Today, the spotlight is on the two best search marketing methods for generating sales and increasing traffic – SEO and PPC.
These are two closely specialized colleagues working with different timelines and resources. Furthermore, they work in parallel, sometimes even competing, but their collaborative efforts contribute to improving brand digital presence, traffic growth, and increased conversions.
PPC and SEO are proven effective methods and are often considered two completely separate traffic generation strategies. And although in certain circumstances one may work successfully while the other struggles to attract traffic, they should not be seen as mutually exclusive.
The answer to the question of where and how to allocate your marketing budget depends entirely on your business goals.
In the following paragraphs, we will separately explore SEO and PPC, their benefits, limitations, and how they can work together.
SEO and PPC Separately
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The primary goal of search engine optimization is to assist in better organic ranking and positioning of a website in search engine results (Search Engine Result Page, a.k.a. SERP).
The higher a website is ranked for a specific search, the more relevant and credible it is considered by the search engine (e.g., Google).
Ranking alone is not an easy task. With more than 200 ranking factors used in Google’s algorithm, along with their continuous updates, SEO requires finding the right balance of factors for a website to perform well.

Top 3 benefits and limitations of SEO:
SEO Benefits
#1 Brand Recognition, Visibility, and Trust
A long-term SEO strategy, coupled with the creation of quality content, will improve the site’s ranking in search engines, thereby enhancing its visibility.
According to recent data, nearly 70% of users intentionally skip paid ads and trust organic search results. Ranking high in SERP not only builds trust and brand recognition but also involves skillful online reputation management.
#2 Traffic, Traffic, Traffic
The vitality of any online business heavily depends on traffic, especially organic traffic.
#3 Sustainability
Organic traffic won’t stop the moment you stop your investment in SEO, as is the case with PPC. Efforts and resources to develop organic traffic will continue to support your business, making it sustainable even with a reduced marketing budget.
SEO Limitations
#1: Serious Competition
Be sure that you are not the only one trying to improve your position in SERP. The benefits of organic traffic are well-known to your competitors. If they have created a link-worthy site, regularly add or update their content with more relevant pages, and improve their site’s speed, they are likely to rank ahead of you.
#2: SEO Never Sleeps
Optimization is a process. Once optimized, the site needs to be maintained to retain its ranking. Maintenance can involve content updates, keyword research, building internal and external links, and more. On the other hand, search engines change their algorithms over time, necessitating constant adaptation and adjustment of your SEO strategy.
#3: Time-Consuming
Yes, it takes time. This is often the reason some businesses prefer PPC over an SEO strategy. Patience and the generation of effective and regular site content are needed to improve its ranking in a timely manner.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
PPC is primarily associated with search engine and social media advertising, where advertisers pay for each click on their ads. Unlike SEO traffic, which is organic, PPC is a way to attract paid traffic. The idea behind this type of advertising is to non-organically bring potential customers to the advertiser’s product, website, or other targeted pages with the aim of generating sales or awareness.
Many social media channels use PPC as part of their business models, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others.

Top 3 Benefits and Limitations of PPC:
PPC Benefits
#1. Immediate Results
In complete contrast to SEO, with PPC, you can see results almost immediately. PPC ads can be created, and their life can last only within a day. Of course, it will take time to fine-tune a specific ad, but once you start, all the necessary information and clicks will be available. For optimal results, it will take about 3 to 6 months, during which Google will analyze data from your ads to reassess them.
#2. Easily Measurable
There is no mystery about presenting your PPC ad through Google Ads. Measure and track your ads easily using Google Ads and Google Analytics. The picture is more than clear, providing details such as impressions, clicks, and conversions. This includes the effectiveness of campaigns and the type of traffic and results they provide for your budget.
#3. Reach the Right Audience
Yes, you pay for every click, but it’s a click from a user you want to convert into your customer. PPC allows you to be very specific about the audience you want to reach, specifying language, device usage, geography, demographics, and more.
PPC Limitations
#1. Can Be Costly
The downside of PPC advertising is that it can be expensive, especially compared to SEO. You might spend a considerable amount without increasing your return on investment, so be careful and monitor your campaign regularly. Of course, you can control your expenses, but optimizing your campaign may take time, and during that time, your costs may increase, especially if you are targeting highly competitive keywords.
#2. Clicks Do Not Guarantee Conversions
Yes, you can quickly attract traffic to your site, but that doesn’t mean your visitors will automatically buy your products or services. To increase the likelihood of conversion, strive to create a unique user experience by showing the added value they will receive and, of course, create personalized ads.
Keep in mind that running a campaign for too long could lead to a backlash and start annoying users, who may start using ad blockers. Be moderate, let your ads look natural, and update them with new text, CTAs, images, etc.
#3. Skills Required
A full set of skills is needed to create and manage an effective PPC advertising campaign. This involves building a strategy, vision, and achieving targets, requiring experience, analytical skills, data handling, and a huge dose of creativity to create interesting and targeted ad copy that leads to more clicks and conversions. Effective PPC management also requires technical skills such as tracking and retargeting codes, working with Tag Manager, and more.
SEO and PPC Working Together
Organic and paid traffic are independent of each other, but using them together can lead to truly optimal results.
In general, if you have a budget and the goal is to quickly attract new customers, it’s worth allocating resources for PPC. On the other hand, SEO is essential for any online business aiming for long-term reach to new customers. Without SEO and PPC, your site will remain unknown without generating resources while you are paying for your domain.
In reality, the choice doesn’t always have to be between SEO or PPC, as they integrate very well together, and each of them can complement the other if used correctly and strategically.
Here are some advantages to consider if you decide to use SEO and PPC together:
#1. Double Brand Visibility
One of the great advantages of combining SEO and PPC is the opportunity for your site to appear more than once on the search engine results page (SERP). If you have already managed to organically rank your site at the top, it’s good to keep in mind that a PPC campaign will make your site even more visible to users, showing it twice within the top 6 results. This helps you in the battle for user attention that you are waging with your competitors.
#2. Greater Chance of Conversions
With better visibility of your site, you also increase the chances of additional traffic to it. This additional traffic means that a larger share of users will reach your products/services, thus increasing the chance of conversion.
#3. PPC Can Help Plan SEO Content
By testing keywords in advertising copy (PPC), you can see which of your ads are effective and lead to optimal conversion rates. Taking successful examples that work for PPC, you can create metadata, titles, and descriptions, as well as content on your site, and try to achieve similar success with your organic results.
In short, instead of asking which method to choose, start creating a strategy that integrates PPC and SEO to occupy as much space on the SERP as possible