etter late than never we always say. Eso-Exo Web Development is now available for Google Ads Consulting as we have become officially certified. So we're here to tell you the difference between organic marketing techniques like Search Engine Optimization and Google Ad campaigns.
SEO
As we've mentioned in a previous blog entry, SEO is a combination of many techniques and strategies to teach the Google algorithm about your business and connect it to the services or key terms people would use to find it. If you are an insurance company, SEO campaigns use custom content to build an online presence so as a potential customer searches for the types of insurance associated with your insurance company, it ranks higher or is more easily found over competitors. This process takes a bit of time and is a gradual momentum build-up that grows over time. The reason it takes a bit longer, is the Google algorithm needs to be confident in your business' legitimacy and dedication to carving out its corner of the internet. If a campaign spams content for a few weeks then goes silent, Google is unlikely to reward that with high rankings. However, a long series of worthwhile pieces of content indicates to the search algorithm that the business is here to stay and more experienced/knowledgeable of their industry than others who either lack dedicated SEO campaigns or are doing a poor job of expanding their online presence. Think of it as a giant web of links, content and cross-referencing. The more strands and the stronger the connections between strands the easier it is to catch 'flies' or traffic. If there are large gaps, weak correlations with search terms or too much spam in only one area, the easier it is for customers to completely miss your website.
GoogleAds
Google Ad Words or Google Ads are a completely different beast that requires an alternate approach to pushing a business in the online sphere. With SEO, there is a slow build up, but with Google ads, there are immediate results. This is due to the fact that Google Ad Words are clickable ads that appear at the top of Google Searches made by potential customers when looking for a certain keyword. So instead of putting the idea in their head subtly, by ranking your website above competitors, this listing appears directly at the top labeled with 'ad'. If your customers or demographic are unlikely to trust ads or refrain from clicking them, these AdWords campaigns will largely go underutilized. A GoogleAds campaign has a set budget and when the clicks or engagement limit is reached, the ads will disappear. Therefore another differentiation between these and SEO is in their longevity. Whereas SEO is flexible in budget, slow to implement and organic marketing, GoogleAds are rigid in budget, quick to take affect and very much deliberate advertising. They can be altered easily and changed to suit the engagement changes week to week, there are few opportunities to be creative outside of altering the keywords, geographic locations or headlines/bodies of the ads themselves. The reason we decided to become GoogleAds certified is due to our already deep understanding of other Google platforms such as Analytics, Tags, Youtube, and the Algorithm itself through SEO. This was the final piece we needed to become proficient through all of Google's many marketing tools.
So do we recommend one over the other?
The short answer is no, they both have merits. We feel that the larger the budget the more incentive there is to try GoogleAds. We charge a modest fee to consult and run the campaign for the business owner and suggest keywords to use or geographic areas to target. The caveat is however, that a combination of both SEO and GoogleAds is often the best approach. If your ads blanket your industry, but there is no trail leading back to a massive online presence for your business, most visitors to the ad will think your company is less legitimate or reliable over competitors. It's always a good idea to build an online presence with SEO before turning on ads. This way, a simple Google search will lead customers to your business and ads will catch those who were not able to find you. Covering as many channels leading back to your website or contact information as possible.
Contact us today if you are interested in learning more about SEO or GoogleAds. We can suggest certain options and draft a proposal that will best make use of your marketing budget to ensure there is a return on investment. Remember, online marketing is about doing many things well, rather than neglecting some options in favor of others.