Pay per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) are widely used for search engine marketing, but are mostly performed in isolation to one another. The cross utilization of data is seldom seen, which if done, could potentially produce far better results.
The idea behind this post is to ascertain how best PPC can be used to gain useful insights, which when implemented in search engine optimization can help us derive improved results. Mentioned below are few tasks that can be performed better by using PPC to ‘test the waters’.
1. Keyword selection: There is no shortage of free and paid keyword research tools but the data presented by them is not always accurate. Many of us would have learnt this fact the ‘hard way’ – by optimizing for keywords that don’t deliver targeted traffic, or for that matter any traffic at all. It is a costly mistake both in terms of time and money.
PPC can be used to determine the ‘traffic generation capacity’ of keywords by mining raw data such as number of impressions for that particular keyword. This data can be extrapolated to predict the traffic yielding capacity of keywords. Optimizing the website for such keywords would therefore drive more traffic to the website.
2. Building a wider keyword portfolio: Every website has a set of core terms it wants to rank for, in addition to other semantically similar key phrases. High rankings for core terms will deliver maximum targeted traffic, but at the same time the importance of ranking for secondary terms cannot discounted.
By running a PPC campaign for core terms on broad match, we can identify keywords other than the core terms that trigger the ad. This will not only help in building a database of relevant keywords that are searched for, but also assist in ascertaining keywords that Google considers relevant to the core terms. Tapping these keywords along with the primary keywords would therefore channel more visitors to the website.
3. Judging keyword efficacy: As everything else in search engine marketing, not all keywords are made equal. It is a well established fact that some keywords convert better than others, but the only certain way of knowing keywords that convert better is to test.
PPC is a quick and efficient way to check the ‘conversion potential’ of both the primary and secondary key phrases. Optimizing your website for keywords that drive conversion is a sure shot way of generating more revenue.
4. Writing compelling descriptions: Meta description may have lost its importance as a ranking factor but plays a crucial role in enhancing ‘click through rate’ for organic listing. In short, it is the ‘ad copy’ for organic listing.
PPC can be used to test different versions of ad copies and their corresponding click through rate. The best performing ad copies, based on their click through rate, can then be improvised to develop Meta descriptions that are likely to attract more clicks.
5. Testing landing pages: A website that does not have the potential to convert visitors into customers is no good.
In order to create a landing page that facilitates conversions it will need to be tested, modified, and tested in an iterative manner. Since PPC has the propensity to deliver quality traffic quickly, testing can be performed without waiting for organic rankings and the consequent traffic.
The whole exercise of leveraging PPC to build a high performing SEO campaign has an additional bonus attached to it – you get the ‘best of both worlds’ and here’s how.
It is a well established fact that an online marketing campaign produces best results when search engine optimization and PPC are implemented in tandem, and compliment each other.
After initial spillage and fine tuning, the PPC campaign that is being used to churn data will start to deliver positive return on investment. Synergizing the PPC campaign with your search engine optimization campaign will result in a holistic search engine marketing campaign. This is bound to deliver best results. And our philosophy is – why settle for less when you can get the best.
P.S. Have you used PPC to mine data before or used it any differently to the ones mentioned above?
Great introductory article to keywords. Got a question about PPC, in your opinion is it worth the time and money to embark on a PPC campaign if your funds for Marketing are limited or would you spend the money elsewhere (say a copy editor to improve your content)?
@Online Reputation Thank you for your comment. The answer to your question is subjective. If you operate in an industry for which keyword bids are low, you are more likely to get more clicks for the limited budget. On the contrary if the targeted keywords are priced high, a few clicks would exhaust your budget. Therefore, conversion rate of your landing page will play a crucial role here, and decide whether or not you are able to realize a positive ROI. At the end of the day you need your marketing budget to deliver maximum benefits.
There is also a different school of thought which subscribes to the idea that the site performance (conversion) should be enhanced before investing any more in marketing. So if you are getting decent amount of traffic already, we would recommend that you work towards achieving better conversions. This could be achieved by making design changes, increasing website usability and readability, writing effective content, etc. We have a written a couple of newsletters on this topic. You are invited to read them by visiting http://www.kneoteric.com/knowledge-base/newsletters/newsletter.html.
Keyword, page loading time and related content is very important for quality score.
Its an interesting article. I had a client who started off with PPC as you all know that SEO can take some time to show results. While running PPC, he was getting around 50-60 clicks per day that included clicks for primary as well as secondary keywords. After 5-6 months of hard work, he got onto first page for almost all the keywords (Same as PPC). He is not in top 5, but atleast he should get half the traffic of what he was getting. Right now he is getting only 10 clicks / day from Google.
Sometimes its very difficult to judge what traffic we will get from which keyword. Sometimes all the keyword tools show wrong traffic prediction.
I don’t think that meta tag descriptions have lost importance. If I removed certain keywords from some of our site we would most likely take a dip in rankings a bit. The challenge is to write them so people want to read more and the search engines still like them.
I think the most vital point is #3. SEO keyword research, far too often, is concerned with traffic volume and viability of ranking for keywords short-term/long-term rather than conversion capabilities.
PPC gives a clear look into where the leads and revenue are so that you can optimize for proven, producing terms in Organic.
[...] an idea I haven’t thought of: (Source) 4. Writing compelling descriptions: PPC can be used to test different versions of ad copies and [...]
[...] an idea I haven’t thought of: (Source) 4. Writing compelling descriptions: PPC can be used to test different versions of ad copies and [...]
a bit too technical on the key words for me to take in all at once. I need to digest
There had been so many tips regarding choosing the right keyword. I think this one is worth trying.