SEO & PPC – The Perfect Couple
I just found this interesting post today at WebProNews.com where they revealed the Coles Notes version of a recent study done by two NYU Professors. It basically shows that by having a strong SEO presence and running PPC ads together will improve your conversions rates. If you would like to read the full meal deal, then you may do so here. For WebProNews.com’s condensed notes see below:
- On average, the impact of organic listings on paid advertising is 3.5 times stronger than vice-versa, possibly because of the tendency of consumers to trust organic listings more than paid ads.
- The positive association between paid and organic listings increases advertisers’ profits by at least 6.15% when compared to profits in the absence of either of them. The positive association is strongest when advertiser-specific keywords are used and weakest when brand-specific and generic keywords are used.
- Click-through rates, conversion rates and total revenues are higher when both paid and organic listings are present simultaneously than when paid search ads are absent.
- The combined click-through rates are 5.1% higher when paid and organic listings are present simultaneously than when only the organic listings are present.
- The combined conversion rate increases 11.7% when paid and organic listings are present simultaneously than when organic listings alone are present.
- Paid search advertising drives up to 54% of total revenue growth.
I have been telling merchants for years now that the best strategy is to have both SEO and PPC campaigns running parallel with each and this study just proves more that this a great plan. They make the perfect couple. The King & Queen. A great partnership that compliments each other…. you get the point. 
What are your thoughts…? Let us know in the comment section below.
Interesting statistics. Very interesting. But *why* is great to have both? Is it to do with exposing potential visitors to your brand as often as possible?
Dan
Hey Dan, Thanks for stopping by.
I think the reason it works is the more links you have on a page (whether it be through SEO and/or PPC) it simply creates a synergy and it exponentially increases the trust factor. Regardless, the more links you have on a page, the more chances you have of securing the business. If the keyword converts and gives a good ROI in PPC, then owning in the SEO too would be a very wise decision. Make sense…?
Makes sense Matthew. I’m always curious from a psychology perspective, not because I studied it, but I think that might be a window into more sales.
Dan