Creating a Search Marketing Plan Combining Organic & Paid

When you take a look at a marketing plan, there are so many different elements it can be confusing for business owners to understand. If you think of marketing like a tree, with many branches that combine to make the tree, it can be easier to see how everything works together.

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Each branch -- SEO, advertising, email marketing, social media, website, content, and more -- is just a small part of the entire tree, but the tree wouldn’t be as strong or beautiful without each branch.

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Some of those branches can intertwine and grow close together to create a stronger section of the tree. When marketers talk about search marketing, there are usually two key parts (or branches) that are part of this term: SEO and PPC:

• SEO: Search engine optimization focuses on organic search results and traffic to your website that comes from Google or other search engines.
• PPC: Pay per click is advertising with Google Ads or Bing Ads, and occurs when you pay for ads on the search engine (often those first few results on a search result).

How to Create a Search Marketing Plan

In order to make a search marketing plan that combines SEO and PPC efforts, usually two teams will have to collaborate to develop the plan and share results. Most eCommerce marketing agencies and teams have people who specialize in SEO and others who specialize in PPC, so getting everyone together is the first step.

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Then, the teams need to determine which keywords to include on the combined search marketing plan. You probably don’t want to go after all the keywords in your PPC or SEO campaigns, so narrowing down the list to high-volume search terms can be a great place to start.

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The PPC team will need to develop ad copy that will attract attention and perform well, to bring in paid search traffic. The SEO team should work on making sure your website is optimized for the terms you want to go after.As the search marketing campaign launches, the SEO and PPC teams will monitor how well the keywords are performing and where wins are being seen. This can help them close any holes and make changes to this campaign or future ones.

3 Benefits of Combining SEO & PPC Efforts

There are three key benefits eCommerce brands can see when they create a search marketing program that uses both SEO and PPC:

1. Increased Visibility‍

You can get even more visibility and exposure when you use both SEO and PPC, as opposed to using just one. If you’re ranked first for an organic keyword, you are still third or fourth on the page, with the ads above it. When you use PPC and SEO, you may be able to have the first ad and the first organic result. That means even more people will be able to see you in the search results.

2. Retargeting Organic Visitors‍

Often, people will visit your website more than once before they convert. In order to increase the chances of conversion, you can use past organic visitors to retarget with PPC ads. By creating tailored ad copy for these people, you can remind them of what you have to offer and even incentivize their click with discounts or freebies.

3. Brand SERP Dominance‍

When you run SEO and PPC, you have double the data to analyze. All this data can inform your future marketing campaigns, and by using that data to make better decisions, you can begin to dominate the search result pages. The increased exposure and dominance of the page means your brand will be more visible than competitors, so using SEO and PPC can make sure people know who you are instead of the other guys.

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If you’re looking for an eCommerce marketing agency that puts your growth first, elk's team can help! Our SEO and PPC teams work together to make sure your website, your keywords, and your campaigns are optimized for traffic and revenue growth. Contact us to learn about all of our services.