4 ways to get PPC and SEO working together

SEO and PPC are so closely linked, that you may assume one serves the other automatically. But it’s not that simple. You need to create an intentional plan that focusses on optimising your PPC and SEO to work together, if you want to improve overall performance.

It’s not rocket science, but there are some useful things that every campaign manager should consider if you want to see real results:

1. Demand creation in new sectors 
2. Testing keywords and CTR using PPC
3. Increasing site traffic overall
4. Remarketing to organic traffic

Why SEO and PPC are the perfect couple

They’re polar opposites but both are looking to help you achieve the same results; more impressions, more conversions and a better customer/client relationship.

Double the learning 

By focusing on integrating what you learn from PPC into your SEO, and vice-versa, you save heaps of time. It takes months to formulate strong PPC data, and SEO can take even longer. By combining the best keyword analysis from both, you can spot trends early, and uncover similarities as well as untapped keyword options that only present themselves in one or the other mediums.

Confirm what keywords are driving the best traffic

Having confirmation of the strength of a keyword or search query that appears in both your SEO and PPC campaigns can help you make informed decisions on where to allocate budget, and helps you discover what part of the funnel users are at when searching with those queries. 

Save time and money

You’ll save time and money, by making adjustments to your existing campaigns based on not one, but two sets of data simultaneously.

1. Demand creation in new sectors 

Start by considering your current demand from customers at every stage of the funnel. Using keyword strategy, brand awareness campaigns and competitor analysis on a PPC/SEO level, you can optimise each for every stage in a unique way.

Far from over-simplifying your marketing, this granular level of detail is the best way to ensure you’re reaching out to audience groups across the buying process. Most importantly, you’re speaking to them with an intention that suits their specific level of interest in buying from you. Users who are seconds away from making a purchase don’t want to be sent down a long path to reach their desired products, and users who are casually searching for ideas won’t appreciate a hard sell.

But what’s this got to do with SEO and PPC? 

By taking a look at where the numbers are in terms of demand for your products or services, and through analysis of your marketing funnels, you can pick up on the most in-demand levels for some easy growth. Optimise the most lucrative stages, and take what you learn from that analysis and see what you can do to other stages to give them a boost. We’re talking keyword analysis, ad copy that really connects with users, and SEO that is already bringing in a strong performance level.

2. Testing keywords and CTR using PPC

Start your analysis with a look at what’s working in PPC, then include anything that’s working in your SEO. Not all of it will instantly work, but within a few weeks you’ll have a clear picture of what is having an impact, and what you can adapt in your SEO moving forward.

Get quick analysis of your funnel stages

The fastest way to get detailed feedback on which keywords are the most effective, with key metrics like CTR and CPC, is through your existing PPC campaigns. 

Not only is Google Keyword Planner free to use, it also has the most comprehensive data available on keywords. Once you have a strong understanding of what keywords are doing well in your industry overall, you need to jump onto your Google Analytics 4 dashboard for some data that is unique to your own campaign.

Look at Impression Share of the best performing keywords

If you’re hitting around 70% or below, you can boost the budget for that keyword to help increase the number of users who will be shown your ads.

If your PPC campaigns are bringing in core user groups via keywords that are different to your more SEO-focused keywords in your site’s copy, you’re missing a trick. If it works in PPC, you’ll make the most of this useful keyword if you include it in your site SEO.

3. Increasing site traffic overall

We find that link building, technical SEO updates (like website indexation and crawl optimisation) and PR can transform the amount of exposure your site receives overall. 

What are users really searching for?

Aside from the most technical areas of SEO, some simple analysis of what keyword searches are bringing users to your site can point the way to what your customers are really searching for. This is also a great opportunity to see what keywords are bringing up results on pages 2 and 3 of Google. These are easily optimised and may be overlooked by your competitors. 

Branded PPC campaigns 

If you’re looking for a quick fix to get eyes on your company’s website or app, a brand campaign on the PPC side of things works well to increase visibility. Here, you don’t need to only use your brand name as a keyword. Try using some long-tail question search queries in your brand campaign too.

For example, if your company sells perfume, you could add keyword searches like “top dates perfume 2023” or “best-selling perfume 2023” to bring in users at the very top of the funnel and introduce them to your brand.

Balance budget between PPC and SEO 

Of course, the fastest way to increase the number of impressions you bring in is through PPC. So invest in your SEO analysis, but remember to balance this between your PPC budget and see what brings in the most useful and relevant results. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so refine at every step. 

4. Remarketing to organic traffic

But what if you’ve been focusing on building up a strong SEO strategy? Organic traffic will find your brand and products without the need for a paid campaign. But what do you do once you’ve brought in that audience? 

Retaining customers

Now’s the time to become a familiar face online by curating a remarketing PPC campaign that will showcase the pages and products that users are most interested in. 

Be specific with your targeting 

Users from different demographics are often at very contrasting stages of the funnel. Organic traffic from social media may be visiting your site for the very first time, browsing casually for ideas. Whereas an email marketing list of users who are already fans of your brand will want something that acknowledges their previous involvement with your site. By being specific with your targeting, visuals and ad copy, you can really tap into the high-conversion rates available through remarketing.

This is a perfect example of SEO and PPC working together to serve your customers and elevate your brand recognition online.

Summary of getting SEO and PPC working together

SEO and PPC may be at odds in the way they bring users to your site, but their principles of keyword-specific searches make their hidden data sets highly compatible. PPC has the potential for speed that SEO cannot match, and SEO provides insight and opportunity for increasing demand that PPC can only match with sky-high budgets. 

Make the best of both worlds and see how far SEO and PPC can take your online visibility when working together!