Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in June 26, 2015 and has been checked for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Are you familiar with AdWords? How about AdSense?

Do you know how these services could benefit your business?

You may shun them now – preferring other alternatives like blogging, online networking, or even simple word-of-mouth – but ads are still effective in grabbing an audience’s attention today. Super Bowl ads for example, increased the chances of a person buying a product or service by 6.6 percent. Not bad for a few seconds.

You have plenty of options when it comes to promoting publicity for your company: from TV ads to billboard displays. However, one thing you should really invest on is online advertising – starting with AdWords and AdSense.

How Does AdWords and AdSense Work?

To put it simply: Adwords serves up the ads for the advertiser (that’s you!), while AdSense distributes the ads to relevant places on the Web or placed by publisher on his niche blog and etc.

Back in ancient times, marketers hardly had a choice if they wanted to promote their products or services. Traditional options such as TV, radio, print, or display advertising are often too expensive. Thus, smaller businesses had to rely on positive reviews and word-of-mouth while they scrape enough funds for real publicity.

Times have changed since then.

Adwords and AdSense by Google has become a complementary parts of Google’s advertising program.

AdWords is a program designed FOR BUSINESSES or called as Advertisers so they can create and control their own ads. These are displayed on Google search results (SERP), partner websites with AdSense, or the Google Display network. You can opt to pay based on per thousand impressions on your ad (known as CPM) OR per click (more commonly called CPC).

A popular misconception with AdWords is that your ad will appear #1 on search results. That’s NOT true. Google displays ads based on its relevance to a user’s query. In the above example, we typed in ‘SEO in Los Angeles’ and got several ads related to our search. These appeared at the top or the right-hand side. AdWords is great if you want to focus on local SEO or boost brand awareness in your locality.

AdSense on the other hand, is FOR PUBLISHERS (online publications, bloggers, etc.) who want to make money from their content. They must first signup and submit their website to Google for approval. After which they will receive a code to display related ads. They earn a percentage of what the advertiser pays to Google each time someone clicks an ad on their website.

If you’re new to AdSense, please take the time to review their guidelines and best practices. While Google encourages maximum exposure and suggests you put one ad above the fold, they highly advise against misleading users. Avoid deceptive labels, or mimicking your site’s formatting so it doesn’t look like ads.

Ads are ads and should stay that way. In fact, they should be labeled as Advertisements or Sponsored Links so as to prevent confusion.

Can I Use AdWords and AdSense Together?

While it’s not prohibited, it can be a bad thing if used for the wrong reasons.

For example: say you have a digital marketing blog that offers news, tips, and commentary about everything related to search and online branding. However, you’re not getting much money despite running Google AdSense. So you decide to use AdWords to drive more traffic to your site. Bad move.

Google employs stricter rules when it comes to people who want to manipulate their system. In general, putting AdSense on your landing page is NOT allowed. Also, aggressively placing ads or using irrelevant keywords in AdWords can get you banned. Instead of contemplating on how to use both together, focus your efforts on how to maximize one service to reach your goal.

AdSense vs. AdWords vs. SEO

Here’s the thing: even if you are already running AdWords or AdSense, you should still perform Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies to cater to organic rankings. Why? People choose organic results 94 percent of the time than ads. If you’re not on the first page of Google (or other search engines), don’t expect to get as much traffic or clicks.

If you currently have an SEO campaign but want to start an AdWords or AdSense project, go ahead. It will NOT affect your organic rankings whatsoever. In a digital marketing sense, these two campaigns are actually different. So if you run both, you’ll need to measure two progress reports and look at two varied results.

AdWords vs. Organic Traffic

The guys at Media Two Interactive conducted an experiment on this theory and came up with a pretty interesting outcome. During the first 8 weeks, they implemented an AdWords only campaign. On the following 8 weeks, they turned to SEO. After 16 weeks, they found out that their target site still received positive amount of traffic – even when the AdWords campaign was turned off.

Why is that? SEO tactics help us reach out to specific audiences through relevant keywords, content, and customized social media interaction. Google’s system recognizes this as a smart targeting approach and rewards websites accordingly.

Important Note! Just because you’re an AdWords customer doesn’t mean you’ll get preferential treatment.

AdSense and SEO

What about Google Adsense? Won’t Google prefer your website because technically, you’re a partner and you’re helping them generate more income?

On the contrary, bad AdSense practices can lower your rankings. For example: if you’re running AdSense on your pages and you basically filled them with ads, there’s a good chance you won’t rank as high because users won’t engage with your content.

No one likes ‘in-your-face’ promotion – and search engines know this. Stick with the proper Google AdSense guidelines and continue ethical SEO efforts to reap optimum results. If you happen to get suspended or banned, don’t despair. As mentioned, AdSense campaigns are treated separately from SEO; so you will still rank regardless of what happens to your account.

SEO vs. PPC in 2016: Which Is Better?

That would depend on your business goal. Are you aiming to boost brand awareness or to get more sales?

Digital marketing experts (myself included) recommend utilizing BOTH PPC and SEO campaigns. However, there are instances when either one would work better. For example: if you’re a start-up, you may want to go into PPC first to increase awareness for your brand. PPC can reach more audiences in a day (when done right) because ads are placed on relevant places on the Web.

On the other hand, if you’re aiming for long-term results, it’s best to switch to SEO. Search engine optimization combines links, social media, content, and mobile experience to help websites rank on SERP. Over time – even after the campaign is over – you will see that all efforts are paying well in terms of traffic.

Check out CPC Strategy’s awesome infographic that explains these two concepts well:

PPC and SEO Working Together

Although these services DO NOT directly affect your organic rankings doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them the time of day.

Phil Frost from Main Street ROI suggests running AdWords before starting SEO so you’ll know which keywords would be profitable. Aaron Wall from SEO Book on the other hand, recommends integrating on- and offline marketing techniques to get the most bang for your buck. Meanwhile, big brands such as GoDaddy and Budweiser use both strategies as they compete for attention during Super Bowl ads every year.

You could opt to launch either AdSense or AdWords campaigns to complement your SEO efforts; OR even have PPC before optimization. It’s your choice.

Conclusion

So: pay-per-click versus search engine optimization? No competition there.

Whether you will use AdWords or AdSense, bear in mind that it all boils down to WHAT you want to achieve online and remember it does not affect your online rankings, therefore use it accordingly. The reason why most businesses fail is because they were not clear about their goals. Write them down, be specific, and talk to a professional about your plans.

Take advantage of expert advice. Look for digital marketing services that offer free consultations to get the most out of your experience.

We want to hear from you! Are you implementing AdWords or AdSense into your SEO campaign? If so, how are your results? Let’s talk more on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+!

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