When Google AdWords first launched in 2000 (they have since rebranded and are now known as Google Ads), the interface was simple and it didn't take much to start a campaign.
Oh, how times have changed.
In the almost 2 decades since the inception of Google Ads, Google has added multiple campaign types, keyword match types, and bidding strategies, and so much more to the mix that it can make your head spin. Now there are hundreds of possible combinations in which to build a campaign.
Keywords: they have been prizes to be won by Google, Bing, and other search engines since the mid-nineties. So after twenty-plus years of focusing our search engine optimization efforts around a short list of keywords to work on and rank for, we say goodbye to this practice and usher in the new world of topics.
In the land of digital marketing, we come up with some pretty unique terms. Backlinks, black hat, heatmap, keyword stuffing, schema markup, and slug. These are all jargon, and if you're not in the marketing biz, you probably have no idea what they are referring too.
As long as there have been websites on the internet, there have been people surprised that they can't just put up a website and immediately have visitors flock to their URL.
Building a website is just a first step. Now, you must appease the search engine gods so that your super awesome site can be on page one of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) when users are looking for your product or service.
So how does one go about getting such data?
Google Analytics, of course.
"Should my business be using Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads or an organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy?" I get that question all the time. And of course, my answer is, "It depends. What are your goals?"
What? You mean it's not a straight "yes" or "no." Of course not. The answer is significantly dependent on what your company goals are. Are you selling a new product or service? Is there a great deal of education involved in purchasing your product or service? Is there a significant barrier to entry for your product? Are you well-known in your industry? These are just a few of the questions you need to answer before looking at PPC or SEO.
Imagine this scenario: You have spent three to four months planning your new website or redesign, hired the best website development and marketing team around. You and your team have spent countless hours designing the layout with all of the best-practices in mind. Workflows have been carefully thought out and implemented. In short, you have designed your website to effortlessly guide your users through the buyer's journey and convert them into customers and delight them into becoming raving fans.
My statement to you is simple: You can do SEO (Search Engine Optimization) without PPC (Pay-Per-Click), but you cannot, and I mean CANNOT do a successful PPC campaign without SEO.
Why?
To understand why, we have to begin at the end.
Getting in front of potential customers and existing customers is getting harder and harder. From the consumers perspective, it seems no matter where they turn, there is an advertising message front and center. Shopping carts and bathroom stalls are proof that nothing is off limits for advertising.
If you have had experience running a Pay Per Click campaign using Google’s platform AdWords, then you know how important it is to organize your campaign properly and allocate the right amount of your ad spend budget to each campaign. The execution and overall success of your advertising campaign will depend on each campaign's targeted locations, demographics, keywords, landing pages, and how all of those relate to each adgroup and overall campaign.
Would you believe me if I told you that the first page of search results for "SEO Services" is different for John Doe in downtown Seattle using a laptop as opposed to someone sitting three miles away searching the same term using a phone? It's true.
That's why I want to smack some sense into any web marketing agency that claims they can get any website on the first page of search engine results. It's a very misleading statement, and simply too vague to be credible.