Search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are two popular ways to increase traffic to a website. Owners of skin care businesses must decide which is the best method to use on their sites. Both skin care SEO and PPC can produce excellent results but they do so within different timeframes and using different approaches. Learn more to identify which is more appropriate for your company.
Google AdWords is one of the most popular PPC advertising programs. Advertisers pay to display ads in the sponsored results portion of the search engine results page. The fee is based on the competitiveness of the keyword and is paid each time a reader clicks through from the ad to the advertiser website. SEO is a free way to build online traffic through the achievement of high natural search results rankings. These results are displayed next to sponsored results.
To use SEO effectively, website administrators must follow best practices for getting the site displayed more prominently and more often on the search results pages. Getting to page one of a natural search results page can take time and getting to the top spot can take even more. However, the targeted free traffic that follows is usually more than worth this investment.
Budget and needs determine which approach is best. Entrepreneurs who need more website traffic quickly and do not mind paying for it should consider PPC. Many site owners use PPC to test website variables to improve conversion rates. PPC provides the traffic required to generate the data desired. Entrepreneurs with tiny advertising budgets may find it more worthwhile to invest their time in implementing SEO. They will need to keep abreast of SEO algorithm updates so their sites do not become casualties of search engine refinements.
Entrepreneurs interested in PPC advertising should review the average cost-per-click (CPC) for their industry. The Google External Keyword Research Tool is helpful with this because it includes a Traffic Estimator feature. Average CPCs can be quite high within an industry, as a $28.55 average CPC for the keywords “auto insurance” reveals.
The competitiveness of search engine results pages for targeted keywords is another factor to consider when determining whether skin care SEO or PPC is the best method. The Google External Keyword Research Tool reveals the estimated level of competition for a provided keyword. In many cases, combining SEO and PPC advertising proves to be an effective method, avoiding the need to choose one or the other.
