Pay-Per-Click as an SEO Tool

April 13, 2009 by Pablo Palatnik

There are many out there who want to start SEO without even giving PPC a chance. “You mean I have to pay every time someone clicks on my ad? Hell no! I’d rather start with SEO so I can get all those clicks for FREE.”

OK, word to the wise. There is no such thing as “FREE,” we all know that. SEO is expensive and very time consuming and that itself equals a lot of money. So, what am I suggesting?

Google has made PPC very similar to SEO in terms of optimizing a campaign on the Adwords platform. Quality score changed the face of paid search and you have to optimize your campaign like you have to optimize your website.

One great SEO tool is actually PPC. Why? The one key element that will make your SEO efforts a success is choosing the right keyword that will drive the right traffic. How can you know which one? PPC is a great way to start.

Start advertising for that keyword and see what type of results you get. With Google Analytics and other Analytics, you can see if optimizing for that word is worth the time and effort that goes into search engine optimization.