Are you looking at your business and unsure of how to get your message out to the right people? You aren't alone. Every business struggles with brand awareness to some degree. 

It doesn't matter how amazing your business is if you aren't being found. In a digital world, the two most common ways to combat this problem is through search engine optimization (SEO) or pay-per-click (PPC). Knowing what method is best for you is what we will answer today. 

Before we purchase anything, in 2019,  we turn to Google to search for an answer. So whether you are searching for the best local marketing agency or a local sports store, you are punching into Google a key phrase to find your answer.

SEO VS PPC Advertising. What's Best?

Investing into search engine optimization increases your odds of appearing at the top of the search engine for your audience to find your business. Continuing to invest on your Google presence is step one to your organizations success, this is done by building up your site content, optimizing your keywords and creating back links to your domain will push your listing to the top of Google's search engine. 

Investing into pay-per-click allows you to gain traffic by paying for placement in search engines or social networks, then you are only charged when your ad is clicked. You might be saying to yourself, this the answer and I should only invest in PPC because I am only paying per click. However, there is a lot to consider before making such a rash decision. 

Both strategies have their benefits. For instance, with PPC the top three paid links at the top of search engine result in 50% of the traffic for the searched keyword this means that although being at the top of the page is important, there is an audience that is looking to the organic results for their information. In terms of cost, pay-per-click is extremely low risk. It is said that for every $2 spent in ads a business will see a return of over $4. With results like this it becomes inexpensive to experiment and get that number even lower than it was. 

How long does it take? 

Well, nothing happens overnight. SEO is an ongoing strategy that can take years to see the full effect. In our case, it took us several years to get to the top of page 1 for certain keywords and even now we still invest in ongoing SEO practices like link building and content writing to keep that momentum going as well as gain positioning for new keywords. 

PPC is a bit different, after investing the time to set up your accounts, campaigns and creative you can start seeing results that day if you have your bid strategies in place properly. Depending on your goals (whether it is more leads or brand awareness) this might make more sense for your business. 

With this in mind, we often see businesses invest in both strategies. This is a safe way to ensure you aren't missing out on a part of the market that might bring a ton of value for your business.