How SEO and PPC work together in 2025 ?

Ever wondered if SEO and PPC can work hand in hand to grow your website traffic, boost your leads, or increase sales? You’re not alone.

Many businesses think of search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising as completely separate strategies—but the truth is, they can actually complement each other really well.

Let’s break it down in a simple way and explore how SEO and PPC can work together to boost your online presence and deliver better results.

What exactly is SEO?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is basically a way to help your website show up higher when people search for stuff online. It’s not just one thing—it’s a mix of strategies like finding the right keywords, creating valuable content, and making sure everything on your site is well-structured.

If you're not sure where to start, check out our guide to starting digital marketing for a full breakdown.

The better your SEO, the more likely people will find your site through search engines without needing to pay for ads.

And, if you're thinking of starting a blog, don't miss our post: Do I need a blog for my business?

Why bother with SEO?

The cool thing about SEO is that it builds trust and authority in your field over time—and you don’t need to throw a bunch of money at it right away. If your content genuinely helps your audience by answering their questions or solving problems, they’ll start coming back to you for more. Eventually, that means more visitors and more potential leads—all organically.

That said, SEO isn’t a quick win. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep your content fresh, fix technical issues, and stay on top of trends. It’s a bit of a grind and usually needs someone (or a team) focused on it. Also, because results build slowly, you won’t see the return on investment as fast as with paid ads.

So, SEO is a mix of strategies like finding the right keywords, creating valuable content, and making sure everything on your site is well-structured. Choosing an SEO-friendly platform, like InBlog CMS, can make all the difference. It helps you seamlessly integrate important SEO features like optimized URLs, embed forms and internal linking, ensuring your blog is optimized for search engines from the start.

And what’s PPC all about?

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click, and it’s a form of online advertising where you pay every time someone clicks your ad. You’ve probably seen these ads on Google, social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook, or even before YouTube videos. It’s a popular way to get your business noticed quickly.

Why PPC can be super effective (Fast)

The biggest advantage of PPC is how fast it works. You can launch a campaign and start seeing traffic or sales the same day—perfect for promoting events, product launches, or limited-time offers. Plus, you get access to detailed analytics, so it’s easy to test different versions of your ads to see what gets the best results.

The downside? It can get expensive pretty quickly. If you’re not constantly tracking and tweaking your ads, you might end up spending money without getting the results you want. So, it needs active management to really pay off.

Example of difference between SEO and PPC :

So, how PPC and SEO work together ?

PPC provides instant traffic, while SEO builds lasting visibility. Together, they drive both immediate results and long-term growth.

Here’s how they deliver:

1. Speed meets sustainability: Quick wins + long-term growth

PPC is like turning on a faucet—you can generate traffic within minutes by bidding on specific keywords. You choose who sees your ads based on targeting factors like location, device, demographics, and even the time of day. This makes PPC the go-to channel for immediate visibility and lead generation.However, the downside is just as clear: when you stop paying, the traffic stops.

That’s where SEO shines.

SEO is a slower process, but it builds lasting visibility. When your pages rank well organically, they continue to bring in traffic without a cost per click. SEO is more cost-efficient in the long run and improves your site's credibility.

Use PPC to capture short-term opportunities while your SEO efforts build sustainable traffic over time.PPC helps capture clicks you might miss with SEO alone.

You might be thinking, “If I’m already ranking #1 on Google organically, do I even need PPC?” Surprisingly, yes.

In fact, a lot of businesses rely on both. And if you’re investing in blog content, make sure it’s optimized by following everything you need to know about blog SEO.

A Google study found that 89% of clicks generated by search ads are not replaced by clicks on organic results when the ads are paused. That means even if you rank #1 organically, you're likely to lose traffic if you stop running PPC.So even if your site is doing great with SEO, turning off PPC might mean missing out on valuable clicks.

Running PPC alongside SEO helps you reach people who might scroll right past organic results or who are more likely to click on an ad. So instead of choosing one or the other, using both gives you full coverage.

2. Double the search engine visibility = Double the trust

Let’s say your SEO is doing its job and bringing people to your site—but not everyone buys or signs up right away. That’s totally normal. People often need time to think.

That’s where PPC comes in again, this time in the form of remarketing. With remarketing ads, you can show targeted ads to people who’ve already visited your site. Maybe they looked at a product or read a service page, then left. Now, when they’re browsing other sites, your ad pops up as a reminder: “Hey, we’re still here!” This nudge can bring them back to finish their purchase or reach out.

In fact, research by Episerver shows that 92% of first-time website visitors aren’t there to buy. They’re exploring, comparing, or just getting to know your brand.

That’s why increasing your visibility with both SEO and PPC isn’t just about dominating more screen space—it’s about building trust through repetition and relevance.

Mere-exposure effect:

“The more times someone sees your brand—especially in different contexts—the more credible and familiar you become. That’s the foundation of digital trust.”

3. Use PPC to test keywords before committing to SEO

Ranking organically for new keywords can be a long game—often taking weeks or even months of content creation, link-building, and technical optimization. But what if you could fast-forward the results? That’s where PPC (pay-per-click) advertising becomes a powerful strategic ally.

With Google Ads (or Bing ads), you can test a keyword in real-time, see how users respond, and measure performance across critical metrics like:

• CTR (Click-through rate)

• Conversion Rate

• Cost per acquisition (CPA)

• Return on ad spend (ROAS)

This allows you to:

- Identify high-value keywords worth targeting organically

If a keyword consistently delivers qualified clicks and conversions via PPC, it’s a strong indicator that it’s worth the longer-term investment in SEO. Instead of guessing, you’re basing your SEO strategy on real user behavior.

- Avoid wasting SEO resources on low-performing terms

Some keywords may seem promising but fail to convert. Maybe they attract the wrong audience or signal a different user intent. Testing with PPC saves you from pouring hours into ranking for a keyword that doesn’t drive results.

- Discover new long-tail keyword opportunities

Running a broad match or phrase match PPC campaign often surfaces unexpected search queries—long-tail terms that your audience is actually using. These can fuel both your SEO content strategy and your landing page optimization.

Unbounce has emphasized the effectiveness of using PPC campaigns to quickly test keyword performance before committing to long-term SEO strategies. They highlight that PPC allows for immediate feedback on keyword effectiveness, enabling marketers to refine their strategies promptly.

4. Full-funnel coverage: Target every stage of the buyer’s journey

SEO and PPC each have strengths at different stages of the sales funnel. When used together, you ensure you're visible at every step—from awareness to conversion.

Top of funnel (awareness) – Attract & educate

This is where SEO builds credibility and organic discovery through evergreen content. Think “how-to” articles, industry trends, and blog posts answering common questions.

Meanwhile, PPC supports brand exposure—especially on platforms like Google Display, YouTube, or social (LinkedIn, Meta). These formats allow you to plant a seed in the mind of your potential customer.

Example: Moz’s SEO & PPC awareness layer

Moz created long-form guides like The Beginner's Guide to SEO, which ranks highly in organic search and drives massive top-of-funnel traffic. In parallel, they ran YouTube video ads targeting marketers interested in “SEO tips” to expand brand visibility. This dual visibility ensures they catch interest whether someone is searching or scrolling.

Together, SEO and PPC ensure the right message reaches the right person at the right moment, no matter where they are in their journey.

Middle of funnel (Consideration) – Nurture & persuade

At this stage, users are exploring solutions. SEO supports this with in-depth comparisons, feature breakdowns, and case studies that build authority and trust.

PPC can step in powerfully with:

• Search ads targeting specific problems or features

• Remarketing ads showing relevant blog posts, webinars, or demos

• Competitor conquesting (bidding on competitor brand names)

Bottom of funnel (Decision) – Convert & close

Here, intent is highest, and both SEO and PPC must deliver precision.

• SEO should offer optimized product pages, testimonials, trust signals, FAQs, and fast page speed.

• PPC shines with conversion-focused search ads, branded terms, and urgency-driven copy (“Free trial,” “30% off this week”).

5. Better data, better decisions

Running both PPC and SEO gives you twice the data, which means smarter marketing.

Here’s the type of data you can collect from each channel:

• SEO: Organic keyword rankings, bounce rate, time on site, backlinks, user engagement.

• PPC: CTR, cost-per-click (CPC), quality score, impression share, conversion rate.

By analyzing both sets of data together, you can:

• See which keywords drive traffic vs. conversions.

• Improve landing pages based on on-site behavior.

• Adjust bids and budgets based on performance insights.

• Optimize content for both humans and algorithms.

Understanding the right metrics is key. If you want to dive deeper into how data impacts your site’s performance, check out how to increase domain authority to understand how building authority can impact your overall digital presence.

6. Efficient budget allocation

One of the biggest advantages of using SEO and PPC together is the ability to optimize your budget more effectively.

For example:

• If you start ranking organically for high-cost PPC keywords, you can reduce ad spend on those terms.

• If a keyword is too competitive to rank for organically, PPC gives you a way to buy visibility while your SEO efforts catch up.

• You can shift budget dynamically based on seasonality, campaign goals, or shifts in demand.

Tools like Google Ads, Google Search Console, and platforms like SEMrush or Ahrefs allow you to manage both channels side by side, so you can make smart, real-time adjustments.

7. Does SEO affect PPC (or vice versa)?

Technically, Google treats SEO and PPC as separate systems—running ads won’t boost your organic rankings, and ranking #1 in SEO won’t lower your ad costs. But in practice, they absolutely influence each other.

When your brand appears in both organic results and paid ads, it creates double visibility, reinforcing credibility and boosting click-through rates.

Plus, consistent messaging, design, and keyword alignment across SEO content and PPC landing pages improves user experience, which leads to higher engagement and conversions on both fronts.

So while there's no direct algorithmic link, the indirect synergy between SEO and PPC can dramatically enhance your overall performance.

The challenges of using PPC and SEO together

1. Budget management

Managing the budget for both PPC and SEO can be tricky. Here's how:

• SEO requires long-term investment: While SEO might seem "free," it involves significant investments in content creation, technical optimization, and ongoing updates to stay relevant. For example, an institution may spend months developing content like blogs and landing pages that need regular updates to maintain their search rankings.

• PPC costs can quickly add up: With PPC, you’re paying for every click, and costs can rise fast, especially for competitive keywords. For example, bidding on terms like "best online MBA programs" could be expensive if many large institutions are also bidding on the same keywords.

The challenge is to balance these costs so you’re not overspending on PPC while neglecting necessary SEO investments, or focusing too much on SEO while missing out on quick traffic from PPC.

2. Coordinating teams

SEO and PPC are often handled by different teams, which can lead to a lack of coordination. Here’s how this plays out:

• Overlapping keywords and messaging: Without alignment, teams might target the same keywords. For example, both teams could end up bidding for the same keywords in PPC while also optimizing content around the same keywords in SEO, leading to unnecessary duplication of efforts.

• Inconsistent messaging: If the PPC team pushes a strong call to action (CTA) like “Sign up now for a free consultation” while the SEO content focuses on educational content without direct calls to action, it could confuse potential customers who encounter both simultaneously.

The solution? Ensure both teams regularly communicate and align their keyword strategies and messaging for a seamless user experience.

3. Keyword strategy conflicts

Balancing PPC and SEO keywords can create conflicts. Here’s a deeper look:

• Competitive keywords for SEO vs. PPC: Some high-traffic keywords may be too competitive for SEO, but ideal for PPC. For example, terms like “top business schools” are dominated by big players, making it hard to rank for them organically, but they can still work well in a PPC campaign.

• SEO may be enough for certain keywords: On the flip side, if you’re already ranking well for certain keywords with SEO, you might not need to bid on them via PPC.

Creating a unified keyword strategy will help you decide where to allocate resources effectively—whether it’s through organic rankings or paid ads.

4. Data integration

Integrating data from SEO and PPC can be a challenge, but it’s essential for maximizing your efforts. Here’s why:

• Different metrics for each strategy: SEO gives you insights into organic traffic, rankings, and engagement, while PPC focuses on clicks, conversions, and cost-per-click (CPC). Without integrating these, you may miss out on insights that can improve both efforts.

• Using PPC data to inform SEO: If a PPC campaign shows that certain keywords lead to high conversions, that’s valuable data for your SEO strategy. You can optimize your site around those keywords to boost organic traffic.

5. Measuring combined ROI

Tracking ROI for both strategies can be tough, especially when both contribute to conversions at different stages of the funnel. Here’s how you can break it down:

• Attribution challenges: For example, a user might click on a PPC ad, then return later through organic search. Determining which channel should get the credit for the conversion can be complex.

• Using attribution models: Implementing multi-touch attribution models can help you understand the combined impact of both channels. For example, if PPC brings in the first click but SEO leads to the final conversion, a well-designed attribution model will ensure both efforts are credited appropriately.

• Advanced analytics tools: Tools like Google Ads, Google Analytics, or a CRM platform that tracks user behavior across channels can give you the insights you need to accurately measure ROI and make smarter decisions for future campaigns.

Common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid in integrating PPC and SEO

Here are some key pitfalls to watch out for:

1. Lack of clear goal definition

Without clear, measurable objectives, it's challenging to assess the success of your campaigns.​

"Setting clear, SMART goals for your PPC campaigns and utilizing negative keywords are essential steps to ensure your ads reach the right audience, maximize ROI, and reduce wasted ad spend." 

​Absolute Digital Media

Example: A company aiming to increase website traffic by 20% in the next quarter through targeted PPC ads focusing on top-performing keywords sets a clear goal.​

Define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals to guide your campaigns effectively.​

2. Neglecting the landing page experience

The quality of your landing pages directly affects conversion rates.​

"The landing page experience is a critical factor in the success of PPC campaigns." ​Absolute Digital Media

Example: A user clicks on an ad for a product but lands on a generic homepage instead of a dedicated product page, leading to confusion and a higher bounce rate.​

3. Relying Solely on Last-Click Attribution

Attributing conversions only to the last interaction overlooks the entire customer journey.​

"If you're still using last-click attribution in 2025, you're making bid decisions on incomplete data." Optmyzr Google Ads Optimization​

Example: A customer sees a display ad, later searches for the brand, and finally converts after clicking a search ad. Last-click attribution would credit only the search ad, ignoring the influence of the display ad.​

Utilize multi-touch attribution models to gain a comprehensive understanding of conversion paths.​

4. Overusing negative keywords

While negative keywords help filter out irrelevant traffic, excessive use can limit your reach.​

Example: An online retailer selling luxury watches might mistakenly exclude terms like "affordable" as negative keywords, potentially missing out on customers seeking quality within their budget.​

By being mindful of these common mistakes and implementing the suggested strategies, you can create a more cohesive and effective digital marketing approach that leverages the strengths of both PPC and SEO.

Conclusion: SEO + PPC = A smarter, stronger strategy

SEO and PPC aren’t competing for the spotlight—they’re better together. Think of them as two players on the same team:

• PPC gives you quick insights and immediate traffic.

• SEO builds authority, credibility, and long-term growth.

Together, they deliver better ROI, sharper insights, and a seamless customer experience.

If you’re only using one of these tools, you’re likely leaving results—and revenue—on the table.

So don’t choose between speed and sustainability. Use both. Align your goals, share your data, and let SEO and PPC work together to grow your business faster and smarter.

By aligning both strategies and using the best resources, like InBlog, Wordpress or Ghost, you’ll maximize your online presence and drive better results.