PPC vs article marketing: the debate rages on

There are many ways to advertise online. However, the two “big guns” are PPC (pay per click) and article marketing. The battle for supremacy between these two methods has been heating up the Internet ether for some time. PPC is “paid marketing”, while article marketing is a form of natural search engine optimization – usually in combination with other link building activities. Is there a clear winner here yet? Which method is better? Does one offer a better ROI than the other?

A quick look at the search results for the above questions will give you some pretty conflicting information. It seems that some tout PPC as the best solution, while others see article marketing and natural SEO as the most beneficial solution of all. To find out the truth behind these discrepancies, you need to consider a few things, starting with the source of the information.

For example, much of the data is collected by the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and ComScore. However, these two entities aren’t exactly what you’d call objective – the sponsors of the various studies conducted by these companies influence the results to a significant degree. You can count on studies sponsored by PPC companies to be exclusively in PPC’s favor.

To really get to the bottom of this, you need to consider several factors. Both article marketing and PPC work – there’s no question about that. However, deciding which is best can be a bit tricky. Let’s get to the bottom of the question a bit. Best PPC Services Agency in New York

To make an informed decision between article marketing and PPC, you need to understand the criteria by which such a decision should be made. There are three main factors here: click-through rates, cost effectiveness, and the conversion ratio of the marketing method.

When a consumer uses a search engine to look for information, products or services, they are immediately shown ten search results. There are fewer PPC listings than natural search results. That alone might be enough to keep that person from clicking on a PPC ad – if there are enough “real” results, there’s no need to risk clicking on an ad. However, in order for a website to rank high enough in search engine rankings to be in the top 10 results for a given search term, the website’s content must be relevant to the search query. In addition, the internal HTML code must be relevant, which requires knowledge and experience to implement.

Natural search results are just that. They are natural – no fee is paid for the listing. With PPC ads, it’s the other way around. The company that bids the highest gets the best placement, regardless of whether its website is relevant to the consumer’s search or not. Item marketing ensures that the customer is offered the best (most relevant) website.

The point is that PPC ads don’t have to be what consumers are looking for. Consumers are increasingly learning this as well. It only takes a few instances for a searcher to stop clicking on PPC ads altogether. Recent research shows that consumers are increasingly looking for natural results. Even those who wholeheartedly endorse PPC admit that they have very little substance. They are short ads that use a few words to grab the searcher’s attention. Often these words are misleading, dishonest or just plain wrong. When a user clicks on the ad, they are taken to a sales page, which can immediately offend people, especially those who are looking for real, usable information so they can form their own opinions.

Article marketing, on the other hand, is not a short-hand marketing method. Rather, it’s an ideal way to present consumers with real information so they can make an informed decision about their needs. It’s not necessarily about selling, but about informing and teaching. With article marketing, consumers get a full article with lots of data, details and important information. PPC ads don’t say much. While someone in a hurry may click on a PPC ad to save time (and often find that they are actually wasting time), those who really want to make a good decision will always prefer the natural search results over advertising.

As you can see, it’s not necessarily a question of which is better. It’s more a question of what kind of customers your company needs. Do you need to take advantage of those who have little time for in-depth research? Do you want customers who have the information they need to make a solid decision?

Of course, there’s a lot you can accomplish with PPC marketing methods. Below are some of the benefits of PPC and article marketing.

PPC marketing

In order to properly assess the situation, you need to know some of the advantages that PPC advertising offers. The most important advantage is that you can get instant results with PPC advertising. This is important because natural SEO takes time to deliver results – time that you may not be able to afford. In fact, a well-placed ad can bring a huge flood of visitors. ppc services new york

ComScore has provided statistics that put PPC in a positive light. They show that users had an 18.3% click-through rate on “paid” search results. In comparison, organic search results had a click-through rate of only 4.3%. ComScore also showed higher conversion rates, with PPC at 1.4% versus 0.6% for organic SEO.

Article marketing and organic SEO

According to most research, 95% of Internet searchers read the first three pages of search results when they want to find real information. The majority of these people click on a search result rather than a PPC ad. Article marketing also leads to lasting results. Even though organic search engine optimization doesn’t work immediately, it can far surpass PPC in terms of longevity and viability – an article can theoretically generate traffic for you forever. content marketing services usa

Some of the most reputable sources have come out in favor of organic SEO, with names like iProspect and Webxicon showing that 77% of search users choose organic results over PPC ads. Some studies have also shown that organic CTR generates 25% higher conversion rates than equivalent PPC click-through rates.

The underlying problem for marketers

The real issue here is not initial cost or performance, but longevity. With PPC ads, you’re paying an immense amount of money to drive a high volume of traffic for a short period of time. Moreover, managing PPC campaigns can be tedious as it takes a lot of time.

You’ll find that PPC campaigns can also be problematic in another area – namely, the financial outlay required to keep them running. While there are signs of recovery in the economy, that hasn’t yet translated to the average business. So unless you have deep pockets to fund your campaigns, you’ll find that they can quickly drain your limited cash reserves. As a result, they have little lifespan – none compared to the time article marketing can take to drive traffic to where you want it to go.

Article marketing gives you another important advantage – the trust of your customers. PPC ads are increasingly viewed with suspicion. They can be misleading, and many consumers don’t consider them trustworthy. As Internet users become more savvy, the limited benefits of PPC campaigns continue to dwindle. Article marketing, on the other hand, is becoming more effective because it gives your customers what they want – real information on which to base their decision. ppc management new york

In summary, PPC ads fizzle out as soon as you stop funding them. In many cases, that can happen fairly soon. Article marketing delivers traffic as long as the website is up and running – possibly forever. Even though PPC has its uses, it should be obvious by now that article marketing is a superior marketing method for businesses and offers some significant benefits.

Article marketing offers natural search engine results (which are heavily favored over PPC ads) and also gives you a higher level of trust with your customers. Finally, article marketing simply costs less – you don’t have the expense of landing pages, running bids for keywords, or domain names you don’t really need. It also helps build links to your site, which is an invaluable advantage given the importance Google places on high-ranking backlinks.

ROI: PPC vs. article marketing

How do these two methods compare in terms of return on your initial investment? Well, that depends on what you think of as return on investment. If you want instant traffic and instant sales, then PPC offers a good return on investment, at least initially. Over time, however, that ROI will erode and you’ll end up paying more for each customer than you might think possible.

Article marketing, at least at first glance, has a lower ROI. This means that you won’t see an immediate return on your investment. However, there are two important considerations here. First, your investment is much lower because marketing through articles is less costly than through PPC campaigns. Second, your return will be much, much longer lasting. Long after you’ve stopped competing on certain keywords, articles will still provide visitors.

In addition, several studies have shown that organic ROI is more consistent than PPC. Gord Hotchkiss explains the situation. Let’s say you have 50 keywords with high traffic. For those 50 terms, there are 2.8 million searches every month. If you use ComScore’s statistics, that gives you 456,000 visitors for PPC and 153,000 visitors for article marketing.

The actual cost for the 456,000 PPC visitors would be more than $500,000 at a CPC of $1.18. Even with the most expensive SEO company (with a cost of about $10,000 per month), you only pay $10,000, not $500,000. Therefore, the virtual CPC of article marketing is $0.07. Even if you take into account the higher conversion rate of PPC (3,647), you are still paying $147.08 per person. If you compare that to the 611 visitors from article marketing, you’re paying $16.37 per person. This also gives you higher quality customers and generates traffic for the ages.

You also need to consider the quality of traffic that both methods bring to you. With PPC campaigns, the likelihood of traffic bouncing is much higher. Even if you have a relatively high conversion rate, you’re still paying many times more for each customer than with article marketing.

Article marketing generates higher quality customers with a higher potential to come back and make another purchase. This offers significant advantages because you don’t have to recruit these customers again – repeat customers come at zero cost.

Finally, article marketing is a one-time investment – you pay to create the article, and that’s it. With PPC, you have ongoing costs for the keywords you target and, as mentioned earlier, those costs can become exorbitant. With article marketing, the cost of article creation will actually pay for itself over time, while PPC does little more than drain your funds.

Both PPC and article marketing have their uses. More and more businesses are choosing to combine the two – with PPC campaigns targeting low-cost keywords that may drive immediate traffic, and articles targeting high-value keywords. However, article marketing is still the best option for those who want high-quality traffic and long-term results from their marketing efforts.