SEO vs. PPC & conversions v/s ROI
Shortly after I posted this piece on Revenews last week, pointing out to a MarketingSherpa study showing greater ROI from SEO campaigns, I chanced upon this release from WebSideStory, which reports a marginally better conversion rate from paid search advertising clickthroughs vis-a-vis organic search clicktrhroughs.
The problem with stats is that it can confuse instead of clarify; putting the two studies above together has the potential to do the same at first glance. Conversions and ROI don’t mean the same thing, though it is so easy to mistake one for the other. Conversions only take into account the desired outcome without the cost of obtaining that outcome; ROI factors in both.
By emphasing on this distinction, I am by no means questioning the ROI from paid search advertising or advocating that folks go the SEO route. This is a choice that businesses will have to make depending on their objectives, the budgets that can be allocated and their own expertise in managing these traffic streams. We rely pretty heavily on paid search and therefore have built up considerable expertise in that stream to generate good returns; but may be SEO works better for marketing products from other industries. In an ideal world, the rate of conversion and return on investment from both these marketing channels will be equally high — but that’s a scenario with low likeihood of occurence.
Figure out what works best (or may be engage experts to identify the gaps) and optimize that channel first..
P.S: With the holiday shopping season, there is a bit of apprehension if there will be one of those Google quakes —-the algo update which sends the e-retailing industry haywire. Have you made your site Google quake proof or have you left it far too late?
