SEO vs. SEA - A direct comparison of the two marketing measures

We give you an overview of the most important features and differences of SEO and SEA measures and reveal how you can use them to increase your direct sales.

Probably the best-known difference between the two strategies is the cost. While you have to pay for Search Engine Advertising (SEA), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) measures do not involve advertising costs. SEO initially offers the advantage that the work you invest in search engine optimization pays off around the clock, unlike SEA campaigns, which go offline when the budget runs out.

However, SEO is generally a long-term measure that does not have an immediate effect. Nevertheless, structuring your website with subheadings or checking and optimising the loading time of your page can significantly improve your ranking in the search results. The disadvantage, in comparison, is the high amount of time and work involved as well as the lack of possibility to address a specific target group.

This brings us to SEA. Paid advertisements enable you to reach your target group as precisely as possible. In addition, unlike SEO, you do not have to wait months for results, but can perceive them directly. Furthermore, you have various options for your SEA campaigns. You can customise them or place ads specifically for special offers. 

Through the many extension options, your campaigns also take up more space on the search results page and thus attract more attention to your hotel and your brand. Last but not least, SEA measures also offer you the possibility of placing "remarketing ads". Here, travellers who have visited your website only once are subsequently shown ads that should lead them back to your hotel.

Both measures have their justification and should be applied depending on the objective. The following table provides an overview of the advantages and disadvantages:

We recommend that you consider both strategies, because SEO and SEA also benefit from each other. For example, the keywords chosen when setting up an SEA campaign can also be used in your meta descriptions as part of your search engine optimization and thus increase your ranking in the organic (unpaid) search results and increase the number of your website visitors.

Another important thing to know is that Google has introduced a "mobile-only" logic since 21 March. This means that all web content that is not optimised for mobile devices will disappear from Google's organic results (SEO). However, to ensure that travellers can easily find you as long as you have not yet optimised your content for mobile, you should definitely be visible with your paid ads at this time.

To get the most out of paid search, we recommend hiring someone with experience and expertise in Pay Per Click campaigns. At myhotelshop, we not only have the necessary knowledge to run successful campaigns, but we are also Google Premium Partners.

So don't hesitate to contact us for a free demo. Thus, we help you and your hotel to further expand your online success in the shortest possible time.