PPC and SEO are both effective strategies that help brands improve their online presence. By implementing a well-crafted PPC or SEO strategy, you can increase your brand’s visibility, make it easier for customers to find and reach out to you, and ultimately boost profits. However, while they share the same goals, PPC and SEO differ significantly.
We’ll explore these two prominent digital marketing services and go over their differences, advantages, disadvantages, and more. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
PPC vs. SEO: Quick Overview
SEO companies focus on improving your website’s ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs), while PPC displays paid ads on SERPs.
Here’s a brief overview of both approaches:
What Is SEO?
SEO encompasses various tactics used to improve a business’s website ranking on SERPs. Considering that Google is the most used search engine today, with over 81% of the global search engine market share, displaying your company on this platform can greatly boost your visibility and performance.
SEO strategies are best incorporated through web pages and blogs, as they use the core elements of SEO the most — keywords and links. With SEO, your content must be engaging, informative, and easy to read, addressing user queries, while the website structure should be clear and easy to navigate so readers can quickly find what they need.
There are different types of SEO, but the main distinction is between on-page and off-page SEO. On-page SEO includes the following:
- H1 tags and meta descriptions with keywords
- Descriptive and keyword-included alt texts
- Different forms of content (keywords included)
While on-page SEO focuses on the content and on-site experience, off-page SEO includes:
- Backlinks and inbound links
- Influencer marketing
- Guest blogging
- Social media marketing
- Links from customer review websites
What Is PPC?
While SEO focuses on improving site rankings, PPC is more profit-oriented. PPC is a marketing tactic that requires you to create an ad, market it on a search engine or social media platform, and pay each time someone clicks on the ad.
PPC ads can be customized based on factors such as location, gender, age, profession, and more, helping you target the right audience. These ads can promote various offerings, including deals, products, events, or downloadable content.
The most popular platform for PPC is Google Ads. According to Google’s methodology, for every $1 spent on Google Ads, you can expect a return of $2 in revenue. Aside from Google, you can also create PPC ads on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
PPC vs. SEO: Comparison Table
SEO | PPC | |
Traffic source | Organic | Paid |
Cost | Time and effort-based | Pay-per-click |
Time for results | Long-term | Immediate |
Targeting | Keyword-based | Keyword and audience-based |
Tracking | Can be complex | Easier with real-time data |
Competitive edge | Harder in saturated markets | Easier to outbid competitors |
Sustainability | Long-lasting results | Results end with the campaign |
Flexibility | Less flexible | More flexible |
Advantages of SEO
To help businesses decide between PPC and SEO, we broke down their pros and cons, starting with SEO.
Let's take a look at its benefits to businesses:
- Raises brand awareness
- Establishes credibility and trust
- Cost-effectiveness
- Long-term benefits
- Better user experience
- Competitive advantage
1. Raises Brand Awareness

The first advantage of SEO is that it can help spread the word about your brand. As we said, effective SEO optimization through high-quality content improves your search engine rankings, which enhances visibility. This increased visibility helps potential SEO leads discover your website, making SEO a reliable source of sustained traffic.
2. Establishes Credibility and Trust
Another advantage of a strong SEO strategy is that you can boost your website’s credibility. Websites that rank at the top of search results are generally perceived as more credible and trustworthy by users.
Moreover, organic search results often garner more trust than PPC ads. By linking to reports and studies within your content, you signal to search engines that your site is reliable, which boosts your ranking and encourages more customers to interact with your brand.
3. Cost-Effectiveness
Another benefit of SEO is its low price. While it may take time to deliver results, SEO is often more cost-effective in the long run compared to PPC. Once you achieve a good ranking, you won't need to continuously invest money to maintain it, as the clicks you receive are free. However, you need to put in an ongoing effort to stay at the top.
That said, SEO is generally less expensive than other outbound marketing strategies, such as cold calling and print ads, which may not yield as much profit or lead generation relative to the money spent.
4. Long-Term Benefits
As mentioned earlier, one of the key advantages of SEO is its long-term strategy. When executed correctly, SEO can yield long-term benefits, unlike PPC, which has a shorter lifespan. Once you achieve high rankings, the time and resources you’ve put in will certainly pay off in the long term.
5. Better User Experience
SEO isn't just about pleasing search engines to rank your content; it's also about enhancing the user experience. The main goal is to improve your ranking so that people can engage with your brand — the higher your ranking, the more people will see your website.
A well-optimized site is typically more user-friendly, and a better user experience leads to higher conversion rates, trust, and brand loyalty.
6. Competitive Advantage
The final advantage of SEO is that it can give you a leg up against the competition. Having a well-optimized website helps you stand out in a crowded market. If your site is user-friendly and easily discoverable, customers are more likely to prefer it over others. This can be particularly beneficial in highly competitive industries.
Disadvantages of SEO
While SEO is a promising strategy, it comes with its fair share of challenges. Here are some key disadvantages:
1. Fierce Competition
Although SEO can help you stand out, getting to the top takes considerable time and effort. Many businesses are vying for the same keywords, making competition for the first page of search results fierce.
Hence, you’ll need to refine your SEO strategy continuously, as competitors may also deploy targeted strategies that can plummet your SERP rankings.
2. Constantly Changing Algorithm
Search engine algorithms continuously change, and keeping up with them requires revisiting and constantly improving your SEO strategy. This means that not only does it take time for you to get to the top position, but maintaining that position is also not guaranteed.
In some cases, algorithm changes may require brands to re-do the entire strategy from scratch. Unlike PPC, where you can pay for visibility, SEO needs to be parallel with search engine standards to remain competitive.
3. Time-Consuming
Another downside of SEO is the time it takes for it to actually work. Although SEO itself is a cost-effective strategy, it requires crawling, indexing, and establishing your website as trustworthy before delivering results.
As discussed earlier, brands need to produce SEO-optimized content to make a difference. Given the time and investment needed to learn and implement SEO, outsourcing SEO services can be a wise choice that can save you time, money, and resources.
Advantages of PPC
Having explored how SEO can help your brand, let’s see some of the benefits of PPC too:
- Reaches target audience
- Targets diverse funnel stages
- Overall control
- Measurable results
- Boosts sales
- Quick entry
- Brand exposure
- Budget flexibility
1. Reaches Target Audience
One of the primary benefits of PPC is that it allows you to target your audience precisely. You can customize your ads based on various demographics, including location, language, and even past interactions with your website. This precise targeting enhances your brand's visibility, allowing you to reach your audience before your competitors do.
2. Targets Diverse Funnel Stages
Customers can be at different stages of the sales funnel, so using the same strategy for everyone might not yield the desired results. PPC supports various content types that cater to every audience segment, such as blog posts, guides, and case studies. Hence, you can target each customer segment most effectively.
3. Overall Control
Another benefit of PPC is the high level of control it offers. You can choose where your ads will be shown, customize the call-to-action button and where it leads, and choose the specific landing page links to direct users to particular areas of your website. Additionally, you can adjust demographic targeting to achieve your desired results.
4. Measurable Results
One of the most significant benefits of PPC compared to SEO is its ability to deliver quick and measurable results. Once your ad goes live, you can easily track its performance by searching it online or using the campaign platform and checking the stats.
For example, with Instagram Ads, you can view live statistics of your ad directly from your profile. It shows how many people clicked on it, where they come from, the cost per click, and other vital metrics. This allows you to promptly adjust and optimize your ads for better results.
5. Boosts Sales

Since PPC ads yield results as soon as they go live, they can rapidly boost your sales. Even if you’re refining an ad that you previously ran before, you can quickly get it boosted and improve your sales.
Overall, if your PPC campaign is good, it can generate more traffic — and consequently, sales — compared to SEO, where results often take time to materialize.
6. Quick Entry
Another major benefit of PPC is that it offers a low barrier to entry, making it accessible for almost everyone, even if you're a new player in the market. Unlike SEO, which can take months to show significant results, PPC can place your ads in front of your target audience immediately. This primarily benefits new businesses or products seeking quick visibility and traction in the market.
7. Brand Exposure
PPC ads can be displayed across various platforms, including search engines, social media, and partner websites. This multi-platform presence significantly increases your brand's exposure and reach.
For new or lesser-known brands, PPC is an excellent way to get noticed and build brand recognition. You can even run the same ad on different platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, or in various formats, including videos and landing pages.
8. Budget Flexibility
Lastly, PPC allows you to set a budget that aligns with your business needs. You can start with a small budget and closely monitor the performance. If the results are favorable, you can scale your budget upwards.
This flexibility of PPC is particularly useful for small businesses or those with budget constraints. This way, they can enter the paid advertising space without a massive initial investment.
Disadvantages of PPC
Here are some of the disadvantages PPC comes with:
1. High Cost
Compared to SEO, PPC is more expensive, especially in the initial stages, where you're spending money without immediate revenue. Optimizing campaigns can also be time-consuming, further driving up costs.
Factors that affect the cost of PPC the most include:
- Keyword competition: The cost varies depending on the competitiveness of the keywords you bid on.
- Quality and relevance: These factors and the landing page affect keyword ranking.
- Ongoing monitoring: Regularly tracking keyword performance is essential for cost-effective bidding.
- Quality score: Aiming for a high-quality score can make your PPC campaign more cost-effective.
Understanding these cost factors can help you manage your PPC budget more effectively.
2. No Guaranteed Sales
A drawback of PPC advertising is that while it can drive traffic to your website, that doesn’t mean those leads will convert. What’s more, if an ad runs for too long, it may lose its effectiveness, leading to viewer fatigue or prompting users to use ad blockers to not see it again.
To avoid this issue, focus on personalizing your ads. This way, you can reach your customers effectively and meet their interests and needs, which encourages them to engage and convert.
3. Click Fraud
While PPC provides valuable insights into how many people are interested in your ads, it is also vulnerable to click fraud. Simply put, these clicks are often generated artificially by competitors to get you to pay more money without getting any real revenue back. Globally, ad frauds cost brands approximately $88 billion annually.
Since you pay for every click in a PPC ad campaign, some competitors may employ tactics to deplete your budget with fake clicks. By getting more clicks without actual potential leads, you risk losing money without even realizing it.
PPC vs. SEO: Which Is Better for Your Business?
So, which is better for your business: SEO or PPC? If you’re unsure of the answer, consider your budget and needs:
- Do you want to increase sales and have a bigger budget to work with? PPC might be the best choice for you.
- Do you need to boost your website’s visibility and engage more people with your brand, or have limited funds? Then SEO is the way to go.
Additionally, assess the following table for a quick review of the pros and cons of each strategy to help you decide:
Advantages | Disadvantages | |
SEO |
|
|
PPC |
|
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Working With a Digital Marketing Agency for PPC and SEO: How To Choose the Right Partner
If you find SEO and PPC too much for you to manage on your own, a reputable marketing agency can provide the support you need. But how do you choose the right one? Here are some valuable tips we’ve gathered from our experience:
- Focus on their expertise: Look for companies with years of experience in the industry that know what they’re doing. They should be well-versed in current trends and know how to quickly tailor their strategy to meet evolving market needs.
- Consider the price: Experience is great, but that usually comes at a higher cost. First, start by defining your budget. Then, go over some companies and compare their services to see what you can receive for the price.
- Check their track record: Investigate whether the agency has successfully handled projects similar to yours. Ask the company to provide some case studies or point out satisfied customers who can verify their claims. You can also simply go to online forums to get insights into their reputation.
- Ensure transparency: Transparency is crucial in a client-agency relationship. Always work with an agency that keeps you in the loop about important developments and consults you before making big decisions.
- Confirm they understand your goals: A good marketing agency will tailor its strategy. Before partnering, check if they understand what you want to accomplish by hiring them.
PPC vs. SEO: Key Takeaways
SEO and PPC marketing are both effective strategies for boosting sales, nurturing leads, and increasing online awareness. The dilemma of choosing between PPC vs. SEO has persisted for years, but our guide should make your decision-making process easier.
Ultimately, why just stick to only one strategy? By combining SEO and PPC management, you can maximize your results and achieve the best outcomes for your brand!
PPC vs. SEO FAQ
1. How is ranking different when comparing PPC vs. SEO?
In PPC, ranking is determined by the bid amount, ad quality, and relevance to user queries. Advertisers pay for ad placement and higher bids often lead to better positions on the search results page.
In contrast, SEO ranking is organic and based on various factors like content quality, relevance, and site authority. SEO rankings take time to build and are not directly influenced by monetary bids.