Ah-Oh…PPC Feeling A Lot Like SEO

Is it just me or is PPC starting to feel a lot like SEO these days? I recall back in 2001 when effective PPC marketing was about writing compelling ad copy, selecting relevant keywords and being more vigilant than your competitors by scanning for bid gaps and catching high bidding sleepers off-guard. A simple process compared to (at the time) what appeared to be a more complex “algorithmic-gaming” process playing out in the search engine optimization trenches. SEO seemed to be growing more and more complex while PPC hummed along as a direct marketers’ online kingdom.

I recall when Google AdWords was launched. Its new PPC model enabled smart “performance” marketers to reap the spoils. AdWords’ new cpc model enabled marketers to compete within competitive markets regardless of budget size a major benefit over the older “pure bid auction” environment that Overture created. Effective management of the ad copy and keyword selections helped maximize the CTR while strategic landing pages secured the most important metric - the conversion. It was a direct marketer’s game.

Times have changed. Google’s quality scoring innovations have brought new levels of complexity to PPC while also bringing it closer to the fine art of SEO. With “aging” requirements, page load times, privacy and other credibility links, historical CTR performance and other quality variables, “algorithmic-gaming” predominantly a SEO thing, is becoming a PPC thing too. Strategies for optimizing your landing pages like those documented here: http://www.msdanielle.com/how-to-raise-your-google-adwords-landing-page-quality-score/ remind me of earlier SEO strategies.

The game is changing again - are you prepared?