Keyword research is at the core of everything we do here at Webtek Digital Marketing. It is the foundation of all things SEO. Keyword research also plays an indispensable role in effective pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. What if you put both types of keyword research together? You would get better results.
SEO and PPC have historically been treated as separate entities in the online marketing world, although this is starting to change. The former is often viewed as a very broad approach to driving traffic and increasing engagement while the latter is deemed more narrow, focusing on the limited benefits of paid marketing. But stop and think about it. Keywords are keywords.
Your customers do not distinguish between SEO and PPC when they run a Google search. They search the same keywords. Knowing that, it makes perfect sense to utilize PPC keyword research to support your SEO strategy and vice-versa.
Teams Should Share Data
Your organization may have separate teams for SEO and PPC. That is not a problem. But are they sharing data? If not, they should be. Here’s why:
1. More Content Ideas
If nothing else, you know that people clicking on your paid ads have responded to the keywords behind those ads. They did so consciously. Their actions tell you that those particular keywords are effective for that particular audience.
Those keywords provide the foundation for more content ideas. Maybe you are looking for ideas for new landing pages. Perhaps you want to build out the categories for your blog posts. Whatever the case, keywords that produce good PPC results can also be used to create new content.
2. Making Better Decisions
Tracking SEO produces ranking data. Likewise, tracking PPC generates click-through data. Used separately, both datasets can help improve their respective strategies. But combined, they can help the marketing team make better decisions. It is all about information. The more quality information you have, the more informed your decisions are.
Combining data more clearly demonstrates what is working and what is not. Overlapping keywords – which is to say keywords that perform well in both areas – give you a much better idea of what your customers are thinking. It gives you a better idea of how they search the internet. Figure that out and you will definitely be making better decisions.
3. Filling in the Holes
Both SEO content and PPC ads leave holes behind. The SEO team might have trouble defining content gaps while the PPC team has a similar experience with their ads. Sharing data between the two teams identifies those holes. Once the holes are identified, they can be filled with new content and ads.
One Influences the Other
So, exactly how do you make the best use of combined datasets? By using one to influence the other. It has been suggested by other SEO firms that you launch a new PPC ad campaign utilizing some of the best keywords you’re already using for SEO. That makes sense. But you still need separate keyword research for the ads.
Once you start running and tracking the ads, you allow those results to influence changes made on the SEO side of things. This becomes an ongoing process in which the keyword successes and failures of each side of the equation influence the other. Among other things, this can help prevent the mistake of making drastic changes to either strategy. Drastic changes rarely workout well.
If you have been viewing SEO and PPC as separate disciplines, it is time to change your thinking. The same keyword research that drives your PPC strategy can be utilized to improve your SEO performance, and vice-versa.
