Marketing

SEO + PPC: Why They Must Work Together

Author - Brett Tudor
18.09.2025

You probably treat SEO (organic search) and PPC (paid search) as different silos. But the world has changed: search engine results pages (SERPs) now mix paid ads, organic links, videos, maps, AI overviews.

To your customers it’s all the same thing: what solves their problem fastest. If your teams stay separate, you end up duplicating effort, wasting money, and missing chances.

The goal: align SEO and PPC so each helps the other, to boost ROI, reduce waste, and capture more of the right traffic.

8 Practical Ways to Make Them Work Hand-in-Hand

Here are eight concrete moves you can take. Pick one or two to start, see results, then expand.

Look at the SERP first to see if your ads are barking up the wrong tree
If your PPC ads aren’t converting well, maybe you’re bidding on keywords where people are still researching, not buying. Or where the SERP is dominated by “how-to” videos or FAQs. When you see that, shift away from those keywords or adjust your message to match intent.

Stop paying for support queries
If someone searches “[YourProduct] login problem,” odds are they’re already your customer. Yet many firms pay for those clicks and send them to sales or trial pages that don’t convert. Use your SEO: if you already rank well for support terms, exclude them from PPC. Let organic cover them.

Cluster keywords so your PPC landing pages match what people expect
If lots of different searches go to one generic landing page, the message isn’t relevant—and your quality scores (cost per click) suffer. Group similar search queries (clusters) and build landing pages that answer exactly what people are looking for. Better match = lower cost, better conversion.

Use unified data to decide whether to bid on your own brand terms
“Should we buy ads for our own brand name?” That debate gets messy. If you already rank #1 organically, maybe you don’t need PPC there. But if competitors are trying to steal your brand clicks, or if there’s a chance to promote something new (feature, discount), ads may still be worth it. The decision should come from shared PPC + SEO data, not guesswork.

Let PPC show you which keywords are worth investing in organically
PPC gives fast feedback: which headlines and keywords convert, what each lead is worth. Use that to guide your content strategy (blogs, pages) so you chase keywords that bring real business, not just traffic. If a keyword is expensive in PPC but converts well, ranking organically for it can save you money long term.

Turn “People Also Ask” (PAA) questions into FAQ sections on landing pages
These are the questions Google knows people are curious about. If your landing page doesn’t address those, some visitors will leave. Use the exact wording from PAA to add FAQ spots, comparison tables, or clear answers. Then close with a strong call to action. It builds trust and raises conversion.

Share insights back and forth: what PPC learns, SEO can use and vice versa
PPC is like a fast microscope: you get data on what messages, geographies, devices work. Feed that into SEO: write content targeted at those geographies or device types. SEO tells PPC what kinds of content are resonating so ads can mirror them. Together they sharpen your targeting and creative.

Use PPC as early warning and SEO for long-term gains
PPC shows quickly when user behaviour shifts (new keywords rising, impressions dropping, etc.). If your PPC Quality Score is dropping on mobile, maybe your site is slow—fix it, and both PPC and SEO benefit. Also, you can turn negative keywords in PPC (things you don’t want to pay for) into content topics for SEO—capture interest earlier and remarket later.

How to Get the Teams Aligned

It’s one thing to know these ideas. It’s another to get people across SEO, PPC, leadership on the same pagShow them the shift: how SERPs are changing; costs are rising; organic and paid aren’t separate anymore.

Use storytelling: paint what’s happening outside (market shifts), what it’s doing inside your business (CPCs rising, organic gaps), and what aligning can do (cut waste, get more conversions).

Start small: pick one shared initiative (e.g. bid or pause brand keywords; create an FAQ section; unify keyword data). Measure the impact.
Define roles: SEO specialists use PPC data; PPC teams tell SEO what high-cost keywords are; leadership tracks combined metrics; everyone shares the same dashboards.

SEO and PPC aren’t enemies. They are two levers on the same engine. When they move together:
You spend less wasting money on ineffective ads.

You get more conversions (because messages are sharper, landing pages more relevant).

You see trends early, adapt faster.