Comments on: The Lame PPC and SEO Debate http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/ Grow your business with TopRank Online Marketing tips, articles, & expert information on social media, content marketing & search engine marketing. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:17:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Utah SEO http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-437090 Utah SEO Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:05:39 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-437090 Great article! I agree the debates are all over about PPC vs SEO. However, I definitely feel that they are tools to accomplish different measures. Great article! I agree the debates are all over about PPC vs SEO. However, I definitely feel that they are tools to accomplish different measures.

]]> By: Bill McIntosh http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-404828 Bill McIntosh Fri, 09 May 2008 00:07:33 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-404828 I agree with that what you say about PPC and SEO can be just as easy and just as hard to do depending on the circumstance and that it's not all a piece of cake, but I'm sure can be a certain times. I agree with that what you say about PPC and SEO can be just as easy and just as hard to do depending on the circumstance and that it’s not all a piece of cake, but I’m sure can be a certain times.

]]> By: paisley http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-79880 paisley Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:36:43 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-79880 Great article.. no self promotion.. Advertising/PR/SEO/PPC.... as an SEO professional we use PPC until we have the top listing in the organics.. then we remove the PPC or further use it to enhance our branding on a specified term.. Obviously, (in my opinion at least), organizations like SEMPO and companies like Did-it.com have a lack of ethics.. I've never heard of SMA-NA but if they stay away from the biases of their board of directors and try to promote ethical, professional SEO.. sign me up.. Great article.. no self promotion.. Advertising/PR/SEO/PPC….

as an SEO professional we use PPC until we have the top listing in the organics.. then we remove the PPC or further use it to enhance our branding on a specified term..

Obviously, (in my opinion at least), organizations like SEMPO and companies like Did-it.com have a lack of ethics..

I’ve never heard of SMA-NA but if they stay away from the biases of their board of directors and try to promote ethical, professional SEO.. sign me up..

]]> By: Tropical SEO » Are Your Sites Defensible? http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-55454 Tropical SEO » Are Your Sites Defensible? Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:43:06 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-55454 [...] I obviously don’t want another SEO vs. CPC discussion here, but Brian Provost is on to something with defensible traffic. If you ever have to go raise money from investors, one of the first questions they will ask you is going to be about the defensibility of your revenue/brand/traffic/etc. In the Lead Generation world, companies like Adteractive and Quinstreet generate a lot of leads from arbitraging search, email, and tapping into affiliates. But none of that is really defensible. If you want to endure in the Widget Market, you have to treat it like war. You can [...] I obviously don’t want another SEO vs. CPC discussion here, but Brian Provost is on to something with defensible traffic. If you ever have to go raise money from investors, one of the first questions they will ask you is going to be about the defensibility of your revenue/brand/traffic/etc. In the Lead Generation world, companies like Adteractive and Quinstreet generate a lot of leads from arbitraging search, email, and tapping into affiliates. But none of that is really defensible. If you want to endure in the Widget Market, you have to treat it like war. You can

]]> By: Scotland SEO Blog » Blog Archive » Some Fight Are Just Plain Silly http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-54497 Scotland SEO Blog » Blog Archive » Some Fight Are Just Plain Silly Sun, 31 Dec 2006 18:48:27 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-54497 [...] However, Lee Odden and Greg Boser took Lee’s statement the way it was probably intended and they let their feelings be known. Odden’s response was posted a couple of days ago and in it, he indicates such articles are merely self-promotion ploys in an effort to get people to notice the initial writer’s brand: [...] [...] However, Lee Odden and Greg Boser took Lee’s statement the way it was probably intended and they let their feelings be known. Odden’s response was posted a couple of days ago and in it, he indicates such articles are merely self-promotion ploys in an effort to get people to notice the initial writer’s brand: [...]

]]> By: Richard Brewer http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-51857 Richard Brewer Sun, 24 Dec 2006 21:47:04 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-51857 If I may...SEO & PPC do serve a purpose. Yes it can be frustrating and often times I compare the irony to a drug therapist who moonlights as a drug dealer. However, our company has come to terms with what each entity can offer us and more importantly our expectations are in sync with those offerrings. Educate yourselves on how they both can work together and you will find a common ground. People get too caught up in numbers and strategy and forget about the simple things. The Internet is for people not machines. If I may…SEO & PPC do serve a purpose. Yes it can be frustrating and often times I compare the irony to a drug therapist who moonlights as a drug dealer.

However, our company has come to terms with what each entity can offer us and more importantly our expectations are in sync with those offerrings.

Educate yourselves on how they both can work together and you will find a common ground. People get too caught up in numbers and strategy and forget about the simple things. The Internet is for people not machines.

]]> By: A Fight About PPC And SEO - Internet Insider Report http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50881 A Fight About PPC And SEO - Internet Insider Report Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:06:34 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50881 [...] One such SEO provider, Greg Boser, took issue with Pasternack’s article but kept quiet… that is until another article appeared at ClickZ saying essentially the same thing as Pasternack’s work. Kevin Lee, also of Did-It.com and SEMPO, wrote the second article. In his writing, Lee indirectly compared search optimizers to spammers while saying they took a scatter-shot approach to improving rankings. However, in Lee’s defense, it’s never clear whether he is talking about those who spam search engines or the SEO industry in general. However, Lee Odden and Greg Boser took Lee’s statement the way it was probably intended and they let their feelings be known. Odden’s response was posted a couple of days ago and in it, he indicates such articles are merely self-promotion ploys in an effort to get people to notice the initial writer’s brand: [...] [...] One such SEO provider, Greg Boser, took issue with Pasternack’s article but kept quiet… that is until another article appeared at ClickZ saying essentially the same thing as Pasternack’s work. Kevin Lee, also of Did-It.com and SEMPO, wrote the second article. In his writing, Lee indirectly compared search optimizers to spammers while saying they took a scatter-shot approach to improving rankings. However, in Lee’s defense, it’s never clear whether he is talking about those who spam search engines or the SEO industry in general. However, Lee Odden and Greg Boser took Lee’s statement the way it was probably intended and they let their feelings be known. Odden’s response was posted a couple of days ago and in it, he indicates such articles are merely self-promotion ploys in an effort to get people to notice the initial writer’s brand: [...]

]]> By: Lee Odden http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50517 Lee Odden Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:27:22 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50517 Whatever happened to SMA NA? You never hear about them anymore. Whatever happened to SMA NA? You never hear about them anymore.

]]> By: Bill Kelm http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50479 Bill Kelm Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:14:42 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50479 Yee gods, has the SMA-NA taken a stance on all this? They usually take the "higher road" in all search marketing controversies compared to SEMPO. I still like the analogy of all this to "Tupac SEO vs. Notorious Did-it" (East Coast vs. West Coast): http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/shakur_BIG/2a.html The good news is that neither side will get killed, but the bad news is that both could get injured. Yee gods, has the SMA-NA taken a stance on all this? They usually take the “higher road” in all search marketing controversies compared to SEMPO.

I still like the analogy of all this to “Tupac SEO vs. Notorious Did-it” (East Coast vs. West Coast): http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/shakur_BIG/2a.html

The good news is that neither side will get killed, but the bad news is that both could get injured.

]]> By: Halfdeck http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50225 Halfdeck Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:03:56 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50225 It takes less than an hour for anyone to understand SEO, since there are only three things you really need to do: 1) Make the site spider-friendly (mod_rewrite, Webmaster Tools Preferred Domain, external CSS/Javascript, urls-with-dashes not_underscores_orwordsruntogether. 2) Build a "good site." 3) Increase your site's visibility. Simple, right? Then it must be damn easy to outrank imdb.com for the term "paris hilton." ORLY? To outrank imdb.com, you would probably have to match whatever quality / quantity their 7,083,389 IBLs add up to. Assuming your site somehow attracts an average of 1,000 organic links a day, you'd still need 7083.389 days to catch up to imdb. That's a tredmill lasting 19 years. To outrank imdb via Google Adwords, all you have to have is money. SEO is easy to understand, but takes time and hard work to pull off. Compared to SEO, PPC is a no-brainer. Seriously, any idiot can run a PPC campaign. It takes less than an hour for anyone to understand SEO, since there are only three things you really need to do:

1) Make the site spider-friendly (mod_rewrite, Webmaster Tools Preferred Domain, external CSS/Javascript, urls-with-dashes not_underscores_orwordsruntogether.
2) Build a “good site.”
3) Increase your site’s visibility.

Simple, right?

Then it must be damn easy to outrank imdb.com for the term “paris hilton.”

ORLY? To outrank imdb.com, you would probably have to match whatever quality / quantity their 7,083,389 IBLs add up to. Assuming your site somehow attracts an average of 1,000 organic links a day, you’d still need 7083.389 days to catch up to imdb. That’s a tredmill lasting 19 years.

To outrank imdb via Google Adwords, all you have to have is money.

SEO is easy to understand, but takes time and hard work to pull off. Compared to SEO, PPC is a no-brainer. Seriously, any idiot can run a PPC campaign.

]]> By: Igor M. (BizMord Blog) http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50222 Igor M. (BizMord Blog) Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:49:38 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50222 I still don't know why there are blog posts with titles such as "SEO vs PPC" or "Which one's better". The only time when marketers would bash one or another tactic is when they are failing at it. If you can't achieve results with SEO, you put it down and praise PPC. Lee, I think you said it best ... "...use the right mix of tactics (PPC, SEO, Social Media, Viral, PR, Advertising)" Whenever I compared these tactics on my blog, I would simply do analysis of each one and their strength and weaknesses. As I said above. We bash things we know littler about or are unsuccessful in. I still don’t know why there are blog posts with titles such as “SEO vs PPC” or “Which one’s better”.

The only time when marketers would bash one or another tactic is when they are failing at it. If you can’t achieve results with SEO, you put it down and praise PPC.

Lee, I think you said it best … “…use the right mix of tactics (PPC, SEO, Social Media, Viral, PR, Advertising)”

Whenever I compared these tactics on my blog, I would simply do analysis of each one and their strength and weaknesses. As I said above. We bash things we know littler about or are unsuccessful in.

]]> By: Todd http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50153 Todd Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:21:08 +0000 http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/12/the-lame-ppc-and-seo-debate/#comment-50153 I respect Kevin as a marketer too - but he and Dave P's comments both REEK of the "attack hook". SEO's are a like sewing circle, and they know we'll talk about (and link) to them. It's a shame they have to resort to being haters to attract business, but to each their own. Kevin is a very sharp guy, but I lost some respect for him when I saw him defend Dave's actions at the SEMPO meeting, and this doesn't help any further. SEO and PPC are complimentary to each other, and good marketers know it. It's a pretty low blow to show such little respect for industry cohorts that often help to extol the virtues of PPC. >because a high SEO position delivers clicks for free, *sigh* Two words - puff piece. I respect Kevin as a marketer too – but he and Dave P’s comments both REEK of the “attack hook”. SEO’s are a like sewing circle, and they know we’ll talk about (and link) to them. It’s a shame they have to resort to being haters to attract business, but to each their own.

Kevin is a very sharp guy, but I lost some respect for him when I saw him defend Dave’s actions at the SEMPO meeting, and this doesn’t help any further. SEO and PPC are complimentary to each other, and good marketers know it. It’s a pretty low blow to show such little respect for industry cohorts that often help to extol the virtues of PPC.

>because a high SEO position delivers clicks for free,
*sigh*

Two words – puff piece.

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