th, 2007, approximately 80% of all internet
traffic comes from search engines, and there are two ways to get a share of this
traffic. Traffic can be obtained via the natural listings through Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) or via the Sponsored listings by setting up a Pay per Click
(PPC) campaign. In reality, SEO and PPC differ in many important ways; both
have their strengths and weaknesses and both suit different circumstances.

There are many common misconceptions surrounding SEO and PPC. One such
misconception is that SEO is free and this is often listed as an advantage over
the costs involved with Google Adwords and other PPC networks. With natural
search, you will not pay every time someone clicks through to your website, but
it should not be thought of as free. It is strongly advised to let professional
optimizers carry out the SEO on your website and this will come at a cost. The
alternative DIY option may seem appealing but will take a lot of time and is still
likely to cost you money when you commence your link building strategies.
Added to this is the possibility that you may "upset" the search engines if you
do not know the "dos" and "don'ts" of natural SEO. So, if we assume that
natural SEO will cost you money it begins to look more like PPC is the winner,
but with one major difference.

Natural Search Engine Optimization takes a lot of time and effort. A Google
Adwords campaign can be up and running within fifteen minutes getting target
traffic to you website and generating sales from the word go. However, natural
listings can take months to arrive and there is no solid guarantee that they will
arrive at all. This scares a lot of people off SEO; people want results they can
see and they do not
have the patience to wait several months for them. Natural Search Engine
Optimisation is also a very intrusive procedure. A website's position in the
Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) is dependant on a number of on-page
factors such as page titles, descriptions and content. When starting an SEO
campaign, you may discover that your website's navigation needs to be
completely reworked or that your SEO firm is insisting that they need to add 500
words of keyword rich content to your homepage. Before you sign up with an
SEO firm, you should always discuss what work will need to be done to avoid any
future upsets.

So far, compared to PPC, SEO seems to be the less desirable option: It
requires more effort, takes longer to achieve and still costs money. Although it
is true that an SEO campaign does cost money, it is much cheaper in the long
run and will give a better ROI than you will achieve through paid listings. Once
you have improved your website's status and get the listings you were after, the
bulk of the work is done. Although it is advisable to continue investing in link
building and keep an eye on the competition, it should cost you nowhere near
as much to maintain as it did to set up. In many cases it is possible to stop all
SEO efforts altogether and still enjoy first page listings for years to come. While
this may not be the reality for most commercial sites, SEO can generate huge
amounts of traffic and can give an unbeatable ROI in the long term.

Although most people's websites and business requirements can be wildly
different, it is generally a good idea to invest money in both strategies.
Investing in Natural Search Engine Optimization will give the best long term
ROI, while a simultaneous PPC campaign will provide a steady stream of traffic
until SEO efforts come to fruition. There is also an added bonus that the SEO
strategies are likely to increase your landing page quality score and reduce the
cost of your paid ad placements in Google. Whichever methods you choose to
pursue, it is sound advice to enlist the services of a professional company,
choose the company carefully and make sure you know exactly what you are
signing up for before you commit to anything.

Dave is a successful internet marketer, with proven knowledge in the fields of
Search Engine Optimization and Pay per Click Management. He is also the
co-founder of Search Engine Oracle, an internet marketing company based in
the UK.

1001 Resellable Ebooks. Free when you sign up to receive The Consumer Tipsheet Newsletter!!!
Name:
E-mail address:

Hosting by YMLP.com