The Disconnect in PPC vs SEO Spending - A Response to SeoMOZ
This is just a quick post in response to Rand Fishkin’s post about the difference in SEO and PPC spending by companies which can be found here: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-disconnect-in-ppc-vs-seo-spending
Basically, Rand finds that companies spend only a fraction of the amount on SEO as they do on PPC. Specifically:
SEO: $1.3 billion (11%)
- Source: SEMPO data via Massimo Burgio, SMX Madrid 2008
Not surprisingly, search advertising should continue to be the largest category, growing from $9.1 billion in 2007 to $20.9 billion in 2013.
- Source: C|Net News, June 30, 2008
Now, there are a lot of good comments on this post talking about how the major reason companies spend this inordinate amount of money on PPC is because it is immediate, measurable, and controllable. These are all things that HiPPOs like. One of the inherent problems with SEO is that it requires companies to have patience in seeing the results. All SEO projects take at least three months of commitment, with the majority requiring six months or longer.
While this is all well and good, I think one of the bigger issues with PPC vs SEO spending is the fact that they are targeting two different types of searchers. I know that when I am in consumer mode, I will specifically look at the PPC ads, because I know they are offering me something I might want to buy. More often than not, I consider organic listings to be information oriented, which isn’t a bad thing! It just means that targeting PPC means you are targeting people who are in ‘buy mode’. SEO is more of a presence oriented machine that will ultimately increase sales through credibility and relevance. This is proven by a recent study that showed PPC converts 50% more than organic.
A major problem in the future, I think, will be that SEO will become the base standard of good operating companies and that their relevancy in the organic listings will force purely commercial companies out of the top rankings. Instead of “God made man, but Samuel Colt made them equal”, you might say “Tim Berners-Lee made websites, but PPC made them equal”.
Tags: ppc, ppc vs seo, search engine marketing, SEO