PPC and SEO working together is what most businesses end up buying, and the decision is whether one agency should hold both retainers or two specialists should each hold one. This page sets out how search engine optimization and pay per click share data when they are run well, what a business gains and loses by retaining PPC and SEO marketing from one agency, and how to brief and score the two even when one agency does both. The free in-house versus agency worksheet on this site sizes the retainers against a hire; Retainvia Pro keeps the briefs and scorecards for $49 a month.
How the two share data when run well
Paid search shows within weeks which queries convert, and that list is the cheapest SEO research a business will ever buy; SEO shows which pages already rank, so paid budget can be moved off queries the business owns. An agency running both should be able to show the business that exchange in its monthly report. If the PPC report and the SEO report never mention each other, the two are working in the same building and not together.
One agency or two
One agency means one retainer, one report and one accountable person, and the risk that the weaker of the two services hides behind the stronger. Two specialists mean sharper skills and two sets of meetings. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics handbook cited below reports the median pay of a marketing manager at $165,780 a year, and a business that retains two agencies usually needs someone in-house at that level to hold them together; the free worksheet on this site compares that hire with the retainers.
Brief and score them separately either way
Even with one agency, write two briefs: the PPC brief with the media budget, the target cost per lead and the queries; the SEO brief with the pages to own and the months the business will wait. Score PPC monthly on cost per lead and SEO quarterly on rankings and organic leads. Retainvia Pro keeps both briefs, the shortlist and the two scorecards in one retainer record for $49 a month, so a business with one agency still sees two results.
Questions people ask about ppc and seo
Is it cheaper to get PPC and SEO from one agency?
Often, on the retainer; the risk is one service hiding behind the other. Score them separately to see it.
What should a PPC and SEO agency show me monthly?
How the paid query data changed the SEO plan and how the ranking pages changed the paid budget. If neither, they are not working together.
Can I start with PPC and add SEO later from the same agency?
Yes, and it is the common path; brief the SEO work separately when it starts.
Does Retainvia score both?
Yes; two scorecards, one retainer record, whichever agency holds the work.