Bolstering brand visibility is a prime concern for any online entity, whether the focus is on selling products, earning subscribers or raising money for charity. New brands have many options and methods to consider when pursuing this goal, but it can feel utterly overwhelming at times. The most effective ways to increase visibility often require time, money or a bit of both; this can be a challenge for brands that don’t have a strong presence in their industry or niche.

Pay per click advertising (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) are arguably the two most popular methods for improving visibility across multiple channels and platforms. Both have advantages and disadvantages, so choosing which one better suit’s your goals requires an honest assessment. Let’s review what you should consider when choosing between the two.

What to Consider with SEO

Search engine optimization is one of the oldest forms of increasing brand visibility and awareness online, and it has plenty of benefits to offer. Given that virtually everybody uses search engines to find products, services, entertainment and information, being able to reach these audiences when they’re looking for what you offer is advantageous. SEO works by pinging links to search engines, optimizing content and ultimately being visible in search results – but there’s a lot of work and detail in between these steps.

Pursuing SEO as your preferred form of visibility takes a good deal of time and effort, given that the highest ranked pages in any given SERP tend to be from websites with tons of content. While dedicated bloggers and webmasters can cultivate content in their spare time for free, it can take months or even years to break into the top positions in one or more SERPs. For most, though, SEO offers a low-cost and recurring source of traffic, which makes it appealing to smaller brands and businesses.

What to Consider with PPC

Increasingly, brands are incorporating pay per click advertising into their broader marketing strategies irrespective of size or focus. PPC advertising offers a variety of different options for targeting audiences, whether it be via search engines, social media or on relevant websites. Arguably the number one benefit of PPC is that anybody can use it, and the effects can be felt almost immediately. Unlike SEO where it may take months or years to enjoy an increase in traffic or engagement, PPC gives instant gratification – something very useful to smaller brands with no organic visibility.

However, where PPC excels in instant visibility, it lacks in terms of costs. Many brands find themselves needing to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month to sustain the same level of activity and profit as other established brands do with long-term SEO plans in place. Despite this, even a very small ad budget can help brands begin pinging links to audiences in mere minutes.

Whether you wish to primarily focus on paid marketing tactics or organic exposure, successful brands often opt to pursue both of these de-facto marketing solutions in some combination. Ultimately, balancing concerns such as time and money will determine the best strategy for your brand, but it’s highly recommended that you utilize both of these fantastic options at one point or another.