Affordability – SEO vs PPC
With a pay-per-click campaign, your website will generally receive top placement on a search engine results page, and the placement is usually marked as “Ad.” Each time someone clicks on the link, you will be charged a specific fee. This fee varies dramatically based on the keywords that you are targeting, but the cost of a pay-per-click marketing campaign can easily get out of hand. On the other hand, SEO marketing drives traffic to your website organically. This means that the only costs that you will incur are related to the creation and placement of SEO-rich content regardless of how many times your links are clicked on.
Consistent Visibility – SEO beats Paid Search
You can control the price of your dealership’s pay-per-click marketing campaign by setting a max limit. Once your account’s limit has been reached, your ad will simply not appear at the top of the search results. This means that your dealership’s website is no longer highly visible in search results. In fact, it may not even be visible on the first page or two of results in some cases. With organic SEO marketing, your website’s visibility remains regardless of how many clicks it receives. Given the fact that search engines now take into account relevance to determine rankings, more organic clicks may actually boost your rankings.
Additional Organic Clicks – Value of SEO for Car Dealers
When you are planning ahead for a PPC campaign, it is easy to assume that each click that you pay for would be from a unique customer. In reality, the same users may click on your paid ads many times before they finally decide to contact your sales team or to visit your dealership. In some cases, a dealership may pay between $5 to $12 per additional click. On the other hand, clicks that are generated through organic SEO marketing are at no additional charge. Regardless of how many times the same user clicks on your dealership’s link, there is no cost to your dealership.
Hidden Costs of Competitors’ Clicks
Your customers are not the only internet users who may click on your website. Your competitors and various third-party vendors may also click on the link to your dealership. When this link is from a PPC campaign, your dealership will pay money regardless of whether a legitimate customer or a competitor is visiting your website. Because SEO marketing is organic, your dealership will not lose money each time other businesses check out your website.
If your dealership is relying on PPC marketing to generate online leads, there is a strong likelihood that your marketing efforts are not as cost-effective and as productive as they could be. Customer Scout specializes in SEO marketing and other online marketing services for auto dealerships. To inquire about our services, contact us today.