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August 31, 2020

Google Ads or SEO: Which is the best way to increase sales?



Both Google (News - Alert) Ads and search engine optimization (SEO) help drive traffic and lead to your business website. When choosing which strategy is best for your business, it’s important to know some key features and distinctions between the two.



What is Search engine optimization (SEO)?

When you perform a search on Google, you start by thinking about what words will help you to find what you are looking for. You think about the most relevant terms, and when your initial results do not yield anything that you want, then you think of different words to use and search again. You may even decide to use the words that show up in the drop-down menu, which are suggestions from Google based on others’ searches.

When you perform a search, Google is going to pull up a list of websites that have used your search terms, and based on prior analysis of the website, decide whether or not it is relevant enough to be suggested to you. Those search terms are given another name in digital marketing – keywords.

SEO is that process of optimizing your website so that it appears higher on search engine results page (SERP) rankings. Now that you have a better understanding of how the process works, now it’s important for you to learn about how to apply this knowledge to your website design.

Incorporate keywords into content

After completing your keyword research, you can then center all of your content around those keywords. All of the content that is written on your homepage, blogs, and other webpages on your website need to incorporate these keywords, but not stuff them or make your content sound ridiculous.

Then, Google’s web crawlers will index your website. That is, they will assess your website and index the keywords that you use. That way when people use those keywords in a search on Google, your website will show up in the results because the web crawlers knew to match the content of your website with users’ interests and their inquiries.

Types of Keywords

Keywords can either be long-chain or short-chain keywords. Short-chain keywords are 1 to 3 words long and very general, whereas keywords that are 4 more words are long-chain keywords, and very specific. People who search using long-chain keywords are generally very serious about making a purchase or taking some other action.

Google Ads

Some keywords, however, are very difficult to very competitive. The reason is that multiple companies of varying sizes are using those keywords. Using SEO to get your website to outrank others, especially if you’re new, can take months or even a year. But there is a faster way with pay-per-click advertising. Google Ads allows you to reach interested leads by appearing either:

  • At the top of SERPs
  • In Google Shopping ads
  • In Local Services ads

You only pay for when users click on your ad, which means that Google Ads is more cost-effective than advertising on television or radio.

Which is the best?

An Atlanta SEO with several years of experience in the industry will actually suggest both methods to increase your brand awareness. After the keyword research phase, SEO experts can help you decide which keywords to use in traditional SEO, and which ones you should use with Google Ads. Both methods can help you dominate SERPs!



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