LifeinAsia - 5:12 pm on Dec 3, 2007 (gmt 0)

You have to look at what are you trying to accomplish. Most likely, you are trying to maximize your ROI.

Yes, PPC is guaranteed traffic, but it's also a guaranteed cost. And it's a cost for each click. And that click is worthless if the clicker doesn't end up buying anything.

After the initial "cost," SEO traffic is free. If a clicker doesn't end up buying anything, that particular click-in didn't cost you anything.

In general, we've found that PPC traffic converts less well than SEO traffic, and some PPC traffic converts less well than other PPC traffic. Obviously, your mileage may vary. That's where continual testing and re-evaluation comes into play.

Now, neither PPC nor SEO is a do-once-and-forget situation. Both require continual measuring and tweaking and testing and re-evaluating. SEO changes take longer to track, whereas PPC changes can be tracked immediately (depending on how you are tracking your results).

In my book, both are required. In some niches/markets, SEO should take priority, whereas in others PPC should take priority.

[edited by: LifeinAsia at 5:13 pm (utc) on Dec. 3, 2007]