Is there a need to run Google AdWords and SEO together at the same time? This is one of the most commonly asked questions that come from e-commerce site owners. However, there’s no simple answer to this question.
Here’s what you should consider if you’re asking yourself the same question:
You Need AdWords because Google is Aggressively Monetising Search Results
The ground is shifting rapidly when it comes to search engine optimisation, and the massive changes happening with the search result interface are just some of the tell-tale signs. Essentially, Google is hogging all that lucrative space at the top of the search result page and selling it to the highest bidder.
This means that the first search results you come across after searching for something on Google are made of organisations that have paid big money to have their campaign show up first.
Obviously, as a small business owner, you cannot compete with such deep pockets, which means that you have to strike back by running Google AdWords in conjunction with SEO campaigns to get ahead. This might make you wonder; why continue with SEO when we could focus on running AdWords exclusively?
SEO Will Give You a Higher Conversion Rate and Higher Return on Investment (ROI)
Running SEO campaigns will guarantee you a higher Click Through Rate (CTR). You see, although Google has given the top section of the search engine results to high-paying customers, more and more people are starting to catch on and are more likely to scroll down for the more organic results than clicking on the first few results that pop-up.
So, paid ads are actually starting to have lower CTR when compared to organic search results. Plus, Google alternates between different paid ads, which means that your site won’t always be the first one to show up at that top listing spot, as you’ll be sharing the space with other competitors.
So what’s the answer then, you ask? Well, the most important thing is to ensure that you have Google quality ads that attract users, because if they aren’t, then Google will automatically place them in a lower and less visible position, which means CTR will decrease as well.
In addition, recent research shows that organic listings get approximately 30% more clicks than paid ads, but realistically, you should expect 10% more CTR if your site has one of the first 3 spots on the search results. So SEO combined with AdWords will get you a much higher Conversion Rate and ROI.
How Much is Google AdWords Going to Cost You?
The cost of Google AdWords campaign is dependent on how well your ads work and the Cost Per Click (CPC) for each targeted keyword. This can be a pretty good deal for businesses that sell high-end products if the cost of running the campaign is low.
However, you have to keep in mind that most people who click on a high-end website hardly buy after the first click. In any case, you have to consider the consultant fee who runs your AdWords campaign as well.
SEO traffic that’s gained from Google is more enduring than the short-lived AdWords results. You can think of it as like purchasing an expensive Mercedes instead of a cheaper alternative.
Speaking from experience, SEO always delivers twice as much ROI than AdWords. You’ll notice this when you run both campaigns at the same time.
You Can Use AdWords to Direct SEO Campaigns for Fast Results
One of the many benefits of running PPC is that it gives you fast results. You can literally tweak your ad and immediately see the difference made by the changes, whether that’s adding new keywords or modifying the ad copy.
So, PPC is the ideal testing ground to use when you want to try out new ideas. It’ll give you a good indication of whether or not to roll your campaign as an SEO campaign or refine it further. You can also run multiple test ads to see what sort of imagery and messaging works with your customers so that you get it absolutely right by the time you launch the ad on your site.
This basically means that AdWords is a great way to test what works and what doesn’t for SEO, and it’s one of the reasons why most small business owners prefer it over content and SEO. In this instance, opting for SEO is like ordering an amazing cup of coffee that you’ll have to wait for, instead of preparing a not so good cup of instant.
It’s important to consider the fact that paid listings are more of a short-term solution that can be used to test out your ads before you launch the main campaign through SEO. The best part about Google AdWords is that it gives you the flexibility to scale down the number of keywords used so that you stick to the more effective ones.
Once you see that your preferred keywords have brought in a good amount of quality leads, you can even reduce your AdWord budget.
Use SEO to Avoid Expensive PPC Keywords
Truth be told, PPC is not the most cost-effective option, regardless of the industry you’re in. Your best bet is to search for the most expensive keywords, brief your team about them, and work together to highlight those keywords in your content to create an organic ranking that allows you to use your PPC budget for more lucrative and expensive keywords.
You can also maximise your position by working to get both paid and organic placements on the first few spots of the search results page.
In a nutshell, here’s what you need to do:
- For instant traffic, you should run an AdWords campaign. However, don’t forget to work on content that’ll get you organic ranking on Google as well.
- The goal is to get a higher ranking so that you can reduce your ad spend.
- If you have a big budget, then it’s always a good idea to do both PPC ads on Google as well as SEO.
- If you don’t have a big budget, don’t sweat it. SEO is still a viable and much better option than PPC in many aspects.
- Explore both options until you find a good balance between the two.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Infinite Ace team on 03 9043 4444 or at hello@infiniteace.com if you would like to know more about running both SEO and Adwords campaign simultaneously.
Don’t forget to check out these articles we published on 5 tips on how to see immediate results with Google Ads and top 10 Google Ads/Adwords mistakes you should avoid.
