Over 86% of Companies use PPC data to help with their SEO campaigns

Search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are two of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your website. And while they may seem like very different tactics on the surface, SEO and PPC can actually work very well together.

In fact, over 86% of companies leverage PPC data to inform and optimize their SEO strategies, according to a Search Engine Journal survey.

Integrating PPC and SEO allows you to boost traffic from both organic and paid sources, target users more effectively, and improve return on investment (ROI) for your search campaigns overall.

In this article, we’ll explore the key ways you can use PPC data to enhance your SEO performance.

How PPC Data Benefits SEO

Here are some of the main advantages of using PPC insights for SEO:

• Quick feedback on what works. PPC provides instant data on which keywords drive clicks and conversions. You can take winning ad copy and landing pages and optimize organic content accordingly.
• Identify high-value SEO targets. See which terms send high-quality traffic to gauge which ones you should target in SEO.
• Uncover customer intent. PPC provides insight into user behavior and what types of queries they are searching for. This allows you to create content that matches searcher intent.
• Find gaps in your content. See which keywords lack high-quality landing pages to inform your content creation strategy.
• Test ideas quickly. Try out different ad copy, landing pages, and offers rapidly to see what resonates.
• Expand reach. Use PPC to enter new keyword markets and then optimize organic content once you validate demand.
• Remarket to visitors. Remarket to users who clicked your PPC ads but didn’t convert to nurture them into customers.

Integrating PPC and SEO data allows you to make smarter decisions about your organic search strategy. Now let’s look at some specific ways to utilize PPC insights.

6 Ways to Use PPC Data for SEO

Here are six tips for leveraging PPC campaigns to boost SEO performance:

1. Find High-Value SEO Keywords

Analyze your PPC search term report to identify which keywords are driving conversions or high-quality traffic.

These terms likely indicate commercial intent from users. You can take this signal and optimize your site to target these SEO keywords.

Focus on creating useful, conversion-focused content around these terms to improve organic rankings.

2. Optimize Pages for PPC Keywords

Look at which pages on your site are getting clicks and conversions from PPC traffic. Identify landing pages that are resonating with users.

You can then optimize these URLs for keywords sending them traffic. This includes updating page titles and meta descriptions, adding keywords to content, and ensuring a good user experience.

This on-page optimization can help improve organic rankings for those terms.

3. Identify Gaps in your Content

Analyze which keywords you’re bidding on in PPC that lack high-quality, dedicated landing pages on your site.

These content gaps present SEO opportunities. Create targeted content for those keywords to provide users with a relevant page tailored to their query.

4. Improve Site Navigation

Look at click-through rates on your PPC ads. If some ads have low CTRs, it likely means your ad copy or landing page content isn’t resonating.

You can use this to make site architecture changes to better speak to user intent. Improve site navigation and on-page SEO to drive more relevant organic traffic.

5. Inform Link Building

Use PPC ads to test which content resonates with users. See which pages drive the most conversions from your ads.

You can then prioritize link building and outreach efforts to these pages to boost rankings for target keywords.

6. Expand to New Keywords

PPC allows you to quickly test new keywords. If a new term performs well in paid search, you can then invest in optimizing for it in organic.

This allows you to rapidly expand into new keyword markets through paid search before scaling through SEO.

Creating a Unified Strategy

Gaining all these benefits requires close collaboration between your SEO and PPC teams. Here are some best practices for aligning efforts:

• Set up regular meetings to share insights from both groups. Review keyword findings, top-performing ads and landing pages, conversion trends, and more.
• Use shared spreadsheets and reports to ensure access to the same data. Track keyword performance in one unified source.
• Have SEOs review successful PPC ad copy and landing pages to inform content.
• Have PPC specialists review organic keyword gaps and priority pages to guide expansion.
• Set unified goals for lead generation, sales, etc. and track progress in a shared system.
• Use the same analytics platform (e.g. Google Analytics) to analyze web traffic and conversions.
• Build campaigns off of shared keyword research to minimize overlap and maximize reach.
• Remain flexible and open to new opportunities identified in each channel.

With strategic coordination and data sharing, PPC and SEO can work together to drive significantly more search traffic and revenue. Most successful search marketers take a holistic approach.

Avoid siloing PPC and organic as completely separate. Instead, leverage the unique strengths of each to improve overall performance. Use PPC as an agile way to test new keywords, ad copy, and landing pages. Then scale winners through SEO for sustained results.

Final Thoughts

The data from PPC campaigns provides powerful insights that can directly improve SEO strategy. Keyword research, ad testing, landing page analysis, and conversion tracking allow you to optimize organic content for relevance and performance.

Follow the tips outlined here to utilize PPC data for smarter SEO. Partner closely with your paid search team or agency. When done right, integrating PPC and organic search unlocks tremendous potential for growth.