At times, the relationship between organic SEO and Google PPC search ads has been subject to misinterpretations. I am going to highlight the significance of organic relevance, and how it affects PPC search ad campaigns.
A landing page that is optimized for its target keyword will display in the search engine results page (SERP) due to organic relevance. Likewise, well-optimized content will contribute to a good user experience. This positive landing page experience impacts the Quality Score of a Google AdWords paid search ad keyword. At the same time, a high Quality Score drives the Ad Rank and strengthens the effectiveness of the PPC search campaign. An extra bonus of a good Quality Score is a possible reduction in the cost per click in the ad auction.
SEO Affects Organic Relevance
A landing page should focus on a keyword whose specific theme, product or service it wishes to be ranked for. The organic search algorithm will specify the position of a webpage in response to a search query. If the landing page appears in the top organic SERP, it proves to be relevant to that keyword. A good search engine optimization strategy will help a target keyword to rank well organically.
Quality Score Affects Pay-Per-Click
In Google AdWords search ads, Ad Rank specifies the position of your ad on a scale from 1-10. The higher the Quality Score of your ad, the higher the Ad Rank potential. And the higher the Ad Rank, the greater the potential for a higher click-through-rate and possible conversions. 50% of the Ad Rank score is comprised of the Quality Score of the ad. Conversely, 33% of that Quality Score is derived from the organic relevance of the landing page. Therefore, it pays to optimize your landing page to achieve a good Quality Score for your ads.
Organic Relevance Affects Pay-Per-Click
What is good for organic search (landing on a well-optimized page that ranks well organically) is especially good for PPC. When clicking on a PPC search ad that has a high Quality Score, the user can expect a good landing page experience. History shows that a good landing page experience has the best chance of enticing the user to a conversion.
Here is How it Works
Let’s say we market an e-commerce shoe store. One of our landing pages is a product page that sells women’s athletic shoes [WAS]. The landing page needs to be optimized for the keyword women’s athletic shoes [WAS] as shown in a simplified graphic below. When a user queries a search engine with the [WAS] keyword, our well-optimized landing page should rank well in the top results of the SERP.
In a similar fashion, the search query might serve a PPC search ad for women’s athletic shoes at the top of the SERP. If the user perceives the ad to be relevant to the search query, he might click on the ad to learn more and will be transported to the landing page.
As a result, a well-optimized landing page that proves to be relevant organically, promises a good user experience. In return, this experience will also positively contribute to the Quality Score of the PPC search ad. An ad with a high Quality Score has a better chance to achieve a higher Ad Rank and potentially reduce the cost per click. A higher Ad Rank can attract a higher click-through rate and may lead to more conversions. The aggregate of these impacts increase the effectiveness of a PPC search ad campaign.
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