Organic or PPC — Which is Your Flavor?
The debate currently rages — where should you spend your time on marketing — cultivating organic traffic or spend the money on pay-per-click? We here at KikScore are trying to find the right mix for our small business.
If you research the topic, most of the arguments go as follows: organic is free, it is long-term and builds on itself; PPC is tailored, expensive and, in the short-term, effective in driving traffic. A funny thing also occurs if you research this topic — you definitely see the battle-lines drawn by self-interest. The SEO experts all push organic search while the sellers of PPC keywords all push…well PPC keywords. Even funnier, the SEO folks often purchase PPC keywords on the topic “organic versus PPC”. What?
I’m not taking sides (I think both approaches have their merits), but I do think the argument that organic search is “free” is a bit misleading (or woefully undervalues your time). To take advantage of organic search, you’ll have to create content on a regular basis, spend time on social media networks, and monitor the your competitors’ activities. This is not a “free” avenue to traffic.
Oddly enough, I equate the debate to grocery shopping. If you want to do the things that are good for you long term, shop exclusively at Vitamin Cottage or farmers markets. On the other hand, if you want to eat now, go to Chipotle. Fast food is not a viable substitute for having a well-stocked kitchen (though its probably cheaper to go to Chipotle every day). Of course, if your business needs customers sooner rather than later, you probably can’t wait on the garden. So the balanced approach is probably where I shake out — in other words, do both.
What’s your position on this?
Tags: Online Business, Online Trust, organic search, pay per click, ppc, shopping, Small Business
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