When it comes to building a winning digital marketing strategy, businesses often fall into the trap of choosing between Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). But, if there’s one winning combination that consistently delivers results, it’s incorporating both pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimisation into your digital marketing strategy.
PPC and SEO can drive high-intent traffic, boost visibility, and increase conversions across the board. It’s not about choosing one or the other. It’s about making both work smarter, together. According to SearchHog studies, Local SEO drives 46% of Google searches in the UK, whilst other studies suggest that PPC can boost organic traffic by up to 50%.
Read our blog below to find out how pairing PPC and SEO can take your digital marketing strategy and business goals to the next level with insightful tips and expert advice from our very own Clever Clicks team member.
Combining Google Ads with strong organic rankings means your brand can appear in multiple places on the search engine results page (SERP), and the more credibility you build, the more likely users are to click. Consumers trust top-ranking sites, but they also click paid ads when they’re ready to act. Being visible in both areas helps you catch users at every stage of the funnel.
PPC gives you real-time data on keywords, ad copy, and user intent. Instead of waiting months for organic data to kick in, you can use PPC insights to guide your SEO content strategy. Know which keywords convert? Optimise your pages and blog content around them when you next plan your content strategy. For example, if a keyword performs well in Google Ads, there's a good chance it’ll do the same organically but with long-term ROI.
PPC works faster, within hours your business could be on page one of the Google search. Whereas, SEO is a long game, but when done right, it delivers sustainable traffic to your website without ongoing ad spend. When combined, it provides your business with instant visibility and steady, compounding
growth. Use PPC while your SEO strategy builds momentum, and phase out high-cost
keywords over time.
Running PPC and SEO side by side lets you test and refine your messaging faster. By using PPC to test ad copy, landing page headlines, and offers, you can roll it into your organic content and scale up on what’s working for your campaigns. You also get clearer insights into your audience’s behaviour. With tools like Google Analytics and Search Console, you can track how users interact with both paid and organic content, spotting patterns that help shape a smarter digital strategy. This joined-up approach gives you a much deeper understanding of your customer journey and how to improve it for future campaigns.
When users see your brand in both paid ads and organic listings, it builds trust. They’re more likely to remember you, click through, and convert, even if they don’t buy the first time. This repetition is a key part of building brand awareness and recall. Over time, it strengthens your position in the market and increases the likelihood of converting users, especially those who are still comparing options or doing their research. Remember, increasing brand trust and awareness means your brand becomes familiar, reliable, and front-of-mind when buyers are making a decision.
If you’re only running PPC campaigns, you’re leaving results on the table and missing out on the converting opportunities that SEO can bring. At Clever Clicks Digital, we know that combining PPC and SEO is essential for businesses that want to grow smarter, faster, and more efficiently.
PPC and SEO each have their strengths. PPC gives you instant visibility. SEO builds trust and drives long-term growth. But when you combine them together? That’s when you really start to see the impact. By combining both strategies, you’re making each one work harder. PPC gives you data that sharpens your SEO. SEO lowers your reliance on ad spend over time. And together, they give your brand more presence on the search results page, more clicks, and better conversions. But, it’s not about choosing one over the other.
It’s about building a strategy where they support each other effortlessly. With the right approach, PPC and SEO can work side by side to get you in front of the right people at the right time, and turn more of them into customers.
Feeling overwhelmed by PPC and SEO? Our expert team is at hand to help you make sense of the jargon – contact us today for a free digital marketing consultation or check out our case studies for our top performing campaign results.
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