SEO Vs Paid Marketing: Difference, Pros & Cons, and An Integrated Approach

Online marketing is the best strategy nowadays to boost one’s business. There are a lot of online marketing strategies available, some of which are paid and some are free. In this article, we will discuss some most popular marketing strategies and their merits and demerits. After reading this article, you will be able to decide which service you should take. Let’s begin.

SEO

Most of us have a question: What is SEO in digital marketing? Let’s learn about SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is a marketing strategy of increasing organic traffic on a website. There are various types of SEO marketing techniques like on-page SEO, off-page SEO, etc. SEO takes time to give results but its results are long-lasting. Let’s have a look at its merits and demerits.

Merits & Demerits of SEO

Merit: Free of Cost

SEO services are free of cost. It works on the target keywords and your research. The more time you spend in doing research the better results you will get.

Demerit: Slow Results

It takes time for SEO to give results. Hence, you do not expect immediate results from SEO. If you want immediate results, you can opt for the paid services.

Merit: Organic Traffic

SEO helps you get more organic traffic. If you adopt the correct SEO practices, you can rank your business on the first page of Google without paying any money for it. Hence, SEO is the best way to increase the density of organic traffic on your website.

Demerit: Tough Competition

SEO rankings are dynamic. This means if your website is ranking on the top of the page today, it is not necessary that you will see it at the same place on Google after some time. This is due to the tough competition in this field. If another person uses SEO strategies better than yours, his website will rank before yours.

PPC

PPC stands for pay per click. It is a type of SEM service. As the name implies, it is a paid internet marketing strategy in which the advertiser pays a fee every time a user clicks his ad. PPC helps in increasing the traffic on a website. Here are some pros and cons of PPC of which you should be aware about before taking this paid service.

Pros & Cons of PPC

Merit: Immediate Visibility

Immediate result is one of the benefits of PPC. If a user pays, he wants immediate results. This is what a paid search campaign does. It takes time to generate organic traffic for new businesses. That’s why the PPC services are good for newly launched businesses. PPC services also give the websites an immediate traffic boost. Hence, PPC services are one of the best services for businesses that need quick sales.

Demerit: No Longevity

Every coin has two sides. There is also a dark side of PPC. PPC or SEM campaign services are not a one-time investment. These services need fuel continuously. All your leads dry up from the day you stop paying for these services. Hence, PPC services will cost you more for your long term strategies.

Merit: Result Tracking

PPC services let you track your results and improve your performance accordingly. Moreover, this helps you keep your data at your fingertips.

Demerit: Bidding Wars

Everyone wants to see his website at the top of the Google search results. This increases the competition. When more than one companies are competing for the same keywords, PPC rates will increase. In such a case, you have to pay more for better results.

SEO Vs PPC

We have read the merits and demerits of both SEO and PPC. Now, let’s see the difference between SEO and SEM.

SMM

SMM stands for Social Media Marketing. As the name implies, it is a technique of marketing on social media platforms. Let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing.

Merit: Create Brand Awareness

SMM helps in creating the brand awareness among the customers. Hence, it helps businesses to expand at a fast rate. There are many Social Media platforms on which brand awareness can be created. These include Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Demerit: Exposure to Competitors

SMM enables you to understand the strategy of your competitors. On the other side, your competitors can do the same. Hence, this puts your business at risk.

Merit: Increases Inbound Traffic

Creating good product pages will attract more customers to your website. Interested people stay at your website and read about the products. Hence, SMM helps in increasing the traffic on your website.

Demerit: Needs an Expert

If you want to gain the maximum result from SMM, you need an expert in this field. For this, you have to employ personnel.

SEO Vs SMM

We have read the merits and demerits of both SEO and SMM. Now, let’s compare both of them.