Before understanding the difference between the two terms, it’s essential to grasp what the two mean.

WHAT IS SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) refers to the process of optimizing a website’s pages to make them appear higher in results on search engines such as Google and Bing. This means that people will be more likely to find your site when looking for similar stuff online. The organic – or non-paid – search results are what SEO is all about.

SEO PROS

• Cost-effective: While SEO isn’t free (or easy since it requires constant effort), it is cost-effective than PPC, which has continuous click charges.
• Long-Lasting: As SEO brings organic traffic to the site, its effects will not automatically disappear. If properly optimised, the site can stay high up on the search results long after a PPC campaign ends, thus delivering long-
  term benefits.
• Better ROI: SEO traffic can provide a better ROI than traditional paid media forms and outperform PPC.
• Strategic advantage: Organic search visibility is challenging – which is both a plus and a minus. Having established yourself in organic results, your competitors can’t simply buy their way in (assuming you’ve done everything right).

SEO CONS

The trade-off with SEO is patience. Rankings build over months, not days, and the work does not stop once you arrive, because the competitors below you keep publishing. That slow build is also its strength: the traffic keeps arriving after the work is done, which is the opposite of what happens when you pause a paid campaign.

WHAT IS PPC?

• Heightened Visibility:
  Since you’ll be at the top, your brand will have increased visibility above all the rest of the results, and the right people will see you.
• Produces Quick Results:
  Your efforts will deliver immediate results, and you’ll see better traffic numbers. With SEO, it can take months before you get tangible results, but here, there’s no delay once you’ve begun a PPC campaign.
• Allows Total Control:
  You have complete control over the page the user will land on once they click on your ad. So you can ensure the content you’re displaying has been through rounds of trial & error and thus, is relevant and valuable.
• Better Flexibility:
  You can choose which keywords to bid higher on, how much you want to spend per day, and you can even pause your campaign if your budget runs low.

PPC CONS

The trade-off with PPC is that it stops when you stop. The moment the budget pauses, the traffic pauses with it, and in competitive Sydney categories the cost per click climbs as more advertisers bid on the same searches. Paid search buys you position today; it does not build anything you keep.

SEO VS PPC IN A NUTSHELL

• SEO:
  SEO drives organic, relevant, and targeted traffic while also encouraging a user-friendly website. It also provides a long-term strategic advantage along with better sustainability. But at the same time, it is an ongoing process that requires frequent maintenance, and it takes a considerable amount of time to achieve tangible results through SEO.
• PPC:
  PPC delivers quick results and offers heightened visibility on the search page. Along with providing complete control, it also provides added flexibility. But it requires constant investment, and costs can pile up with time.

CONCLUSION

For most Sydney businesses the honest answer is not one or the other. Paid search covers you while the organic work builds, and organic search lowers what you need to spend once it lands. If you are deciding where the first dollar goes and want that judgement made against your own numbers rather than a general rule, start with our SEO agency in Sydney.