Several studies on the value of branding and customer relationships in the last few years have uncovered surprising results. In 2015,
Harvard


Business Review
 concluded that customer relationships are valued more highly than a company’s brand.

With that trend continuing to ring true for many companies, it’s more important than ever for your website to excel in two areas: providing quality information to develop customer relationships, and ensuring that you’re highly visible in search results in order to draw in potential clients (rather than relying solely on your brand name).

Having a best-in-class website with responsive design and integrated Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential to an effective digital marketing strategy. But integrated SEO isn’t enough on its own; SEO and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) together create a strategic formula for success.

SEO is often referred to as organic search. It is the practice of optimizing content, keywords, site speed, citations, links, and social signals to leverage brand performance on search engines and improve organic website discoverability. PPC is often referred to as paid search. It is a targeted way to deliver the right information to the right prospect at the right time, displaying keyword-targeted advertisements on search engine results pages.

Below are five important reasons why implementing a cohesive SEO and PPC campaign is a necessary step for your brand.

You Still Need to Consider PPC Even When Your SEO Is Optimized

With more than 60% of real estate searches on Google now taking place on smartphones and tablets, PPC remains the clear winner on mobile, dominating 100% of first-page listings. PPC may be the only way to get above the fold for many queries.

The latest string of updates from Google to increase ad growth have negatively affected organic search growth. According to Merkle’s “Digital Marketing Report” from Q4 2016, “virtually all of the changes Google has made to help drive increased ad growth have, in effect, harmed organic search growth … As desktop and tablet organic visits continue to decline … overall organic visit growth remains in decline.” This means that PPC advertising is more crucial than ever to ensure your brand’s visibility on search.

The Power in Campaigns Comes with Combined Efforts

While it seems like you could simply pick and choose between an SEO and a PPC campaign, having both in place will create a more consistent and optimized marketing strategy. When you combine SEO and PPC, you’re combining two highly effective marketing strategies to create a much stronger plan for your website. PPC and SEO are both key tools used to develop a cohesive online search marketing strategy, working simultaneously to drive relevant traffic to your website.

SEO buff, Mark Munroe, and PPC specialist, Evan Waters, presented advertiser data at the Search Marketing Expo in 2013, showing a 66% higher CTR (click-through-rate) on PPC ads when an organic listing was also present, and a 92% higher CTR on organic listings when a PPC ad was also present.

Your Search Strategy Should Leverage SEO and PPC

There is clear evidence supporting the need for search strategies that cover SEO and PPC. The results of a Google study exploring click trends between organic search results and PPC ads confirm the symbiotic relationship between the two disciplines. The results found that, on average, “the incremental ad clicks percentage across verticals is 89%.” And for smaller advertisers, the results are even more staggering. SMBs would lose 98% of the clicks previously generated by their paid search campaigns to another competitor’s PPC ads if they were to choose to pause their paid campaigns. Only 2% of those previously captured paid clicks would go to their organic listing.

High Searcher Intent Overrides Brand Loyalty

Current data shows us that searchers today are typically more loyal to the need in the moment than they are to the brand. This means that a high-intent searcher is more likely to click on the easiest, most relevant option than they are to continue scrolling down the search engine results page to look for a specific brand name.

More than 64% of clicks for high commercial intent searches are on paid ads, not organic listings. For more generic searches, organic listings will get more clicks. What does this mean for PPC? It drives home the point that PPC ads are going to draw in more high-intent searchers and more engaged potential clients, rather than more generic searchers via organic listings.

SEO + PPC + Display Will Drive Engagement

When you combine SEO, PPC, and Display Advertising into a cohesive digital marketing strategy, your brand’s online presence will thrive. SEO and PPC together deliver a 6% increase in unaided brand recall, along with a 16% higher likelihood to purchase. With SEO, PPC, and Display Advertising, you’ll drive a 20% higher likelihood to purchase and a 12% increase in unaided brand recall.

Takeaway

The last piece of the puzzle: There are no guarantees when it comes to SEO and PPC, as search engine algorithms change frequently. To keep up with these constant algorithm changes, G5 leverages its Premier Google
Partnership and has an entire team of trusted and experienced AdWords experts to help create, manage, and optimize your online advertising campaigns. Despite the shifting landscape of search, one thing is clear— utilizing both SEO and PPC harmoniously to dominate valuable search engine results is a formula for success in today’s complex digital landscape.

Check out this infographic for a visual breakdown.