As I’ve been writing about search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing plans, you may be wondering, “Which is the best? What should I ask my search engine placement service to do?

The answer: It depends.

For example, while organic SEO (where you place optimized keywords in your website’s copy and/or write and distribute articles with keywords sprinkled throughout) costs nothing more than your time, it does take time to be effective - often up to three to six months if you submit features regularly to the free article distribution services.

But organic SEO will continue to work as a search engine placement service for you for months and years to come. The articles and content you write will bring visitors to your website continually. You did the work months or years ago, yet the search engines still will find your article or content when potential visitors perform a search.

PPC on the other hand, will get you visitors right away. If you have available funds for an online advertising budget - and the need for visitors right away, PPC may be the best bet for your search engine placement service.

But research your click “bids” carefully. Decide on your budget even more carefully. Monitor the clicks on your ad and the actual number of new clients or purchases that come as a result of those clicks ever more carefully. Go through with the proverbial fine-tooth comb the number of clicks versus the number of new customers. Are you getting your money’s worth? I mean, are you really getting a good return on your ROI? You very well could be, but follow the clicks and the budget.

Also, remember, once your PPC search engine placement service campaign is over, it’s over. Unless you have great optimized organic content within your site, your site will not come up high in search results.

So, to conclude, let’s compare the two different search engine placement service tools:

Organic SEO: free and long lasting, although it can take months to see results.

PPC: potentially instant results, but short-lived and could be very expensive.