Why your PPC strategy needs SEO copywriting

PPC is an effective strategy, but it works better when integrated with SEO copywriting.

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimisation (SEO) copywriting are two of the most popular forms of marketing strategy.

So much so that there has long been a battle between marketers about which is more effective. All you need to do is type ‘PPC vs. SEO’ into Google and you will be met with a virtually never-ending list of blogs arguing on both sides of the debate. 

But while healthy debate should be encouraged, there appears to be a significant number of marketers that think the reliance on PPC eliminates the need for SEO copywriting. That could not be further from the truth.

Both are effective strategies; they just serve different purposes. One is more effective in the short-term, the other in the long-term. This means the best marketing strategy is one that integrates the two. Here, we explain why.

PPC is effective but has its limits

With PPC, the clue is in the name – it is a type of marketing where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their adverts is clicked. Effectively, it is a financial investment to steer traffic towards your website, as opposed to earning those visits organically.

With search PPC, marketers bid for keywords and the strength of the bid directly impacts where the advertisement is placed in the search engine’s sponsored section. The more you bid, the better the advert placement.

According to these statistics, 93% of marketers are investing in search ads. Why? Because they enable you to target your audience and show them exactly what you want them to see. This has two major benefits:

1. Enhances your brand visibility by placing the advertisements above the fold on the search engine.
2. Generates leads in a short space of time. PPC campaigns can be set up in days and generating leads in a matter of weeks.

This is a highly effective marketing strategy but will only bring in so many leads for so long. Furthermore, it is only one part of the equation and does not account for the drawbacks. The most notable of which is that PPC campaigns hinge on your budget. Costs for advertisements can quickly accumulate and you can soon find yourself needing to invest time and again.

To deliver return-on-investment (ROI) long after the initial investment has been made, marketers need to integrate SEO copywriting into their strategy.

SEO copywriting continues to deliver long-term ROI

SEO copywriting is the process of optimising your website and its webpages – such as blogs and landing pages – to rank highly in search engines. If delivered successfully, this increases the quantity and quality of traffic that comes onto your website.  

Unlike PPC, SEO copywriting is a long-term investment. Once a webpage is optimised, for example, it typically takes three to six months before it starts delivering ROI.

But once the optimised webpage starts improving its position in the search engine results pages (SERPs), it can cement this position and becomes less susceptible to fluctuations. In turn, this draws more traffic to the site in the long-term and continues to deliver ROI long after you have made the investment. In the long run, then, SEO copywriting is more cost-effective than search PPC because it brings higher volume at a lower cost per lead.

And the traffic brought by SEO copywriting is particularly beneficial for organisations operating B2B. Indeed, according to this source, “B2B and technology companies generate twice as much revenue from organic search than any other channel.” So, SEO copywriting should not, as some marketers would have you believe, be an afterthought.

An integrated approach is the most effective

As explained in this blog, each user – typically segmented by persona – has their own needs, behaviours and preferences. This means they consume marketing campaigns in different ways. Those with a greater purchasing need may click straight on a PPC advertisement; others with less of a purchasing need may instead click on a blog that addresses their search query. It is important that your website appears on both channels so that you do not miss out on any potential opportunities.

But the two channels also work together more directly too. Indeed, research demonstrates that strong SEO copywriting results increase clickthrough rates for PPC advertisements on the SERP. That should come as no surprise, either.

Think about it like this. If you see an advertisement in the sponsored section of the SERP but also see the advertiser’s website is already organically listed within the same SERP, you are much more likely to click on that advertisement. The synergy between the two channels validates the authority of the advertiser’s website and gives you, the user, confidence in the advertisement. A natural psychological response for you is to click on that website rather than questioning its credibility.    

Revisiting the debate: should you prioritise PPC or SEO copywriting?  

There is no single answer to the debate. The extent to which you invest in both PPC and SEO copywriting depends on a wide range of factors, including objectives, proposition, competition and budget. Each business is unique, and it is up to you to strike the right balance for your marketing campaigns.  

The important point to remember is not to think of it as PPC vs. SEO. Instead, it should be PPC and SEO.  

If you need support to write engaging, audience-driven content for your B2B brand or agency, contact Copestone today.