The realms of PPC and SEO converge on search engine results pages, where paid adverts appear alongside organic results for an internet user’s typed-in queries. A question many digital marketers ask, once learning the advantages of paid online advertising and SEO, is whether or not running pay-per-click advertising campaigns on Google et al. improves a website page’s position on the organic section of the results page. This article defines both PPC and SEO, and looks to answer the question: does PPC increase your SEO ranking?
PPC Defined
Pay-per-click is an online advertising term describing the use of paid promotions, executed on social media and search engines, where the advertiser pays a fee for each advert click they receive. Got a business website and want to run a competition where people have to sign up for your newsletter in order to win? A website page with a contact form can be advertised on Google, Facebook or other online PPC platforms, and using careful keyword targeting – you can bid to have your adverts appear in people’s social media feeds or on their Google search results pages.
SEO Defined
Search engine optimisation involves the maintenance of a website and its assets, like on-page text and imagery, in order to see the website’s pages rank highly on search engine results pages (SERPs). For example, if you have a website page that sells red apples, and an internet user searches for red apples, Google’s algorithm will display your (and your competitors’) website on the SERPs, in order of relevance. Website pages that aren’t optimised well enough get low relevance scores, and thus display lower on page 1 or – heaven forbid – page 2 of Google.
