Despite many results that show the necessary use of both SEO and PPC, the debate of whether one is better than the other has been on-going. SEO, stands for search engine optimisation and PPC, stands for pay per click. So let’s further explore the sole and comparative benefits of these methods. 

---

 SEO pros and cons:

• Pro- Cost: Traffic and engagement attracted through SEO is mostly free. 

Con- Cost: SEO requires constant maintenance on the site and off the site, which may require spending on seo services to ensure that the data on the site is kept up to date.

• Pro- Sustainability : SEO is a great way that a website can attract organic traffic over time, which will help increase the domain authority and overall discoverability of the website.

Con- Sustainability: While SEO is sustainable, other factors play a role in the discoverability of the site, these factors include meeting user intent, user experience and the compliance of google policies and ethics. 

• Pro- Traffic: Once users find a website organically through SEO, it’s a steady growth from here, websites will also be remembered and they will most likely show up in relevant search engine results.

Con- Traffic: Due to the vast competition for space in relevant search engine results, it may take time for websites to gain major awareness and traffic in a short period of time. 

• Pro- Time: In contrast to PPC, SEO guarantees exponential and cost effective growth over time. 

Con- Time: SEO is slow and steady, so it can take up to 6 month for the content to be visible or to increase position in the ranks of the search engine. 

• Pro- Click Through Rate: When SEO is engineered correctly, it will attract more visitors to the website; additionally, the positive user engagement will enable google to rank the website higher in the search results. 

Con- Click Through Rate: SEO engineered incorrectly may not meet user intent or experience, which could lead to a lower rank in the search engine results.

---

PPC pros and cons: 

• Pro- Cost: Charges only apply when users click on the website. 

Con- Cost: PPC can generate traffic but it may not equate to user engagement or sales.

• Pro- Sustainability: PPC helps level the playing field for websites fairly quick and the traffic generated can provide great return of investment (ROI); if short term traffic doesn’t lead to a ROI, then returns can still be achieved through retargeting campaigns. 

Con- Sustainability: For independent and cost effective long-term traffic, SEO is a better option.

• Pro- Traffic: PPC ads will appear at the top of the page, above the organic listings influenced by SEO, this will increase the exposure of the website exponentially. 

Con- Traffic: Relying only on PPC without the consistent revision of smart campaigning and SEO can prove to be costly over time.

• Pro- Time: PPC ensures immediate traffic and measurable results. 

Con- Time: PPC alone isn’t effective in providing results immediately, however, it will require investment of time and money to attract and maintain long-term traffic and user engagement. 

• Pro- Click Through Rate: The scalable results of PPC ads is dependent on the implementation of smart targeting initiatives, which will aim to to secure customer engagement or sales from the traffic generated. 

Con- Click Through Rate: If the PPC ad doesn’t carefully target the relevant target market then PPC ads may result in a low click through rate and a lower ranking in the search engine. 

---

As you can see, PPC ads definitely go hand in hand with SEO, this is because Google will only display the ads to the relevant audience when the website can deliver and meet the users intent. If we are going to look at the process as a sandwich, SEO would be the bread to symbolise the initial stage and the final stage, while PPC ads would be the in-between ingredients.  

---

Tips on how to correctly implement SEO on your website:

• Ensure that keyword research has been conducted to aggregate and to implement the relevant keywords on-site.

• The speed, security and the structure of the website needs to be carefully revised and tailored to meet the satisfaction of the users. 

• You’ll need to optimise the on-site for search, by tailoring each page to the keywords that you want the site to rank for.

• Utilise various platforms outside of the site to optimise the results of the site. This can be achieved by utilising various platforms such as google search console, google analytics, link building strategies, press and blogs. 

---

A soldier doesn’t go into war with just a weapon, you also need a shield and a strategy, similarly, in online marketing you’ll need both PPC and SEO. These tools work together to increase the domain authority of your site, so you can attract both organic and paid traffic. Additionally, when these tools are implemented correctly and visitors have a positive experience, then you can secure a scalable project that maximises return of investment.