David: What are the benefits of SEO versus PPC? What is the downside of SEO versus PPC? And how does search marketing stack up against other forms of online marketing such as social media? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Cara Whitehouse. Cara, welcome to DMR.

Cara: Thank you very much for having me.

David: Welcome! Cara, heads up, Reload Digital, a London-based agency specializing in helping clients find the right blend of search, social, and other forms of online marketing to grow their business. So Cara, how do you define when a client should be using SEO or PPC?

Cara: There's a lot of factors, really, but I guess the main one that we generally focus on is about understanding the time frames that a client is working to. For example, if it's October and the client wants to be looking at boosting their traffic in run up to Christmas, the only realistic search marketing option is PPC because SEO, as a general rule, just simply won't kick in quick enough to get the results that they need. Time frame is definitely ... That's one of the most important.

There are others as well. Competition, of course, is another factor, particularly in terms of the SEO side of things. We have to consider how difficult it will realistically be to achieve results, depending on what other players in the market are doing, and how big they are.

Budget as well, of course, plays a role, especially when it comes to costs per click. PPC can be a fantastically profitable platform, but if those costs per click are exceptionally high - I've seen £40 per click - that definitely adds a layer of risk that some clients just aren't prepared to take.

David: Okay. £40 per click, I would imagine you're talking about Google AdWords there.

Cara: Yes. Of course, PPC does go across other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, anything really whereby you pay per click. I think most people think about it primarily as Google, and that's probably where we work with most of our clients.