Everyday I speak with many different prospects that tell me they need SEO or PPC. However, they are unsure of which avenue is the most appropriate for their marketing goals. In my experience, here are the top 3 marketing goals that most prospects are concerned with when deciding whether SEO or PPC is more appropriate for their search engine marketing solution.

Online Visibility

Not only is it important to claim your brand and be easily found within search engines, but also it’s extremely  important that you are able to speak on your own behalf. Why? Prime example: Penn State  Penn State was not prepared to perform damage control when their former assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, flooded the news with his sexual abuse scandal. Since they weren’t prepared for the inevitable negative publicity, listings such as these start seeping into the first page SERPs for “Penn State.” Appropriate solution: SEO. Not only will a solid SEO campaign, one integrated with social, help you achieve more online visibility, but also it well help you protect your brand.

Perform a specific call to action (CTA)

Are you looking for someone to:

• Sign up for more info
• Request a quote
• Buy now
• Download PDF

Whatever the CTA is, it’s important to drive qualified, targeted traffic in the correct phase of the conversion cycle. Appropriate solution: PPC advertising. PPC advertising will allow you to guide a user down a specific conversion path. For example, if someone is looking to “buy it now,” then send the user to a specific landing page that directly correlates with the original listing offering. This will dramatically increase your conversion rate. Also, PPC ads allow you to add ad extensions to make your listings stand out more against the competition. Keep in mind, subtle differences in your ad make it more appealing and increase your click through rate (CTR).

Immediate visibility

Does your site offer:

• Seasonal offerings
• Frequent updates
• Constant inventory change

In this case, you’ll need a platform that can manage these changes as they happen to achieve immediate visibility. Appropriate solution: PPC advertising. If your site needs immediate attention to specific areas, for whatever reason, PPC advertising will allow you to gain immediate exposure. This is especially important for e-commerce websites that are looking to push a specific product. All-in-all, SEO and PPC are both very effective for achieving online visibility and driving traffic to your site. It’s best to keep in mind what your marketing goals are and see which plan works best for you. Do you have a specific marketing goal and are unsure of which to choose?