SEO Vs Paid Traffic

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by tac88, Mar 6, 2013.

  1. #1
    As most people when I first started out online I didn’t have much money so I had to put my focus on SEO for driveing traffic.
    I would spend weeks and weeks trying to get my sites to rank in the search engines then finally getting there only to find out something would happen and my site would get sandboxed… Or Google would have a new update then “BAM”
    Overnight my entire SEO business was gone. So was all my income to pay my bills and feed my family ! Very upsetting and I slowly built up a large hatred for Google and there practices.
    There is a myth that organic traffic is “Free”. I can tell you it takes a lot of time and work to get your websites ranking in Google and if you consider the value of your time free, then yeah maybe for you the traffic is “free”.
    But not me, my time is extremely valuable and as you progress with your online business you will truly start realizing how limited your time in a day is.
    If you can master the skill of buying targeted traffic and learn how to turn your visitors into conversions you can literally print money.
    So here is what you need to know in order to be successful with paid traffic..

    1. How much are you getting paid per conversion?
    2. How much are you paying for traffic?

    CPC = Cost Per Click
    CPM = Cost Per Thousand Impressions
    (the M is the Roman numeral for 1,000)
    Flat Rate – Set Price for a Duration of Time.
    (e.g. $2,500 for 30 days worth of Traffic)

    Let’s say you had an offer that has a payout of $6 per lead.
    If you were paying .60 cents CPM that would mean in 10,000 impressions you would need to make 1 lead to break even. .60 x 1000 x 10=$6.00 Got it? So it’s .60 cents per thousand your getting ten thousands impressions that’s $6 and your offer pays $6 for a conversion. Easy Right?
    If you were paying .10 cents CPC you would need to get 1 lead in 600 clicks to break even. Let’s say you had an offer that had a payout of $6 per lead.
    If you were paying .60 cents CPM that would mean in 10,000 impressions you would need to make 1 lead to break even. If you were paying .10 cents CPC you would need to get 1 lead in 600 clicks to break even.”Got It?”

    Best of luck master this and whenever you need money all you have to do is run a few campaigns using paid traffic..
     
    tac88, Mar 6, 2013 IP
  2. Deez 國王

    Deez 國王 Active Member

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    #2
    This is 100% spot on mate.

    When it comes to SEO vs Paid traffic I think it should never be a case of one or the other. On a new site I always use paid traffic and then whilst using paid traffic I also implement a SEO campaign to get my site ranked. Whilst the site is getting ranked paid the paid traffic generates a decent income, ONCE the site is ranked then I keep using paid traffic but also have the added benefit of getting organic tr :)affic... the organic traffic is always considered to be "bonus income"
     
    Deez 國王, Mar 7, 2013 IP
  3. Yogesh Giri

    Yogesh Giri Member

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    #3
    Yes You explain good here i learn something from you post if any want fast conversion use adwords
     
    Yogesh Giri, Mar 7, 2013 IP
  4. sham2

    sham2 Member

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    #4
    SEO is the best way for the top ranks for the long term.
     
    sham2, Mar 7, 2013 IP
  5. tac88

    tac88 Well-Known Member

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    #5
    There is no such thing as Top Rank for long term! I have been ranking websites since 2006 and at one time had 11 sites on first page of Google and learned that yes always optimize for SEO but definitely do not make it your soul means of traffic generation because it will lead to all in one day putting you right out of business when you lose your rankings.

    With the social measures and other factors that Google has put in place is making it harder and harder for the little guys to compete in the SEO game if you do not have the big bucks to outsource. Also not negative SEO is in play these days so at any given time if your competition wants to backlink you with porn sites and get you knocked off they can if they know what they are doing. Chances are they know what they are doing if they are competing with you for the first page.

    I can see the writing on the wall and the SEO game is slowly coming to a end for the little guys.
     
    tac88, Mar 7, 2013 IP
  6. GuruCreation

    GuruCreation Notable Member

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    #6
    I guess I don't understand this twice?...lol.. Just kidding...

    Anyway, You just have to keep track on what and how Google is going to change, when they change and what they change in their algo in order to be successful in SEO. I'm always on TOP of it and can pretty much sniff out what's going to happen. Not all the time, but I can adjust my SEO technique son the fly...

    Keep it real and honest and it will happen, just won't happen as fast as you would want it to like the PPC/Adwords game.. Then again, if you don't know what your doing there, you can WASTE a shit load of money trying to just figure it out..

    Nice post though!

    Holla!~
     
    GuruCreation, Mar 7, 2013 IP
  7. gotlivechat

    gotlivechat Member

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    #7
    You make a good point of why web site marketing shouldn't be focused only on SEO. The algorithms change often, which can wreak havoc on sites solely relying on traffic from it.

    Need to mix in PPC, Social Networks, banners, etc. to prevent substantial drops in traffic/sales.
     
    gotlivechat, Mar 7, 2013 IP
  8. Deez 國王

    Deez 國王 Active Member

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    #8
    I think it's also important to note that with SEO, the ground work is one the off most important steps....ground work being proper keyword research and analysis. Instead of targetting high traffic high competition searches...to ensure a bit of longevity in your rankings rather target low competition, lower search volume keywords. Steer clear from blackhat SEO as it is NEVER sustainable. Keep your SEO campaign fully above board and in keeping with what Google actually wants. Then incorporate a GOOD Paid advertising campaign with your SEO and you should be okay.

    I've always suspected....NOT at all saying this is a fact BUT...I suspect that GOOGLE being the skanks that they are would give preferential rankings to sites that are also spending money on their adwords network. I mean think about it, you will essentially be their "customer" why would they not give their "customers" an advantage in rankings over sites that don't use adwords. I suspect that they give adwords clients better rankings on keywords that they are not using in their adwords campaigns as this will give their customers Good returns.
     
    Deez 國王, Mar 8, 2013 IP
  9. tac88

    tac88 Well-Known Member

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    #9
    I am sorry about that ! stupid notepad I copied it twice..
     
    tac88, Mar 10, 2013 IP
  10. Alex jones

    Alex jones Member

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    #10
    All Maths and is going above my head.
     
    Alex jones, Mar 10, 2013 IP
  11. OSSEO

    OSSEO Active Member

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    #11
    Its true , in short for fast money use paid traffic. if you invest some money in Google adword you will get more :)
     
    OSSEO, Mar 11, 2013 IP
  12. zoomx

    zoomx Well-Known Member

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    #12
    Hi there,

    Like someone says above, "SEO is Bonus". In order to have a successful business you need paid traffic, for fast results, then SEO if possible, the trick is, in order to remain with something after you pay for traffic, always try to get emails. Now if your "paid visitors" don't buy something at least maybe you can grab their mails with some free offer related to your product/service, in this case your money are not lost , but invested!

    Now if you will have paid traffic that didn't convert into sales, but some 3-5% will subscribe, this should be consider your "SEO" :) It is better to grow your list than rank in SEO because you don't depend on Google algorithms, competition and so on, you can wake up at 3 AM, send an e-mail to your list, go back to sleep and when you wake up you might see more results than if you were #1 in Google!

    I hope this was helpful, regards,
    Zoomx.
     
    zoomx, Mar 12, 2013 IP
  13. webcosmo

    webcosmo Notable Member

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    #13
    Very true all you say, everything in SEO is so competitive these days, and yes, your time is the most valuable limited resource that you can`t buy with money...
     
    webcosmo, Mar 12, 2013 IP
  14. Martin Tseng

    Martin Tseng Peon

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    #14
    Getting "ranked out" is risk. Best way to avoid this is to balance paid traffic and SEO services.
    Always look out what you need to be ranked - that means you have to stay updated on the algorithm used by the search engines (google, yahoo, bing, etc.). Adjusting Budget is another issue, therefore this problem can be very complex
     
    Martin Tseng, Mar 13, 2013 IP
  15. rashida

    rashida Active Member

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    #15
    Hi, tac you are right. SEO takes time to get the results & it is a constant process. It needs a lot of hard work to get into the top ranking position but if we want immediate results we can go for the ppc ads.
     
    rashida, Mar 14, 2013 IP
  16. Sharpay

    Sharpay Active Member

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    #16
    You can post math all day long, but it's still just math.

    It doesn't matter at all if you don't actually have a campaign running right now. What really matters is targeting. WHO are you targeting?

    So far I have been most successful with highly targeted CPM advertising on Facebook. I use custom audiences, and they generally number less than 50,000. Hell, my very first campaign ever I started with an audience of ~8,000, .037 CTR & grew it from there.

    Obviously it varies, but here are some good "rules of thumb" for CTR when you're doing your arbitrary math:
    KILL any ads with CTR below .025
    Split testing ads with CTR between .025 & .050
    Anything with a CTR above .050 is great
    Anything with a CTR above .100 is awesome

    And always make sure your sample size is large enough. Risk $5-$10 and get 5-10k impressions.
     
    Sharpay, Mar 14, 2013 IP
  17. rajarana438

    rajarana438 Greenhorn

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    #17
    SEO takes time to get results but it definite gives result
     
    rajarana438, Mar 15, 2013 IP
  18. seoleft

    seoleft Member

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    #18
    Organic traffic is the best. Its always targeted & results in more maximum conversion. So its worth to invest your money and/or time in professional seo.
     
    seoleft, Mar 16, 2013 IP
  19. dojodesign

    dojodesign Well-Known Member

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    #19
    Good info there ;)

    I usually stay way from paid traffic, since I can't afford it, but some decent SEO can surely do a great job. I was able to rank some of my sites with no problems, provided I keep adding relevant and unique content on a constant basis.
     
    dojodesign, Mar 16, 2013 IP
  20. techwizardsolutions

    techwizardsolutions Member

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    #20
    Hello all...

    Good information about figuring the expected results for a cost on paid traffic. I am wih dojodesign though, I rarely use paid methods anymore for traffic. While there is often times I can hand have afforded it the results are usually less than stellar to be honest. There are after all to many uncontrollable variables in most paid marketing techniques when you are talking Adwords or Bing Ads...

    Now choosing a number of different websites that are key to your type of subject matter and either purchasing ad space or doing some guest writing in exchange for a link is a much more effective and affordable method of advertising than the adwords or bing ads in my opinion. With the paid banner ads on various sites it is possible to reach a much larger demographic for a longer period for much less. Just makes more sense economically.
     
    techwizardsolutions, Mar 16, 2013 IP