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Written by Rosanna Campbell
Your SEO and PPC teams probably don’t share data. That’s problematic.
Organic traffic is slipping. CPCs are climbing.
And conversions aren’t keeping pace.
It’s not just the LLMs — the SERP itself has changed. In 2025, every query is a blended battlefield of ads, AI overviews, videos, shopping units, map packs, and organic links.
Yet, most teams operate with SEO and PPC in silos.
That doesn’t work anymore.
Because to users, there’s no “organic vs. paid search.” They just click what’s useful. And “useful” now shows up in more places than ever.
If you don’t align your channels, you end up with duplication, cannibalization, and wasted spend.
This guide will show you eight ways to bring SEO and PPC together — from sharing keyword data to sharpening targeting. So you can cut costs, capture more clicks, and drive higher ROI.
Let’s start with an often-overlooked but powerful way to combine your PPC and SEO efforts: spotting intent mismatches.
When your PPC ads fail to convert, the problem might not be your targeting or creative — it could be that you’re bidding on the wrong intent entirely.
If the SERP is dominated by videos, tutorials, or how to guides, it signals that users are still researching — not necessarily ready to buy your product.
Without analyzing the SERP, you risk wasting ad spend on queries that will never convert.
Let’s use Squarespace as an example.
If they’re bidding on “website design” and conversions are weak, a quick SERP check would explain it:
Google surfaces a local pack of agencies for this term, which signals service-seeking intent — not DIY website builders.
Knowing that, they could cut the term and redirect spend to higher-intent queries.
One of the most common (and costly) PPC mistakes is bidding on customer support queries.
Searches like “[YourProduct] login problems” or “[YourProduct] forum” signal that someone is already a customer trying to troubleshoot — not a prospect considering a free trial or demo.
Yet, many companies spend thousands every month sending these clicks to sales pages that rarely convert.
For example, if Squarespace analyzed their rankings for a term like “Squarespace login,” they’d see they already rank #1.
And those visitors almost never convert for one vital reason — they’re already customers.
Luckily, there’s an easy fix: Squarespace can exclude this and other support terms from its PPC campaigns.
Here’s how to do this for your own ad campaigns:
Start by finding support-related queries for your brand using a keyword research tool.
We’ll be using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool for this step.
Note: A free Semrush account gives you 10 searches in this tool per day. Or you can use this link to access a 14-day trial on a Semrush Pro subscription.
Enter your brand’s name in the top search bar and your brand’s URL in the purple search bar to personalize the data to your domain.
Click “Search.”
Manually scan the list (or use the “Include keywords” filter) to find support-related terms like “login,” “pricing,” “free trial,” “templates,” “support,” and “forum.”
Then, view the number highlighted in blue to the right of each term — that’s your current ranking.
Already ranking #1–3 for your most commonly searched support terms?
Organic SEO is doing its job, which means you can remove these terms from your PPC campaigns.
Export them into a CSV or Google Sheet to create a negative keyword list.
Now, you’ll have the confidence (and the data) to cut PPC spend knowing SEO fully covers these searches.
Further reading: Want to know what companies are spending on PPC? Check out our curated list of PPC statistics.
When dozens of different queries with slightly different intents funnel into a single PPC landing page, relevance drops.
Why does this matter?
Because landing page relevance improves your Quality Score, which can cut CPC by 16% to 50%.
In other words, the closer the page matches what a searcher actually wants, the less you pay for each click.
Conducting keyword research can help you understand where you need a separate landing page. To start, use a keyword research tool to group organic keywords into clusters.
Then, map each keyword cluster to a dedicated PPC landing page.
This way, your ads always point to content that matches the searcher’s intent, while your Quality Score (and budget efficiency) benefits from the added relevance.
Squarespace is a good example of this.
Instead of sending every “website builder” query to one broad page, they build dedicated landing pages around different intents.
For example, a search for “portfolio website” leads to a page showcasing portfolio-specific templates, not a generic product overview.
Further reading: Keyword Mapping: A Step-by-Step Guide to Better SEO
Brand bidding is one of the biggest friction points between SEO and PPC teams.
The debate isn’t whether to bid on your brand — it’s when. Without unified data, teams make this decision based on assumptions rather than evidence.
The truth is somewhere in the middle — and the right decision depends on context.
So, instead of separating PPC advertising and SEO data, combine them to make a more informed decision.
Start by checking whether competitors are bidding on your brand with a manual search for your branded keywords.
For instance, a search for “Squarespace website builder” shows that Wix is also bidding on the term.
Want to automate this process?
Use a tool like Semrush’s Keyword Gap that lets you assess your site and your competitors’ sites for the top shared keywords (paid and organic) they use.
If you see your competitors bidding on your branded keywords, it makes sense to run ads to defend those clicks.
But if your competitors aren’t bidding, it’s time to check your organic coverage.
Do you already own most of page one organically for your branded terms?
If the answer is no, ads help fill the gaps.
If yes, you can safely test pausing.
Turn off your ads for branded keywords and see what happens.
Pro tip: If cutting ads also cuts traffic by [40%, they’re adding value. If drops hit 80%+, you’re just paying for what you’d get anyway.
Finally, consider the messaging value of your ads.
Even if you’re getting organic coverage, brand ads give you space to promote new features, discounts, or free trials.
So it might still be worth paying for them.
For example, Squarespace uses its paid ads on the term “Squarespace website builder” to promote its new AI website builder tools.
A common SEO challenge is figuring out which keywords actually matter.
Ranking for broad terms might bring traffic, but not necessarily signups or revenue.
Without conversion data, it’s hard to know where to focus.
This is where PPC comes in. Paid campaigns don’t just generate leads — they generate fast, reliable data.
You can see which headlines win clicks, which keywords drive conversions, and what each click is worth.
Take the phrase “website platform for small businesses.”
If PPC data shows it converts four times better than the broader “website platform,” that’s the angle worth prioritizing in your SEO titles, H1s, and content strategy.
PPC metrics can even help you prove the business value of SEO — something every stakeholder loves.
Once you know a keyword’s conversion rate and customer value from paid campaigns, you can model the value of ranking for it:
SEO ROI = (Organic clicks gained × PPC conversion rate × Customer value) − SEO cost
Say a keyword costs $30K/month in ads, but ranking organically would capture roughly a third of that traffic.
That’s about $9K in “free” conversions every single month.
That’s the kind of math that gets buy-in from leadership.
You can use this same logic to estimate the value of refreshing existing content. Sometimes a simple update is worth tens of thousands in equivalent ad spend.
The takeaway?
PPC data gives you the proof points and the playbook to double down on the SEO opportunities that will actually pay off.
Further reading: How to Advertise Your Business with a $500 Budget
PPC landing pages underperform if they don’t answer your audience’s questions.
Say you’re running an ad for “website design,” but you’re sending people to a generic product page.
You’re missing what they actually want — answers to queries like “How can I design my own website?”
The good news? Your SEO team already has the answers.
Google’s People Also Ask (PAA) is essentially a ready-made FAQ list you can use to boost conversions on your PPC landing pages.
To apply this, run a Google search for your target keyword, scan the PAA questions, and pick the ones most relevant to your product.
Or use a PAA aggregator like AlsoAsked.
Then, add concise FAQ sections directly addressing those questions on your landing pages.
Like Squarespace does here:
Use the same phrasing as the query where possible. And for cost-related questions, include transparent pricing.
If PAA hints at confusion between competitors (e.g., “project management versus task management”), add a comparison chart.
But don’t stop at answering.
Finish each FAQ with a call to action like “Compare plans” or “Start free trial” so every answer nudges the visitor toward conversion.
PPC and SEO see searchers from different angles, and combining these insights makes both channels stronger.
For instance, PPC campaigns capture signals you won’t get from SEO alone.
This includes detailed geo and device performance, auction insights, and even what competitors are promising in their ads.
Feeding that data back to SEO gives you sharper targeting and more relevant content.
Meanwhile, SEO’s read of the SERPs tells PPC teams which formats, keywords, and messages resonate.
Start with audience insights.
PPC demographic data can show how the same keyword lands differently with different groups.
An “enterprise website builder” query might skew older, while “startup website” attracts younger searchers.
With that knowledge, you can tailor your content to each segment.
Plus, PPC geo reports often show which cities or regions deliver stronger conversion rates.
Double down on those markets with local SEO landing pages and Google Business Profiles instead of spreading resources evenly.
Then, look at conversion timelines.
PPC usually converts faster, so landing pages should focus on immediate offers like free trials or demos.
SEO content, on the other hand, is better for longer nurturing cycles, using tutorials, comparisons, and testimonials to build trust over time.
PPC impression data can even act as an early warning system for shifting demand. Think “tax planning” in November versus “tax software” in January.
By spotting seasonal spikes before rankings catch up, you can publish content early and retarget those visitors later when demand peaks.
Finally, use SEO as a proactive defense against competitive ad bids.
If rivals target your brand with ads, you can create comparison pages to address those claims directly in organic search.
That way, competitor ad spend doesn’t define your positioning.
PPC is real-time. SEO is a long game. Put them together and you’ve got an early-warning and opportunity-detection system.
Start with Quality Scores.
They’re more than an ad metric — they’re a diagnostic tool for SEO.
For instance, if your scores are tanking on mobile traffic, that usually means your site is slow or the user experience is clunky.
That’s not just costing you more per click.
It’s also holding back your organic rankings, since Google bakes page speed and Core Web Vitals into its algorithm.
Fix the problem once — faster load times, cleaner UX — and you’ll see the lift across both paid and organic.
Then, there are negative keywords.
In PPC, you might block terms that aren’t relevant to your products to protect your budget.
But those searches don’t disappear just because you turned them off in ads. They still represent demand.
Instead of ignoring it, capture it with SEO. Create tutorials, “how-to” content, or resource hubs around those queries.
You’ll pull in a wider audience for free.
And, since you know these visitors aren’t ready to buy yet, you can retarget them later with PPC when they are.
Finally, watch your keyword position tracker like a hawk after every Google update.
Algorithm shakeups create openings you can exploit if you move fast.
If a competitor drops from page one, don’t wait.
Publish or refresh your content to take over those keywords. At the same time, increase your PPC bids on the same terms while auction pressure is temporarily lower.
That one-two punch lets you capture traffic your rivals just lost before they even know what hit them.
Further reading: How to Spy on Your Competitors’ Google Ads
Many stakeholders still think of SEO and PPC as competing, not complementary.
While leadership may be nervous to try a new, silo-free approach to search engine marketing, you can convince them in a couple of ways.
First, show them how SERPs have evolved.
AI Overviews, rich features, and rising CPCs mean the old “paid vs. organic” split doesn’t exist anymore.
Then, use this powerful three-step storytelling framework to convince execs to act.
Start small. Don’t push for a full overhaul on day one.
Instead, prove ROI by aligning on a single initiative — like deciding when to bid (or not) on branded keywords.
Once you’ve shown early results, it’s easier to get everyone aligned on their responsibilities.
Next, work with SEO and PPC teams to establish next steps for each team member to achieve closer alignment.
Here’s a role-based plan for what your teams should start doing now:
It doesn’t make any sense not to have SEO and PPC work together.
Keep the teams siloed, and you’ll waste budget, lose traffic, and fall behind as search evolves.
For your first move, start with a shared SERP review.
Map where you’re strong, where you overlap, and where the gaps are for the quickest path to better ROI from both channels.
Want to dig deeper?
Explore our guide to the best PPC tools to uncover the advanced data and insights you need to align SEO and PPC, cut wasted spend, and boost ROI.
Backlinko is owned by Semrush. We’re still obsessed with bringing you world-class SEO insights, backed by hands-on experience. Unless otherwise noted, this content was written by either an employee or paid contractor of Semrush Inc.
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