Link building and pay-per-click on your ads to Google, which is better, is a topic of discussion among the SEO community and advertisement industry, where the former is a long-term process for visibility and later gives an instant response. Both link building and PPC are famous among marketers and widely used to advertise your brands.
Picking one of them is difficult, as the choice depends on many factors. Most well-established brands and companies use both simultaneously, whereas new entrants are prone to use PPC for the initial rapid response.
So deciding which is better is tricky as it requires a deep knowledge of SEO, market value, market competition, the type of your product and most importantly, the goals and objective of your brand.
This blog will try to answer all the queries that come into your mind when making this decision, so stay tuned and keep reading till the very end.
Before answering the question, let me briefly define the PPC and Link building.
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What is PPC (Pay-per-click)
In this technique, you bid on your target keywords for your ads on Google. Whenever someone searches for your targeted keywords, your ads will appear at the top and you will pay Google whenever someone clicks on your ads. This is a great and easy way to get visibility and convertible traffic, but it is heavy on your pocket.
Below is the snippet from the Google’s search when I searched the keywords, Active wear in America. The top three results are sponsored, which shows Google Ads.
What is Link Building
Link building is earning links on websites and social media that direct visitors to your platforms. There are many methods to earn these links; the most famous is creating great content on your platform that others love to link to. Other methods involve guest posting, Email outreach, broken link replacement, social media pages, etc.
Below is the snippet from the BBC’s article, showing an underlined bold text at the end. This is the link to another site referred for further information.
Pros and Cons of Link Building
Link building is the 2nd most important factor that Google considers for ranking after the content. That shows how important link-building is in SEO and digital marketing. Link building is also one of the most difficult tasks in SEO, as it requires continuous efforts and digital marketing insight. Following are the pros and cons of link building.
Long Lasting Authority
Link building requires consistent effort, giving the long-term authority in Google’s ranking process. Links show that your peers and visitors consider your content and product reliable and genuine. These links pass on the equity or link juice, which increases your ranking in the SERPs.
Moreover, once you have achieved your desired number of links that have placed you in the coveted position, you will likely to stay there for some time. If you keep your efforts consistent and keep on building new links, your authority will be high.
Long Term Visitors
Visitors that are fluxed in due to links will most likely stay and keep visiting your platform. This traffic is not just because of random clicks; serious and convertible visitors will visit your platform, if they are referred from authoritative referring domains. Such high visitor retention and conversion rates will also give you good business.
Pocket Friendly
If you keep following the white hat link-building strategies, it will hardly cost you anything. Moreover, if you want to buy links then the cost of buying links is much cheaper than the running ads on Google.
If you provide captivating content full of relevant information and stats, people will keep referring to your page, and you can earn free links. So, link building can be very handy and cheap.
Time Taking
Link building is a time-consuming process. You need to be patient in the link-building process. There are many ways to earn links. The most important is producing great, mesmerizing content with all the spice to grab the visitors’ attention. After creating such content, you need to share it on different forums and social media platforms for visibility. The visibility of your content is essential for grasping the attention of referring domains.
Secondly, you may also try other ways to earn links like email outreach, broken link replacement and reaching web admins with relevant content. This is also a time-consuming process.
Consistent Efforts
Link building requires consistent efforts, as Google does consider the new and fresh links in their ranking. One might achieve the top position in search engine result pages (SERPs), but retaining the top position requires consistent efforts. One needs to keep striving for the links in order to compete in the market.
Efforts on Multiple forums
Link building also requires efforts on multiple forums. It’s not all about producing content, but spreading and sharing it on social media pages, through email outreach and in comments sections of other blogs for visibility is equally essential.
Each platform has its own subtleties, which one must consider for better publicity. So for link building, you need to be multi-dimensional, multitalented and know publicity stunts to earn links.
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Pros and Cons of PPC
Pay-per-click does not take part in Google’s ranking; it earns traffic by paying to Google. This technique has its own plus and minus. Next, we will discuss the pros and cons of PPC.
Quick results
If you are starting a new business and have a handsome budget in hand, then PPC is your best option. It will provide quick results by putting your ads at the top of the page whenever a keyword that you have bid for is searched on Google. Since 90% of the people click on the first result of SERPs, this will give you quick visibility and results.
Targeted Keywords
PPC works on the targeted keywords, which you have bid on Google to show your page whenever these keywords are searched. It gives a business great opportunity and freedom to tag your keywords for the ads. These keywords can be expensive as well, as there might be more people bidding for the same keywords.
Good Control
PPC can be switched on and off at your will. If you feel that you do not need to run these ads anymore or you are short of budget this month, you can stop your ads.
Furthermore, it also allows you to select the location to run your ads. This control allows you to do experiments with your advertising strategies; you can change the keywords and demographic if you think that these keywords and locations are not producing the desired results.
Below is the snippet from Google, which clearly shows that one can have control both on its budget and running these ads.
Expensive
One of the biggest cons of the PPC is being expensive. Google charges you a handsome amount for your keywords and it can go as large as $400. The price may also vary from keyword to keyword, as you need to bid for your keywords. So you need to have a good amount of budget to keep running these sponsored links.
Ineffective Immediately when Stopped.
Your traffic will drop immediately once you stop the PPC. In contrast, Link building will keep providing traffic and business for months and even years if you stop building new links. So, devise a strategy that could help you gain visibility for a longer period.
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Tips to decide b/w Link Building and PPC
Below are some tips that could help you decide between link building and PPC.
New Brand/Idea
Whenever you start a new brand or have an innovative idea for some services, it’s always better to run ads rather than links for quick response. Link building takes some time for indexing and one cannot wait long in the present competitive world. So go for PPC if you are planning to start a new brand.
Short Product Life
If your product has a shorter shelf life, you must opt for PPC rather than link building. For example, food products such as dairy items have a short shelf life, so you can not afford to wait long for their promotion. You need quick customers; otherwise, your product will be ruined.
Highly Competitive Product
When you have a brand whose market is well developed and there is already healthy competition, then you must go for PPC. As said earlier, it’s a competitive word and if you have many competitors in the market, you cannot wait long for the visibility. So go for PPC and pitch your idea.
Long Term Recognition
If you want long-term recognition, link-building is essential for you. Links show the trust of others in your product and content, which gives you long-lasting fame and visibility. Link building can be laborious, boring and time-consuming, but once you reach your desired position, it will give you fame and visibility for a longer period.
In contrast, PPC will have zero output once you stop showing your Google ads. So go for link building if you want long-term fame and visibility.
Low Budget
If you are low in budget, link building will provide you with the desired results. Link building can be very cheap and handy if you opt for the right strategy at the right time and place. So work on the link building and you will get the dew visibility at a very low cost. More information on how much link building could cost you can be found in this article.
Takeaways
There is no single solution that fits in all situations in the digital world. Every product and brand requires customization and tailoring in SEO strategies for better visibility and publicity. In my opinion, the best strategy is the one that has augmented both PPC and link building as;
- If PPC gives you a quick result, then link building provides long-term recognition and traffic from regular visitors.
- PPC is heavy on your pocket, whereas Link building can be relatively very cheap.
- If link building requires consistent and continuous efforts, then PPC is super easy and hardly requires any effort.
- If PPC will be ineffective as soon as ads are stopped, link building will keep working even if the process is turned off.
So, devise a strategy that gives you better results in the due time frame at the lowest possible cost. Devising such a strategy requires knowledge of SEO, PPC and link building processes. Dlinx Outreach is an SEO agency that can provide the best solution to suit your business at the lowest rate. We have teams of experts that customize both PPC and link building as per your business’ demand for optimum and better results. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for further details.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important feature of PPC?
PPC gives an instant response, which is important for new launches and quick output.
What is the most important feature of link Building?
It gives long-term recognition to your brand at a very low cost. Link building keeps working if you cannot find time to build new links in a month or so. So, Link building can give you breathing space in terms of traffic and cost.
Which strategy should be used for your brands?
Your strategy should be a mix of both PPC and Link building, as the former gives you an instant response, and the latter provides you with long-term fame. Both of these factors are equally important for businesses.
PPC and Link Building: which one gives you better control?
PPC can be started and stopped at any instant. You can also change the location of your ads as well. So, PPC provides a better control.
Which strategy is cheap: PPC or Link Building?
Link building is much cheaper than PPC.
Dlinx can help you decide how to augment PPC with link building.
Dlinx is an experienced SEO agency that has plenty of experience. Our agency will access your business and its market and devise a suitable strategy that will bring good business.
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