Overview
This blog highlights how small businesses can achieve the strongest marketing results by pairing long-term organic SEO with targeted, short-term PPC campaigns—leveraging the unique strengths of each to boost visibility, credibility, and sales.
Highlights
- • What Is Organic SEO?
- • When Should You Focus On SEO?
- • What Is Pay-Per-Click Advertising?
- • When Should You Focus On PPC?
- • Why Smart Businesses Use Both SEO and PPC
- • Tips for Using SEO and PPC Together
- • Mini Case Study: The Synergy of SEO Plus PPC
Introduction
When it comes to digital marketing, we here at LinkNow are firm believers that it’s not a battle between SEO and PPC—it’s a partnership. Smart businesses know that while SEO builds long-term credibility and organic traffic, PPC delivers fast, targeted exposure when timing matters most.
This blog breaks down exactly how—and when—to use each strategy and how combining the two unlocks serious business growth.
What Is Organic SEO?
When small business owners hear “SEO,” it can sound like technical jargon reserved for big brands with huge marketing teams. But at its core, search engine optimization (SEO) is simple: it’s the process of improving your website so it shows up higher in search engine results when people look for products or services like yours. “Organic SEO” means earning that visibility naturally without paying for ads.
Here’s a plain-English breakdown of the main parts of SEO:
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO ensures your site speaks the same language as your potential customers and search engines. It refers to everything you control on your website, such as:
- • Content: Clear, helpful, and relevant information that answers what customers are searching for.
- • Keywords: The search phrases people type into Google that match your business offerings.
- • Meta tags: Behind-the-scenes descriptions that tell search engines what your pages are about.
Off-Page SEO
Strong off-page SEO tells search engines your business is trusted and valuable in your industry. This type of SEO refers to everything that happens outside of your website but still impacts your rankings.
The main factors in off-page SEO include:
- • Backlinks: Links from other reputable sites that point to your website.
- • Authority: Your reputation across the web, which can be shaped by reviews, mentions, and shares.
Technical SEO
A technically sound website keeps visitors happy and gives Google confidence in showing your site to searchers. Even the best content won’t rank well if your website is slow, clunky, or hard to use.
Technical SEO focuses on:
- • Site speed: How fast your pages load.
- • Mobile-friendliness: Making sure your site looks great and works smoothly on smartphones and tablets.
- • Indexing: Helping search engines find and understand your pages.
When Should You Focus On SEO?
SEO is a long-term investment in the health and growth of your business. For many small businesses, focusing on organic SEO is the smartest move when the goal is to build a strong, lasting online presence.
Here’s when SEO deserves to be front and center in your marketing strategy:
Long-Term Growth Strategy
If you want to steadily increase website visitors, leads, and sales over time, SEO is your best friend. While it takes time to build momentum, the long-term payoff can far exceed the returns from short-term ad campaigns.
Establishing Authority in a Niche
Want to be seen as the go-to expert in your field? SEO helps position your business as an authority. By consistently publishing valuable content, targeting the right keywords, and earning high-quality backlinks, your site gains credibility in the eyes of both search engines and customers.
Improving Website Quality and Usability
Good SEO isn’t just about search rankings—it’s about creating a better experience for your visitors. Optimizing your website for speed, mobile devices, clear navigation, and helpful content improves customer satisfaction, which can boost sales and lead to positive reviews.
What Is Pay-Per-Click Advertising?
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a powerful way to get your business in front of potential customers fast. Instead of earning a spot on search engine results pages (SERPs) or social media feeds organically, PPC allows you to pay for that visibility.
You’ve likely seen PPC in action on platforms like Google, where businesses pay to appear at the top of search results, or on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, where sponsored posts are shown to specific audiences.
How Does PPC Advertising Work?
At its core, PPC is exactly what it sounds like: you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. For small business owners, this means you can put your message in front of the right people at the right time without wasting money on uninterested audiences.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the process:
- • Bidding: You set a maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click on a specific keyword or audience.
- • Targeting: You define who should see your ad, based on factors like location, interests, demographics, or search intent.
- • Paying per click: You only pay when someone actually clicks on the ad, making it a cost-efficient way to drive traffic.
When Should You Focus On PPC?
While SEO is a long game, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is all about speed and precision. For small businesses that need fast results, PPC can be the perfect tool to jumpstart growth, test ideas, or capitalize on time-sensitive opportunities.
Here’s when it makes sense to incorporate PPC into your marketing strategy:
New Businesses With Zero Online Presence
If you’ve just opened your doors and your website is brand new, SEO typically won’t deliver immediate traffic because it takes time to build rankings. PPC helps bridge that gap by putting your business at the top of search results or social media feeds right away, allowing you to start attracting leads from day one.
Product Launches or Seasonal Promotions
Launching a new product, running a holiday sale, or promoting a limited-time offer? PPC is ideal for driving attention to time-sensitive campaigns. You can create targeted ads that reach people at just the right moment to maximize your chances of turning clicks into sales.
Targeting Competitors’ Audiences Quickly
PPC lets you bid on competitor keywords or show ads to people who’ve interacted with similar brands. This gives you a chance to capture attention from shoppers already interested in your type of product or service.
Why Smart Businesses Use Both SEO and PPC
The smartest small businesses don’t think of SEO and PPC as rivals—they see them as a power couple. By combining both strategies, you can unlock better results than either could deliver alone.
Here’s why using a combination of SEO and PPC can take your marketing to the next level:
Increased Visibility Across Paid and Organic Listings
When you show up in both the paid ads at the top of search results and the organic listings below, your business immediately gains double the exposure. In addition to increasing the chances that searchers will click on your website, it also builds trust and credibility.
Studies show that when businesses appear in both paid and organic results, they see about a 25% increase in clicks compared to relying on one channel alone.
Shared Data Insights
PPC campaigns generate valuable data, such as which keywords drive the most clicks, which ads convert best, and what audiences engage most with your message. On the flip side, the insights you gain from SEO can inform smarter, more relevant PPC campaigns.
You can use this data to:
- • Refine your SEO strategy by focusing on high-converting keywords.
- • Optimize your content to match the messaging that’s proven to work in PPC.
- • Identify gaps where SEO content can fill in alongside PPC ads.
Retargeting Strategies Fueled by Organic Traffic
Not everyone who visits your website from an organic search will convert on the first visit, which is where retargeting comes in. With PPC, you can create ad campaigns that specifically target people who previously visited your site through SEO. This keeps your brand top of mind and increases the likelihood of turning window shoppers into paying customers.
Tips for Using SEO and PPC Together
To get the most out of SEO and PPC, you need to make them work as a team. When used strategically, these two channels can amplify each other’s results and help you stretch your marketing budget further.
Here’s how small businesses can make the most of the SEO plus PPC combo:
Coordinate Keyword Strategies
By aligning your keyword strategies, you avoid competing with yourself and make sure each channel plays to its strengths. Start by ensuring your SEO and PPC campaigns target complementary keywords.
For SEO, focus on building long-term rankings for high-value keywords, including evergreen topics and informational searches. For PPC, focus on competitive, high-intent keywords where organic ranking may be difficult or where you want to boost short-term visibility.
Share Performance Insights Across Teams or Tools
Don’t let your SEO and PPC efforts operate in silos. By sharing and comparing data, you can make smarter decisions and improve the performance of both channels over time.
Use PPC data to identify top-performing keywords, ad copy, and audience segments, then apply those insights to your SEO content strategy. Analyze SEO performance (like which blog posts are driving the most organic traffic) to spot opportunities for PPC amplification or ad themes.
Repurpose High-Performing PPC Ad Copy Into SEO Content (and Vice Versa)
Your PPC ads are essentially mini experiments—you quickly find out what headlines, calls-to-action, or offers get people’s attention. Take the winning messages and weave them into your website’s SEO content, landing pages, or meta descriptions.
On the flip side, if a particular blog post or SEO-optimized page is attracting strong engagement, test that theme or wording in your PPC campaigns. This creates a feedback loop that keeps your marketing fresh and relevant.
Use PPC to Boost Underperforming SEO Pages Temporarily
Not every SEO page will hit the top of Google overnight. While you’re waiting for organic rankings to improve, use PPC to drive traffic to those pages in the short term. This temporary boost gives you breathing room while your SEO strategy gains traction.
This strategy can help:
- • Generate immediate leads or sales
- • Gather data on user behavior and engagement
- • Build momentum through more page views, which can sometimes support SEO efforts indirectly
Mini Case Study: The Synergy of SEO Plus PPC
To show how powerful SEO and PPC can be when used together, let’s look at a real-world example from one of our local small business clients: a residential landscaping company based just outside of Omaha.
This client came to us with two clear goals. First, they wanted to book more high-paying season projects, like hardscaping and yard makeovers. Second, they wanted to establish year-round visibility, not just during the peak spring and summer months.
While their website had been live for years, it wasn’t ranking for competitive search terms like “landscaping near me” or “backyard patio design in Omaha,” and they had no prior experience with Google Ads or social media advertising.
Our Strategy
To help this client reach their goals, we built a coordinated plan that blended Organic SEO with Google PPC Ads.
On the SEO Side
- • We optimized their site structure for search engines and mobile users.
- • We created service-specific landing pages focused on high-intent, location-based keywords (e.g., “garden design services in Omaha”).
- • We launched a content strategy featuring blogs that answered common seasonal landscaping questions.
On the PPC Side
- • We launched a two-month long Google Ads campaign, starting in March and targeting urgent, seasonal searches like “spring cleanup service,” “landscape contractor available now,” and “install backyard lighting.”
- • We used geo-targeting to limit ad spend to specific ZIP codes and neighborhoods.
- • We ran retargeting ads to bring back site visitors who didn’t convert the first time.
The Short-Term Results
Within just weeks of launching the Google Ads campaign, the landscaping company began seeing a steady stream of qualified leads. Thanks to highly targeted, seasonal keywords, they quickly filled their project calendar for the early spring season— securing jobs that otherwise would have gone to competitors.
The immediate revenue generated from PPC covered the cost of the campaign while also giving the company the financial breathing room to invest in their longer-term SEO strategy.
The Long-Term Benefits
This client decided to put a pause on their PPC campaign once they became fully booked up, but continued to invest in their SEO. After six months had passed on our Foundation 1200 plan, this client saw impressive growth in several key areas, including:
- • 700% increase in website traffic
- • 900% increase in organic keyword rankings in the top 50 positions on Google
- • 35% increase in sales
- • 20% increase in return customers
Double the Impact of Your Marketing With LinkNow
When SEO and PPC work together, you don’t just grow—you dominate. By pairing the lasting strength of organic search with the fast, targeted power of paid ads, you can skyrocket your visibility, capture more leads, and build a brand that outshines the competition.
Ready to get started? Get in touch with us today at 1-888-667-7186.
