Via Expert: SEO.com (Dan Patterson)
The Benefits of SEO over PPC
When it comes to search engine marketing strategies, you basically have two strategies you can turn to: search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC). They both have their place, but SEO definitely has its advantages. Below are 3 of the main advantages of doing SEO.
1- Free Traffic
This is usually the first one that most people think of when they think of SEO. It doesn’t matter how many clicks you get from organic or SEO listings, they are free. On the other hand, if you get traffic from the PPC side of things you have to pay for every single click.
2- Great Visibility
Unless you speak a language such as Arabic, you’re used to reading from left to right. And when it comes to placement on the search results pages, most people start by looking at the left side before they look at the right side. If you can get your site ranking in the top 3 results for your main keywords you have great visibility over the PPC results that are showing up on the right hand side of the search results.
3- Credibility
More and more users are beginning to understand the way the search results pages work. They’ve learned the difference between paid and organic results. If your site shows up first in the sponsored listings people know that you’re paying good money to get there. But if you can land the top spot on the organic side it shows that you have honest credibility. Otherwise, why would you rank there?
We know that it’s because of SEO work that you rank there, but to the average user they feel that you are there because you are a trusted source. This is a level of credibility that you won’t be able to get through PPC.
PPC has its place in things as well, but don’t forget that SEO has some advantages that you cannot get by just launching a PPC campaign. Yes it takes longer to get the rankings and traffic, but it’s worth it in the end.