Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a combination of alterations to the programming and content of a web site to make it more accessible to the search engines for various terms or phrases. The following is a very basic explanation of the steps we follow for Search Engine Optimization and a brief explanation of the difference between SEO and Sponsored Listing or Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns. This is a highly simplified explanation directed at web marketing beginners. I am posting this because we are being asked questions regarding these two options more and more these days as clients are looking for the most bang for their advertising/marketing buck.
First we develop list of keywords/phrases based on what it is you have to sell. Then we do some research to find out other relevant terms and to help determine which phrases are actually being searched most frequently. We would then run a search engine ranking report to determine how well your web site performs for each of these keywords/phrases - ranking each for each major search engine or telling us if your site does not ranking in the top 30. They way to look at is this: if you do not rank in the top 30 for any term, your site is essentially invisible to any body searching under that term. A very important thing to remember about search engines is that people normally search generically, meaning they search for a product or service they are looking for rather than a brand.
After we run the search engine ranking report for a benchmark measurement, we start the process of optimizing the site for those keywords that we need to make improvements. The back end or programming things we do for SEO is changing page titles, addresses, descriptions and keywords to include the terms we are targeting. This helps but is far less important than the actual html text content on your site. Therefore, we also edit the text on various pages of a site to make sure that targeted keywords/phrases are included in text and links in sufficient frequency and prominence to improve search engine ranking. Search engines like google prioritize in a hierarchal manner. They look at your home page first, with each layer of sub pages getting less rank. They also place greater emphasis on headlines (any large text) and read from top to bottom. So a large heading at the top of a page will have much greater weight then using the same term buried in the text at the bottom of a long page.
You cannot buy search engine rankings. The only way to improve your rankings is to have more relevant material on your site than your competition.
On the other hand, pay per click (PPC) listings, or sponsored listings such as google adwords really have no relation to content relevance beyond the buyers desire to purchase any given term. On PPC, we bid on search terms, saying how much we are willing to spend per click for each term. The more competitive a term (how many people are searching) the higher the bid required to rank highly for that term.
We often use PPC campaigns to augment SEO. In some cases keywords are so competitive that is virtually impossible to optimize for them without adding dozens of pages of new content. In those cases, it may be much more cost effective to rely on PPC to reach people searching those terms. You can spend as little or as much you like on a PPC campaign by setting a maximum amount to be spent each day. One important thing to be aware of regarding PPC campaigns is that people tend to be more likely to click on organic search engine listings (those listings that are ranked by the search engine by virtue of their content) than they are to use the sponsored links, because they understand that organic listings are more likely to be relevant to their search. But sponsored listings will get clicks and will increase traffic on your site for sure. One major benefit of sponsored listings is you are only paying for those that actually click on or visit your site. It's like buying a yellow pages ad but only paying for those people that actually call you. Even most banner ads are priced by the number of people who view your ad, not by the number that visit your site.
We have clients like outfitters and resorts who might spend $2-3,000 on PPC and/or the $1,500 basic SEO package as per the price sheet I sent you. We have other clients like resort associations who might spend $10,000/year on either SEO or PPC. Bottom line is either SEO or PPC tend to have a much higher return on investment than traditional media.
