SEO and PPC—What's the Difference? In Property Management Marketing, It Matters!

Property management companies have used "SEO" and "PPC" for many years. To date, some companies have "gotten by" without these critical digital marketing strategies. If you hear SEO and PPC but aren't sure exactly what they are—or what makes them two different approaches—read on to understand how they can help your property management company. 

SEO 101

SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization." It involves working to generate organic (non-paid) appearances in search results  on popular engines like Google.

Frequently, the algorithms that determine where you appear in the search results for, say, "Property Manager Spokane Washington" change. This is in response to the way that content is being delivered on the internet. This means that if you aren't paying attention, other property management companies may be appearing in the first few spots whenever someone searches this keyword.

Strategies for Optimization

There are a variety of optimization strategies that fall into this category. One of the first and most important ones is adding useful, relevant content that contains target keywords. It's not enough to have web pages that contain the target keyword over and over! Your content should include both your target keywords and many of its related contextual words. This means adding blog posts, eBooks, and other content on your website that will help your potential leads with guides, industry knowledge, or service updates.

Many other strategies fall under SEO as well:

• Making sure your content is long enough in word count can list you higher on Google.
• Use keywords in headers and simple URLs. 
• Tag videos to get SEO "credit" for the content inside them.

Remember: "The Easier, the Better!"

SEO as a strategy is all about making your website as easy for search engines to "understand" as possible. This helps the search engine to identify where you are located and what services you offer. It's also more likely to show your website to anyone querying who might have an interest in those services in your area.

While you don't pay the search engines to receive SEO benefits, it is best to invest some time and money into SEO. Best practices for how to structure your website for optimization change frequently!

PPC 101

PPC stands for "pay-per-click." PPC refers to paid advertisements that run on the top or side of search engine results. While they are still tied to keywords, you specifically designate that every time these ads appear in a search result, and someone clicks on them, you will pay the search engine company some small amount.

PPC has some advantages over SEO:

• When your ad does appear, it appears at the very top of the search results—or in the second or third spot.
• You decide which keywords to rank for, often based on how expensive and popular those keywords are.
• You can set a budget for how many clicks you want to pay for before you stop appearing. 

For instance, if you're going to appear for the keywords "property management," the cost per click would be very high because so many people search this term! You'd pay less per click for the key phrase "property management Spokane Washington" because it is specific. Ironically, these more specific keywords are often your best options, since you're seeking local clients. Given this structure, your task as a PPC advertiser is to find the keywords that optimize your price-per-click and how useful those viewers will be to you.

Take Advantage of Customization

PPC also allows you to customize:

• The headline the searcher sees
• The link to which you send them
• The line or two of a description you display. 

With SEO, you can work to get a useful snippet into your search results, but you don't get to custom-craft how the search result looks.

While PPC charges you, you can decide you want to experiment with a keyword or two and see how many people click on your advertisement in a month, for instance. Therefore, PPC can offer a good insight into which keywords will be attractive to your potential clients. You can track the conversion rates of each campaign you create, which can help you optimize further and spend your money as wisely as possible.

SEO, PPC, ROI—H-E-L-P!

These core components of digital marketing make sense at different times in your cycle of property management marketing. Sometimes, the content on your site already ranks highly for the keywords that matter to you. You may wish to use some of your marketing budget on PPC initiatives instead. On the other hand, if you can start with generating SEO-enriched content in-house, you may not have to draft a PPC budget at all!

To learn more about how SEO and PPC can impact your property management business, get in touch with us today at Geekly Media. As a HubSpot Diamond Agency Partner, we're here to help you navigate your property management marketing when you reach uncharted waters.