Pay Per Click and Search Engine Optimization

Are PPC and SEO equally important? I guess that depends on your strategy.

Time
PPC often gives you instantaneous results where as SEO takes time. If you are looking to get information out around the Superbowl, PPC would be your best bet seeing how the Superbowl is this Sunday. With PPC you are in control and can make changes immediately where as with SEO patience is key since sometimes it may take months to see results based on your efforts. Also keep in mind that optimization is also an ongoing effort, thanks to the dynamic nature of search engines.

Cost
Cost may play a crucial role in deciding whether to choose a PPC strategy or SEO strategy. SEO is expensive however the returns are often worth the investment since SEO can lead to free traffic where as with PPC you’re buying traffic continuously to see your site show up in the search engines keeping in mind that you're bidding on keywords that may be extremely competitive and therefore costly. Imagine typing in a keyword in Google and having your site come up number one, that’s huge exposure and traffic can be through the roof. You may pay a large investment up front however once you get to the top, you’re getting free traffic and exposure.

Maintenance
Both efforts take time however it’s the constant maintenance that proves its success. SEO is ongoing where with PPC it may take only a few hours to set up, however you still need to manage the campaign to get the traffic you want. Now that you’ve seen the pros and cons of both, is it choosing one or the other or choosing both to aid in your strategy, that's for you to decide.