Online strategy for small businesses: should you trust Pay Per Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
In short, It may be time to seek help from another digital agency and/or to invest in training in order to monitor more closely the activity of your digital marketing agency.
Research
A recent study published by US-based digital firm clutch.co investigated the online strategy of 350 small businesses in US, as such defined those with less than 10 employees and less than $1 million in revenues.
The findings?
- SEO strategy is preferred to online advertising campaigns, including PPC.
- Small businesses are more reluctant to invest in PPC than in SEO, however.
That’s normal, given that small businesses can hardly afford very expensive digital campaigns, and PPC is one of the most expensive paid channels on the market.
Additionally, the research found out that:
- SEO and PPC budgets are unlikely to rise at a fast pace this year.
- 25% of the companies in question are more likely to increase their PPC budget in the near future.
My View:
- SEO and PPC are similarly important, and the former should be preferred to the latter if you expect higher returns over the long term.
- The competitive landscape also plays an important part in defining a flawless digital strategy, while training should be considered as part of the initial budget.
- Managing expectations plays a pivotal role. In fact, SEO is not the short-term solution to poor performances, given that any such strategy requires time and a decent amount of work on a weekly basis. But PPC is not the solution over the long term, either, as its impact on expected returns could be meaningful.
- Once your overall digital strategy is ready to go, A/B tests aimed at defining the best strategy become useful.
If you want to discuss this topic with our team, please email us at info@hedgingbeta.com