When it comes to digital marketing, there are several acronyms you will be introduced to. From SEO and PPC to CPC and CPM, these acronyms are measurements of how successful a specific tactic is. While some measurements involve sales numbers, others account for growth. In the case of SEO and PPC, attempts to optimize each is an exercise in getting your website at the top of a Google search result whether it be through a paid or organic advertising campaign. In this article, we'll go over what each is and at which stage in your marketing journey it is optimal. We'll also go over which is the better tool for law firms specifically looking to advertise online.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is an extremely crucial part of the online, digital marketing strategy for legal firms. It makes the site easier for visitors to navigate while gaining traction on Google whether it be through local, national, or international markets. The issue that you run in with generating organic search optimization campaigns is that they take a very long time to come to fruition. These types of campaigns should be regularly updated on a monthly basis to accommodate changes in the Google platform algorithm. Just getting up to speed with organic search and SEO can take anywhere from three months to a few years depending on the market you are looking to gain traction with via search.

On the other hand, PPC or Pay-Per-Click advertising is a method of digital marketing that takes advantage of the quick-result oriented sponsored-content model in which the law firm bids for a top spot on Google's search page. Whether or not it is more effective than a long-term SEO strategy depends on whether or not your advertising strategy and messaging are reaching the right audience at the right time. The experience that one gets from PPC is extremely useful but the strategy itself is unsustainable. Because 89% of the traffic you get from PPC would not have been attainable via organic search, it is more than likely that after the PPC campaign ends or when you run out of money in the budget, this traffic will similarly disappear. In this case, PPC is better used as a barometer for how well your message is reaching your core audience.

If you are unsure of whether your advertising is actually converting at an optimal level, you can try out a PPC campaign to see if you are bringing in actual customers and driving growth for your firm. PPC campaigns give you the data needed to see if you are fulfilling a potentially untapped market in your local or national region. PPC allows you to target your advertising towards a specific geographic location. If you see that many clicks are indeed coming from this location, you can adjust your outreach accordingly and begin reaching out to the individuals in that area for representation and increase your chances of taking on a greater client base.