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On the One Hand, SEO. On the Other Hand, Ads. Should You Choose One or Both?
Nineth in a series
Since our lead generator is an SEO audit, our team should be all in on SEO, right? Yet, we’re planning a Facebook ad campaign right now. Wondering why we would do that? Let us explain…
Back in March, we talked about optimizing the landing page for our lead generator, but we also talked about advertising because there are legitimate reasons to do both. Optimizing a web page isn’t something you just whip out in a few minutes. It requires a good deal of effort up front and a significant amount of time before results are logged.
Search Engine Optimization involves a whole lot of research. It starts with review of where your website is now, digitally speaking. How are your analytics? Are you aiming for the right audience? Is your website architecture SEO-ready or are there indexing and speed issues? Who are your competitors and how SEO savvy are they?
Next is search term research. You may think you know the right words to use, but there are tools that help find and choose the best ones. You will even find words you never considered! With those terms in hand, you can properly place them on your web pages.
But you aren’t done yet! In addition to optimizing your web pages, Google also uses signals from outside sources to rank your site. These signals could come from directories, Google Business Profile, social media, or other places that link to you. Correcting old links and building new ones is another important step.
As you might guess, all this introductory work will cost you, whether it’s your precious time or the price of an expert’s time. And you still need to wait for the search engines to process the changes, connect the dots, and rank your website.
Advertising also requires work, but not nearly as much. For instance, the tools on Facebook Ads help guide you in finding the right audience for your message. Also, ads don’t depend on your digital reputation or on how your website is organized.
Where your efforts will be instead is on the creation of an eye-catching image and a compelling Call To Action. Then you decide on your budget and start up the ad. By running more than one version, you’ll know in a fairly short time which is the most engaging so you can improve it until you’re satisfied.
Even with graphic design costs, advertising online with Facebook is more immediate and less expensive than Search Engine Optimization. So which should you choose? We chose both – and here’s why:
An ad is less expensive to set up, but the cost is the same every day while the ad runs.
SEO is more expensive to set up but costs less to maintain afterward.
Ads are only presented to your audience according to the budget in your account. Once you hit the limit, your audience doesn’t see them anymore.
SEO drives traffic 24/7, without needing any input from you.
Ads are quick to create, set up, and start running.
SEO research and implementation takes time to complete.
Ads provide results within a short period.
SEO take weeks or even months to show results.
You can see now why we would choose to go with ads as well as with SEO. During the time that it takes to research and implement search engine optimization specific to this lead generator, we can advertise and gain some short-term results. Once we’re satisfied with the upgrades to our optimization, the ads should no longer be necessary.
Are you ready to invest in optimizing your website? Or would you rather start with Facebook ads? Either way, our team can help! Give us a call so we can talk about your particular needs.
Photo by cottonbro studio
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Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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