By Robert Lockard

The unattainable goal for many search campaigns is the ever-elusive melding of PPC and SEO tactics for bigger and better top-line results. Theoretically, the two should go together like peanut butter and jelly.

That’s how Herndon Hasty starts his superb Search Engine Watch article, “Of PPC and PBJ: Combining PPC and SEO Effectively, Part 1.” His comparisons of search engine optimization to peanut butter and pay-per-click advertising to jelly are apt, and they work well through the article.

Hasty argues PPC and SEO are completely different from each other and they accomplish their goals of higher Web traffic in distinct ways. They don’t completely mesh, but they create something better than they could alone, if they’re done right. They both have the ability to drive qualified traffic to your site and help build your revenue.

Not all search terms are equal when it comes to search-engine marketing. This article gives an excellent explanation of how to maximize your return on investment by comparing the keywords you target. For instance, which terms generate more interested customers: “online marketing” or “Internet marketing,” “find foreclosures” or “search foreclosures”?

With SEO, it’s essential to get your keywords right the first time. It takes a long time to get to the top of search-engine results, and if the terms you get to the top of don’t perform well, that’s both time and money down the drain. PPC is more flexible, so you can easily change the terms you target by comparing their results and choosing the better one.

There’s plenty more to cover in this article. I recommend reading the whole thing. Be sure to return often to the Submit Solution SEO Blog for more insights into ecommerce. This blog entry is a complete version of the one in the eHarbor Blog, “Done right, SEO and PPC deliver tasty results.”

The photo of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of jacky_oh_yeah.