What if I informed you that a number of the greatest SEO insights don’t come from natural search knowledge alone?
When Search engine optimisation knowledge is considered in isolation, it solely explains what’s taking place within the natural search channel.
Nevertheless, in actuality, companies counting on Search engine optimisation are supported by a number of channels.
Typically, PPC and Search engine optimisation are handled individually, which reduces effectivity and results in missed alternatives.
This text outlines our company’s course of for conducting a co-optimization audit, combining Search engine optimisation and PPC knowledge to uncover insights for a extra holistic, full-funnel method. I’ll additionally share methods that can assist you take this technique of holistic search even additional.
Why must you do an Search engine optimisation-PPC co-optimization audit?
Each Search engine optimisation and PPC goal the identical searchers and function in the identical search panorama. By taking a holistic method, you possibly can obtain higher outcomes for what you are promoting.
Paid search offers Search engine optimisation with helpful knowledge not out there elsewhere, whereas Search engine optimisation enhances paid search by on-site and off-site optimizations that enhance total efficiency.
Combining these efforts creates a simpler search technique.
Dig deeper: SEO vs. PPC: Differences, pros, cons & an integrated approach
Easy methods to do a co-optimization audit
We’ll cowl easy methods to conduct this audit when you’ve got first-party knowledge for each channels, however many of those concepts can nonetheless apply even when you don’t have entry to paid knowledge.

Combining knowledge
To uncover insights between paid and natural, you’ll want to mix the info first. Although there are a lot of choices, we’ll give attention to two methods to do that.
Energy BI
Energy BI is a free and highly effective software for combining and visualizing knowledge successfully. Our workforce makes use of it to merge knowledge after we don’t have direct entry to Google Search Console and Google Ads.
To do that, export your search question report from Google Advertisements and the identical date vary from Google Search Console. You can too embrace web page knowledge. However for this evaluation, we’ll focus primarily on queries.
Google Advertisements paid and natural report
The paid and natural report in Google Advertisements reveals which search phrases enhance your web site’s visibility. You want particular permissions and hyperlink Google Search Console with Google Advertisements to make use of it.
As soon as linked, the report reveals phrases that triggered your paid advertisements, appeared in natural search, or each.
By evaluating this knowledge facet by facet, you possibly can assess the efficiency of your paid and natural search efforts.
Whereas natural conversion knowledge isn’t out there, the report can reveal gaps the place high-converting key phrases have little natural site visitors, presenting alternatives for additional optimization.
Right here’s a have a look at that report:


Advert metrics like clicks, impressions and common value per click on provide you with insights into how typically individuals see and interact together with your advertisements.
For natural outcomes:
- Natural clicks present how typically individuals click on your web site’s unpaid itemizing.
- Natural queries rely what number of occasions your web site reveals up in searches.
- Natural clicks/question reveals the common variety of clicks per search.
- Natural listings/question reveals how typically your web site seems per question.
In mixed metrics:
- Advertisements and natural clicks symbolize all clicks from each advertisements and natural outcomes.
- Advertisements and natural queries rely the full searches that triggered both.
- Advertisements and natural clicks/question offers the click-to-query ratio for each.
Google’s assist article, “About measuring paid and organic search results,” explains all of the out there metrics on this report.
Figuring out key phrase gaps
The main focus of our co-optimization audit is to advocate modifications in method within the following areas.
No paid or natural visibility
One of many first locations to search for paid and natural synergies is in queries the place the model lacks visibility in each channels. Assuming these key phrases are these you need to present up for, you’ll need to think about methods to pursue them.
Sturdy natural visibility: High 5 high-ranking non-brand key phrases
Establish non-brand key phrases that rank within the prime 5 positions with excessive search quantity and optimize them utilizing a mixture of paid and natural methods.
The purpose is to dominate the highest of the SERP, which might result in extra clicks than both channel would obtain by itself.
Folks are likely to belief manufacturers that constantly seem on the prime. When your model reveals up a number of occasions on a SERP, it indicators authority and reinforces that you’re the only option for that services or products.
Low natural visibility
Concentrate on high-volume key phrases that rank on Web page 2 or decrease to find out if paid search can improve visibility.
Search engine optimisation usually takes time to point out outcomes and groups typically make investments a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} pursuing sure phrases with out a corresponding price range for paid search.
In the meantime, paid search groups might establish Search engine optimisation key phrase targets and suppose, “We must be showing for this; we now have XYZ as a broad or phrase match.”
Nevertheless, simply because we’re eligible for these phrases within the public sale doesn’t imply we’re investing sufficient in them.
It’s essential to take your best-performing key phrase portfolio and allocate a good portion of your advert spend to these phrases.
The one caveat is that when you’re monitoring many informational phrases or hundreds of key phrases, you should pinpoint the highest ones to your paid search focus.
Competitor visibility
Study competitor rankings for necessary key phrases to handle their benefits by paid efforts.
Observing the place rivals excel in paid search can supply helpful insights for Search engine optimisation methods.
Equally, figuring out key phrases the place rivals rank extremely however you don’t can reveal significant alternatives to your paid search workforce to focus on.
Dig deeper: 7 reports SEO and PPC can use to help each other succeed
Evaluating true advert incrementality
For key phrases the place the model ranks in positions 1-3, the co-optimization course of evaluates whether or not allocating further advert spend would generate incremental advert clicks (primarily based on Google’s old incrementality study).
Moreover, there could also be alternatives to redirect paid spend in areas the place natural rankings are already robust.
Whereas these methods could seem contradictory, they spotlight the significance of steady testing.
Though the Google examine suggests spending on key phrases you already rank for is extremely efficient, our knowledge signifies that this isn’t at all times the case.
To handle potential paid search cannibalization, we analyze conditions the place shoppers is perhaps bidding on uncontested auctions – that means they’re the one ones paying for clicks, which might possible go to natural outcomes anyway.
Dig deeper: Top 7 Google Ads and SEO synergies you should act upon
Going past key phrases
Our normal SOP evaluation for co-optimization focuses solely on key phrase targets and the overlap in how we optimize for visibility.
That stated, there are a number of different locations that synergies exist between these two channels.
As you concentrate on executing your personal co-optimization auditing, listed below are a number of the different areas you’ll need to think about.
Web page-level optimizations
Incorporating your PPC marketing campaign’s goal phrases instantly onto the landing pages can considerably improve efficiency.
Customers anticipate a robust connection between their search question, the advert they click on on and the web page they land on.
Sadly, many PPC entrepreneurs focus solely on the platform and neglect to make needed modifications to the web site.
That is the place Search engine optimisation performs an important position in guaranteeing that concentrate on key phrases align with the content material on the web page.
In a single experiment, which we was a case examine, we hypothesized that aligning Search engine optimisation and PPC key phrases would enhance advert high quality scores and cut back cost-per-acquisition (CPA).
Though the standard scores remained unchanged, we noticed substantial reductions in cost-per-click (CPC) for many aligned key phrases, with some experiencing drops of 50-100%.
Regardless of the shortage of influence on high quality scores, this alignment successfully lowered total marketing campaign prices, serving to us obtain broader aims.
Conversion knowledge
For those who’ve been concerned in Search engine optimisation since earlier than 2012, you possible bear in mind after we had entry to keyword-level knowledge for each natural search time period.
Sadly, that stage of element is now not out there to SEOs, however we will nonetheless flip to paid seek for this helpful knowledge.
In our co-optimization audit, we don’t give attention to key phrases that convert, as we deal with these earlier in our key phrase analysis course of.
Nevertheless, it’s sensible to research which key phrases drive probably the most conversions in Google Advertisements and be sure that your Search engine optimisation technique prioritizes these key phrases.
Excessive CTR copy
You have to be mining your PPC campaigns for prime click-through charge (CTR) headlines and descriptions.
Apply these profitable components to your meta data to realize larger CTRs, which, as you now know, can result in improved rankings.
This can be a simple but impactful strategy to leverage PPC knowledge for Search engine optimisation success.
Don’t cease there
You’ll be able to co-optimize and leverage knowledge from each paid and natural search in numerous methods. In any case, it’s all about optimizing for a similar SERPs.
Co-optimizing your paid and natural search efforts just isn’t a one-time process; it’s an ongoing discovery and refinement course of important to a holistic search advertising technique.
By constantly analyzing mixed knowledge, you possibly can uncover traits, establish new alternatives and keep forward within the ever-changing search panorama.
Preserve testing, measuring and fine-tuning your method to maximizing your key phrase portfolio. The insights gained by co-optimization will improve your search visibility and drive significant outcomes for what you are promoting.
Dig deeper: 4 keys to SEO and PPC collaboration
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