Whats most effective to generate leads? PPC or SEO

We are launching a new website for translation services and with the new site going live in the next few weeks we are now starting to think about the marketing strategy.

We want to start driving leads and getting enquiries asap but with it being a startup business budgets are limited.

So of the two key search channels available which is best for this type of scenario – ppc or seo?

PPC Pros and cons

1. PPC is fast and ads can be up and live within a search engine in hours, not days or months like SEO
2. PPC can be scaled up or down as you need, so if things are going well you can increase adspend, and if things are slow you can sloe down or even pause ads.
3. PPC can help you learn keywords and seadch queries that you may not have considered through the search terms report
4. ppc will give you an idea of what days and times potential buyers search for your product, allowing you to increase your bids around these times to get more leads in.
5. Using PPC you are able to setup remarketing, showing your ads to people that visited your site but didnt make an enquiry.
6. cons of PPC

1. If your PPC account isnt setup correctly then your ads may not show to the right people amd your budget will burn
2. The google ads interface, whilst simpler than before has a lot of options so its easy to get lost
3. Understanding keyword match types and how to buy traffic efficiently takes some getting used to

SEO pros and cons

1. SEO once up and running can provide a greater return on your investment is the management fees are set right
2. SEO can deliver uncapped traffic 24/7 unlike PPC ads which stop showing when your budget runs out
3. SEO is more about your business’ digital ethics and so if you care about your user experience and brand messaging your campaigns can perform well

cons of SEO

1. SEO does take time to get off the ground and is not instant unlike PPC
2. Algorithm changes can affect your performance from one day to the next
3. There are no regulated rules or guidelines for activity, so you have to go on experience and trust

Generally speaking we are going to test the new website with PPC whilst we start chipping away at SEO. This way, the website will start getting instant traction in the form of targetted visitors, and long term we are working towards diverisfying traffic into SEO which takes a steady approach anyway.

This is the best approach for a startup and leaves the only question as to how you split your budget and resource across both channels.