{"id":14415,"date":"2019-04-02T12:30:47","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T12:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/?p=14415"},"modified":"2026-02-26T16:32:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:32:39","slug":"seo-vs-ppc-what-should-you-do-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/blog\/seo-vs-ppc-what-should-you-do-first\/","title":{"rendered":"SEO vs PPC: What Should You Do First? [VIDEO]"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"SEO vs PPC: What Should You Do First?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VM8a1lU91Kw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today we\u2019re going to talk about SEO vs PPC and which search marketing tactic your company needs first.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCaf8ut2dP0w08kKw-jPXx5Q?view_as=subscriber\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Don\u2019t miss a video! Subscribe to YouTube!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We could build a structured pros, cons, and advantages article; however, I\u2019m sure there are thousands out there. Instead, what I\u2019d like share today is some of the misconceptions people take into both services. I\u2019ll break down each and discuss various misconceptions so you are confident in which search marketing service (maybe both!) works best for you. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO vs. PPC Misconceptions<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the largest search marketing falsehoods we see on a consistent basis is \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PPC gets you quick results and SEO takes a long time<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c. This statement is almost true, but it gives you the wrong foundational starting point or wrong perspective going into either.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s unpack this phrase a little.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15922\" src=\"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/07\/SEOvsPPC_3-01.jpg\" alt=\"Graphic text showing SEO vs PPC misconception number one. \" width=\"8000\" height=\"4500\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>PPC<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/services\/ppc\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pay-per-click advertising<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it\u2019s not that it won\u2019t get you results quickly. It\u2019s that most people don\u2019t get the results they want because they don\u2019t determine beforehand if their targeted keywords and their brand are cohesive. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, at Directive, when we first launched a PPC campaign for ourselves, we didn\u2019t know which keywords were going to convert the best. Depending on the volume of those keywords, we can\u2019t turn them off until we have statistically significant data. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means we need a certain amount of clicks, which depending on your budget, might take three to six months to gather enough data to properly make a decision on whether certain keywords are profitable or not. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then, if you layer in your sales cycle or the time it takes someone from a form fill to closing a deal \u2014 this idea that PPC will work lightning fast is just incorrect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example and from experience, we know if someone searches \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">agency<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d that\u2019s a better keyword modifier than \u201cservices.\u201d We know that the person, individual, or company who is looking for an agency has a higher propensity to pay for our services than someone searching with the query \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">services<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cServices\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> queries are usually from someone looking for a freelancer, such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.upwork.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upwork<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiverr.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fiverr<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or something cheaper. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They need a service, and they need it done for as cheap as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Someone looking for an agency is looking for a business partner and understands that it might cost more. Also, this person typically has a larger budget to spend. However, you don\u2019t know that when you go into this PPC experiment or start a fresh campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s imperative that you go into campaigns with your eyes wide open and recognize that PPC will get you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">clicks<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> very fast. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can turn a PPC campaign on and get clicks right away \u2014 but to think that those clicks are going to turn into opportunities, deals, and revenue in a way that makes sense on your financial statement, that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">takes time<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I want to be clear there because it\u2019s important that you go into PPC with the understanding that it takes a full process to make it a profitable channel for your business and that\u2019s okay.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>SEO<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO, on the other hand, also takes time. However, the misconception here, is \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this going to take a long time, it\u2019s all about keywords and X, Y, or Z<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d The reality of SEO is it can happen very quickly! It depends on where you\u2019re starting from and what your goals are. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re a brand-new website in a brand-new business, it could take two to four years. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not six months. Not three months. Not whoever is telling you how long it will take. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because you don\u2019t have to beat Google. This is the misconception people get burned into their brains. In reality, you have to beat all the other brands!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have to get more people talking about your brand than all competitors striving to rank for the same keywords you\u2019re targeting. You need:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mentions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">people talking about you in the news<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your industry talking about you<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">partners talking about you<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s time to get the buzz circling around you! By this, I mean <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">linking<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to you. In other words, you need to build your brand using link building tactics. It\u2019s difficult to rank without any quality backlinks leading to your site. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Furthermore, you need an exceptional design. You need content that meets your prospected audience right where they are. You need each of these parts to build the full picture. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-15923 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/07\/SEOvsPPC_2-01.jpg\" alt=\"Text graphic explaining importance of link building in SEO.\" width=\"8000\" height=\"4500\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re a publicly-traded company, a midmarket player, an established small business, have people talking about you, and have good content, then, hire the right SEO agency. They will come in and make the right recommendations and changes, and you\u2019ll often get results even faster than PPC. This is in the sense that they can take you from the fifth rank to third or from the third rank to number one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The massive amount of clickthrough rates you get from going to the third position to the first can do exponentially more from a cost-per-opportunity standpoint than PPC could in the first three months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It took our team four years to rank number one for \u201cSEO agency.\u201d But was it worth it? Absolutely. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every time we rank, each one of those clicks that turns into an opportunity is all hitting against the initial sunk cost we invested in the SEO. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That sunk cost is our time. It\u2019s paying writers. It\u2019s earning links. It\u2019s doing outreach. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each one of these actions still costs you. It\u2019s not like SEO is free while paid costs money. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The difference is, in paid search, you\u2019re paying an agency fee or just Google, directly. In SEO, you\u2019re still paying an agency fee, and also paying writers for content, designers for CRO enhancements, and developers who ensure you fix all technical issues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15924\" src=\"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/07\/SEOvsPPC_6-01.jpg\" alt=\"Graphic showing that SEO still costs money at the end of the day. \" width=\"8000\" height=\"4500\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>SEO with PPC &gt; SEO vs PPC<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you put the two services together, now, that\u2019s when you get something powerful. The thought process shouldn\u2019t be SEO versus PPC. It should be SEO with PPC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you can take your paid search, go into your search terms report, and find all keywords that generate the most opportunity, deals, and revenue for your business, then, you can take that exact data from the search term report, give that to your SEO team, and say, \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We notice that people searching X convert far more than people searching Y. Let\u2019s change our title tags under each one<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re trying to decide what to do first, here\u2019s a great way to look at it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is What You Should Do First<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, you\u2019re going to want to evaluate your overall budget. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you have money to pay Google and an agency?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember, if you\u2019re only paying Google $3,000 to $5,000 a month and then pay an agency 15% to 10% to 30% of your ad spend, you\u2019re getting $10,000 &#8211; $15,000 a month, and then that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">agency probably wants to bill at about $250 an hour. So, you\u2019re getting four hours a month of someone\u2019s time, you\u2019re probably not going to get the results, right?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s nothing worse, in my opinion than underpaying an agency. Why? Now you don\u2019t know if Google Ads doesn\u2019t work or if you hired the wrong vendor. That is not a position of power.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does My Budget Fit Better for SEO or PPC?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In my opinion, if you\u2019re in-house, you want to hire the best agency possible. Even if you have a smaller budget, I recommend paying an agency $3,000 and have a $3,000 Google budget instead of trying to pay Google $5,000 and then the agency $1,000. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You need to learn which terms are driving revenue profitably and an agency giving you four to 10 hours a month can\u2019t do that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15925\" src=\"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/07\/SEOvsPPC_5-01.jpg\" alt=\"Graphic representing making choices for search marketing. \" width=\"8000\" height=\"4500\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re looking to only do SEO, and have a budget of $6,000, you can get a lot of bang for your buck from a firm for this price. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoid dropping below $3,500 to $3,000 when paying an SEO firm. It\u2019s difficult for you to get time and attention from specialists with actual expertise to get you results you want. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If not, you\u2019re dealing with a junior-level person spending ten hours a month focusing on you and giving boilerplate recommendations from a systematized process that\u2019s not unique to your goals. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the end of the day, you do get what you pay for. Ask yourself: \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does my budget fit better for SEO or PPC? For a $5,000 budget or a $6,000 budget, you\u2019re going to get more from SEO than you will for PPC.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look at Your Internal Resources<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, let\u2019s look at your internal resources for your team. Ask yourself, \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is my team where I\u2019m currently at?<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d The timeline is based on your team and what you can execute internally.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, if you have:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strategic writers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Powerful brand presence<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An authoritative website<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poor on-page targeting<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No experience with an experienced SEO firm<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then, you probably will get results faster from SEO than starting PPC for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Previous PPC results<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Never done custom landing pages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Great historical data<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No writer, no developer and your link profile\u2019s pretty poor<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then, the timeline for PPC is going to be quicker for you instead. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You see, it\u2019s not that SEO takes longer than PPC or vice versa, it\u2019s that each is relevant to your own business, your own team and where you\u2019re at digitally. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Really assess and think, \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are we set on our content, our development, and our brand, or do we have a lot of historical data already, but we don\u2019t like our performance?<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, you can adjust your timeline for each.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>How Involved Do You Want To Be?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lastly, you have to decide how involved you want to be. If you\u2019re working with us on SEO, there\u2019s going to be more things we need from you than if you\u2019re working with us on PPC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15926\" src=\"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/07\/SEOvsPPC-01.jpg\" alt=\"SEO vs. PPC misconception about beating Google. \" width=\"8000\" height=\"4500\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, when we do PPC, we have complete control of your landing pages using third-party software. We have complete control of Google Ads and of the budget. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, we just need your team to approve things!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to SEO, maybe you\u2019re a large organization. We don\u2019t have access to your CMS. Maybe you have your own content team and you want them to write everything. Maybe you need your developers to make all the changes, but they\u2019re kind of busy working on the product.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You see, there are different bottlenecks there, so you have to ask yourself: \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are we going to have more bottlenecks on paid than we are on organic?<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once again, all of these different factors matter. It shouldn\u2019t be SEO vs PPC, it should be SEO with PPC. Ask yourself, \u00a0\u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where should we start<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d or \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do we want to do both?<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s the decision you need to make based on your budget, your team, and your bottlenecks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hopefully, this video walks you through the realities of each and helps you make a better decision based on your own situation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Learn every factor involved in effective B2B marketing. Get our latest case study for free!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/resources\/demand-generation-vs-lead-generation\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-15927 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/directiveconsulting.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2018\/07\/Directive-In-Line-Blog-CTA-Demand-Generation-Guide-Download-Updated.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wistia_responsive_padding\" style=\"padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"wistia_responsive_wrapper\" style=\"height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; top: 0; width: 100%;\">\n<div class=\"wistia_embed wistia_async_7q5z4boau1 videoFoam=true\" style=\"height: 100%; position: relative; width: 100%;\">\n<div class=\"wistia_swatch\" style=\"height: 100%; left: 0; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0; transition: opacity 200ms; width: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today we\u2019re going to talk about SEO vs PPC and which search marketing tactic your company needs first. Don\u2019t miss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,56,64],"tags":[85,140,168],"class_list":["post-14415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ppc","category-seo","category-videos","tag-content","tag-ppc","tag-seo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SEO vs PPC: What Should You Do First? 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