If you are new to the world of digital marketing for your home service business, you may be wondering where the best place is to spend your hard-earned marketing dollars. “Should I run ads?” or “Would I be better off starting with SEO?” are questions we commonly get from prospective clients.
The truth is, there is no absolute right or wrong answer—there is only the best answer for your specific budget, your specific business, and your specific timeline for getting results. In this post, we will outline some of the main benefits and drawbacks of both vehicles so that you can make the most informed decision for your business.
BENEFITS OF SEO
We like to call SEO (or search engine optimization) the “bread and butter” of home service digital marketing campaigns. Here’s why:
1. SEO receives 90% more clicks than PPC
When it comes to pure click volume, SEO takes the cake. Despite the increasing popularity of paid ads, the overwhelming majority of users are still clicking on organic search results. Therefore, if you want the largest amount of visitors to your website, you need to be focusing (heavily) on SEO.
2. SEO is less expensive
On a tight marketing budget? Start with SEO. Of the two major digital channels, SEO is less costly than PPC, which makes it the more attractive option for businesses with a limited spend. While both methods can drive quality leads to your business, SEO is more effective at acquiring leads at a lower cost, making its ROI (return on investment) often higher.
3. SEO results are yours to keep
Unlike paid ads, SEO will not just stop bringing you business the second you decide to pause or end your campaign. It has the rest-assuring quality of maintaining its effects over the long haul. You can think of organic rankings as real estate that you own, rather than property that you pay others to rent out temporarily. It takes longer to acquire in the beginning, but the authority and trust your website gains become permanent assets of your business that can help sustain you into the future. For many clients, this longevity of results makes SEO worth the wait.
BENEFITS OF PPC
For all the merits of search engine optimization, PPC (pay-per-click) advertising has a lot to bring to the table as well. Here are a few of the major benefits:
1. PPC generates revenue faster
For starters, the speed of results from paid aids simply cannot be matched by traditional SEO. While it can take months to rank organically for different keywords, PPC can generate revenue as quickly as overnight with the help of an expert manager. Newer businesses often find that PPC is the best way to start generating leads and booking jobs in the early stages before SEO has had time to take effect.
2. PPC allows you to target more specifically
Even with the best search engine optimization, it can sometimes be difficult to rank for your desired keywords with guaranteed success. Pay-per-click advertising gives you a much greater degree of control over your targeting, so you know exactly what content is showing up for what search terms and what segments of your target audience. This granular level of control can help optimize your messaging to suit people at different stages of the buyer’s funnel, often leading to higher conversion rates.
3. PPC improves brand visibility and awareness
Pay-per-click ads are a great way to get your name out there to new prospective customers. Because PPC results are placed at the top of search engine results pages (or SERPs), new customers will see your name and come across your business may have otherwise never discovered it. Newer businesses and those looking to expand often use paid ads to get in front of lots of new people quickly.
Both SEO and PPC offer great opportunities to businesses looking to gain traction and acquire new customers online. If you choose not to pursue both, determining the best option for you will involve a solid understanding of your business, an honest assessment of your goals, and a timeline for when you want to get there. The expertise of a professional digital marketing agency can assist you not only in determining the best course of action but also in helping you reach your goals through whichever vehicle you choose.