Using a survey that the Impression team completed and some industry insight, this talk shows you whether or not you might be suitable for SEO or PPC. It identifies any similarities and differences between the two which should aid you in making that career decision.

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What’s the difference between SEO and
PPC?
Drink Digital - University of Nottingham - 1st November 2018
by Chloe Fair
S E O S T R A T E G I S T A T I M P R E S S I O N

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Agenda
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● Definitions
● Differences
● Similarities
● Which one would be for you?

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What Is PPC?
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● PPC stands for Pay Per Click. This is the term used to describe the type of online advertising
where you pay every time a user clicks on your ad.
● The aim of PPC is to get your ads showing to relevant customers and to make the most of your
advertising spend.
● You can be very specific when it comes to the campaigns you run, targeting audiences based
on age, geographic location, interests, and much more.
● Ads come in various formats and can be run on a range of different platforms.

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What Is PPC?
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DISPLAY &
PROGRAMMATICSEARCH SOCIAL
Get in front of your target
audience when they’re looking
for you
Reach your target audience on
social media
Reach your target audience
around the web

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What Is SEO?
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search engine optimisation, or SEO, is a methodology of
strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount
of visitors to a website by obtaining high-ranking placements for
relevant, organic keywords in search engines

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What Is SEO?
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But what’s the difference?
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It seems pretty obvious...
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So let’s ask some digital experts

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PPC
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(What a PPC thinks) (What an SEO thinks)

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PPC
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Spend spend spend
Data-driven
Pay-to-win
Measurable
Money
Paid
Bidding
Advertising
Commercial
Formulaic
Eye catching
Data-driven
Creative
Keywords
FacebookConversions
Short-term
Cost per click
Instant
Fast paced
Quick wins
Spreadsheets
Targeting
More reflective (an evolution) of ‘traditional’ marketing
Analytical
Creative
Statistical
Multi-channel
(What a PPC thinks) (What an SEO thinks)

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PPC
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Spend spend spend
Data-driven
Pay-to-win
Measurable
Money
Paid
Bidding
Advertising
Commercial
Formulaic
Eye catching
Data-driven
Creative
Keywords
FacebookConversions
Short-term
Cost per click
Instant
Fast paced
Quick wins
Spreadsheets
Targeting
More reflective (an evolution) of ‘traditional’ marketing
Analytical
Creative
Statistical
Multi-channel
(What a PPC thinks) (What an SEO thinks)

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SEO
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(What a PPC thinks) (What an SEO thinks)

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SEO
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Organic
Slow-burner
Technical
Slow
Outreach
SEMrush
Keywords
Links
Long-term strategy
Difficult to measure
Onpage
Offpage
Guessing game
Keywords
Content
Links
SERPs
Technical
Varied
Growth
Long-tail
Google
Visibility
Naturally benefits all marketing channels
Descriptions
Articles
Organic
Scientific creativity
Long timeframe
Long lasting success
(What a PPC thinks) (What an SEO thinks)
Javascript

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SEO
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Organic
Slow-burner
Technical
Slow
Outreach
SEMrush
Keywords
Links
Long-term strategy
Difficult to measure
Onpage
Offpage
Guessing game
Keywords
Content
Links
SERPs
Technical
Varied
Growth
Long-tail
Google
Visibility
Naturally benefits all marketing channels
Descriptions
Articles
Organic
Scientific creativity
Long timeframe
Long lasting success
(What a PPC thinks) (What an SEO thinks)
Javascript

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The Core Differences
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SEO
● Long term strategy
● Organic
● Less data
● Ideation
● Outreach
● Content (variation)
PPC
● Short term
● Paid
● Data driven
● Spreadsheets (lots of them)
● Fast paced
● Statistical and numbers heavy

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The Similarities
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1. Both PPCs and SEOs do keyword research

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The Similarities
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1. Both PPCs and SEOs do keyword research
2. Want to drive lots of converting traffic to websites and are both data-driven

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The Similarities
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1. Both PPCs and SEOs do keyword research
2. Want to drive lots of converting traffic to websites and are both data-driven
1. Adapting to the increasingly competitive search landscape

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The Similarities
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1. Both PPCs and SEOs do keyword research
2. Want to drive lots of converting traffic to websites and are both data-driven
3. Adapting to the increasingly competitive search landscape
1. Face the same problems due to an ever changing Google

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What’s the difference between the day-to-
day roles?
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Splitting up day-to-day tasks
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Strategy
Content writing
Creativity & ideation
Numbers
Analysing

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The balance of a PPC

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The balance of an SEO

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A Comparison
PPC SEO

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Let’s throw a spanner in the works...
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Spot the patterns...
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SEO Degree Disciplines
● Journalism
● Linguistics
● Software Engineering
● English with Creative Writing
● Commercial Music
● English Literature
● German and Philosophy
● Business Management & Marketing
● Social Psychology
● Multimedia
● Modern Language Studies
PPC Degree Disciplines
● Industrial Economics
● English with Creative Writing
● Management & Marketing
● English Literature
● Music
● Maths
● Documentary Journalism
● German Studies
● Sociology
● History
● Theoretical Physics

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Similarities
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SEO Degree Disciplines
● English with Creative Writing
● English Literature
● Commercial Music
● German and Philosophy
● Business Management & Marketing
● Journalism
PPC Degree Disciplines
● English with Creative Writing
● English Literature
● Music
● German Studies
● Management & Marketing
● Documentary Journalism

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Differences
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SEO Degree Disciplines
● Social Psychology
● Linguistics
● Modern Language Studies
● Software Engineering
● Multimedia
PPC Degree Disciplines
● Sociology
● Industrial Economics
● History
● Maths
● Theoretical Physics

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Conclusion
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● SEO and PPC are different
● PPC is more numbers based and SEO is more creative (as a generalisation)
● The day-to-day tasks of an SEO and a PPC can be quite similar
● The weighting of day-to-day tasks are very different
● There are some patterns in degree disciplines for digital marketers as a whole
● There are no rules - any degree counts

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Thanks for listening!
Questions?
impression.co.uk/grad-opps/
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