Are you confused between SEO and performance marketing? Well, to many folks, SEO and Performance Marketing are the same. Both of these concepts, however, are very distinct from one another. Keep reading to understand the difference between both terms.
To begin with, let’s first learn what SEO and Performance Marketing stands for.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a subset of digital marketing that employs methods and procedures to improve a website’s position in organic search results. Since unpaid traffic from search engines like Google is so valuable, SEO is used to attract more of it. As such, SEO strategies centre on raising the visibility of a website in relation to a set of targeted keywords and phrases.
Search engine optimisation is the best strategy for a startup or small business’s expansion in today’s market. According to Backlinko, Google utilises more than 200 ranking criteria in its algorithm. These days, most consumers first learn about a company in their area on the internet. Therefore, your page’s search engine rankings will be low if it is not optimised for search engines. More importantly, you will miss out on a potential consumer base.
What is Performance Marketing?
When it comes to “performance marketing”, it is a method in which businesses only pay marketing service providers for clicks, sales, or leads that directly contribute to the company’s bottom line. To put it another way; this is a sort of “performance-based” advertising.
Unlike traditional and organic methods, performance marketing is designed to directly influence and monitor user behaviour while assigning financial value to individual marketing assets, campaigns, and activities.
While multinational companies can afford to invest millions in branding, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to keep their eye on the bottom line. With performance marketing, the advertiser is the one in control. Whether it’s a sale, a lead, or a click, you decide the action, and you only pay after it’s been performed.
Let’s dive deeper into the points of distinction between both of these terms:
Difference between SEO and Performance Marketing:
| Aspect | SEO | Performance marketing |
| Primary Goal | SEO’s primary goal is to increase organic traffic to a website, and it is focused on increasing visibility and attracting people to a website | Performance marketing aims to drive specific actions, such as clicks, conversions, and sales. It is about turning those visitors into customers. |
| Cost:. | SEO is typically free, except for the cost of labour to implement and manage the campaign | Performance marketing, on the other hand, requires a budget for ad spend and management. The cost of a performance marketing campaign will depend on the size of the audience being targeted, and the channels used. |
| Channels | SEO primarily targets search engines like Google and Bing | performance marketing campaigns can be run on a variety of channels, including social media, search engines, display advertising, video ads, and more. |
| Timeframe | SEO is a long-term strategy that requires time to build up results and SEO campaigns can take months or even years to see results | Performance marketing campaigns are designed to deliver more immediate results. performance marketing campaigns can see results in a matter of weeks or days. |
| Measuring Success | SEO success is typically measured by rankings, traffic, engagement, and other indicators of organic growth. | Performance marketing success is measured by conversion rates, return on ad spend (ROAS), return on investment (ROI), click-through rates, engagement, and other metrics that track specific actions. |
| Strategy | SEO involves optimising website content and structure to make it more attractive to search engines and it focuses on on-page optimization, link building, and technical SEO | Performance marketing involves using data and insights to target specific audiences and drive specific actions. It involves keyword research, audience targeting, testing and optimization, and more. |
| Speed of Results | SEO is a slow and steady approach to building organic traffic and visibility and SEO campaigns require time and patience to build up results | Performance marketing can deliver quick and measurable results and performance marketing campaigns can be optimised for quick results. |
| Target Audience | SEO targets organic searchers | Performance marketing campaigns target those who fit the targeting parameters. Performance marketing can target specific demographics, locations, interests, and behaviours to reach a more specific audience |
| Approach | SEO is focused on on-page optimization, link building, and technical SEO and SEO campaigns are focused on optimising the website and its content | Performance marketing involves using data and insights to target specific audiences and drive specific actions. performance marketing campaigns are focused on targeting specific audience segments with the right message. |
| Visibility | SEO campaigns build long-lasting visibility and sustained results over time SEO campaigns are focused on building a website’s visibility and authority over time | Performance marketing campaigns are dependent on budget, timing, and targeting performance marketing campaigns are focused on reaching specific audiences at specific times. |
The Role of Performance Marketing in Search Engine Optimisation Efforts
The inability to control how high a website appears in search engine results and the inability to pay for outcomes exclude SEO-based initiatives from being considered performance marketing. By adopting a performance-based outlook, we may construct more effective SEO strategies for our company’s online presence.
SEO-based marketing may maximise its costs and effectiveness if we do performance marketing correctly.
We must first consider all the expenses associated with our SEO-based efforts, including those associated with content marketing and optimisation. Most of these prices are connected to the time and effort required to produce and optimise content. With a focus on outcomes, we can increase the return on investment in these marketing efforts.
However, the main issue with SEO and content marketing is that it takes a long time to see benefits compared to online advertising. This makes measuring its success more complex, but it is still doable. However, the various advantages these channels offer mean that businesses that neglect to include them in their marketing plans may miss out on expansion chances.
Here are some valuable measures for gauging content marketing and search engine optimisation results:
- Content creation and optimisation costs
- Calculating a page’s worth
- Leads/Sales Generated per Content Item
- Engagement
- Monitoring the amount of social and natural clicks each page receives
- Variations in the Number of Viewers
Content and optimisation experts might be paid on a per-project or per-results basis, depending on whether or not the work is done in-house.
Final Thoughts!
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is often a gradual process. Doing keyword research is the first step in optimising a website. Creating weblog entries, ensuring internal linkages earning backlinks, posting guest posts, etc., are some of the long strategies that need to be implemented.
In addition, there is a lag before you get any results on search engine results pages. It may take a couple of months, at the very least. You may expect your site to expand, quality to increase, authority to grow, and search engines to identify the legitimacy and relevancy of your material and bring more visitors to your website.
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Performance marketing may provide results quickly. There will be practically instant feedback. However, search engines will remove your advertisements if you fail to continue making payments. What’s more, the reach of your ad might be limited by your budget. Adjusting your advertising to be more relevant and using cheaper keywords will help you save money if you’re on a tight budget.
Sounds complex? Contact Expand My Business, a B2B Marketplace, is here to help you get started with the marketing strategies necessary for your business to grow and generate more leads and conversions.
