Better yet, don’t put all your eggs in one basket and become a multi discipline digital marketer. Why? Because an SEO expert who understands other digital marketing channels stands out of the pack.
I agree with several of the comments. Having a good understanding of both can give you an edge. But, when establishing your expertise, in digital marketing you'll have to specialize and go one of the routes, and actually there is so much more. Trust me that, an absolute specialist at one thing, will be better at that than the newly emerging "Full Stack Marketers". Although that is not bad, and I encourage all marketers to have some understanding of multiple areas, a Full Stack Marketer will never be better at SEO than an SEO Specialist with, say, 8 to 10 years of experience (a good one, at least). And so on.
Now, I for example love learning all areas, I started my career with just PPC, but now I'm actually specialized in Marketing Automation, and along the way I was also involved in SEO, but automation is the one I'm better at. So it's just about finding your jam in digital marketing since it is ultra broad.
You will benefit from thorough specialization in the long run regarding your potential income. But surely, I'm an advocate for discovering new skills and that serves your knowledge.
It's just a matter of what you prioritize, since any area of digital marketing can help you make good money if you become good at it.
Multiple streams of income. Even as one entity. Web Hosting, Web Development,PPC,SEO, Graphic Design. All under one roof, but offer multiple streams of revenue
In my experience, PPC earns way more because companies tend to focus on short term gains and the effects of PPC are easily measured in $$. SEO is more of a long term game and it can be difficult to convince companies to invest in it because conversions are not always monetary.
I gave PPC a serious approach for about 8 months. I was banned as soon as I started breaking even (I don't think it was a coincidence). Banned on fb and google ads. Didn't bother making a new account - why give them my money if they don't respect my spend.
I'm onto SEO now and it seems to have a lot more potential, and it's unbannable - if a site gets deindex, you can make another. People typically don't trust/block/skip the ads, and have faith in the organic results.
Both PPC and SEO have no promises. SEO is the bigger fish to fry.
Depends on how much you value stress and reporting. PPC is more stress and reporting but typically more money too. It’s also faster results so clients thank you more in the first year..
I offer both. I don't get how people can have a whole business just offering PPC or SEM...seems too easy, not comprehensive, and not sustainable as a standalone service. Also, I like offering PPC for up front conversions while working on SEO. But I'm freelance, and you guys might be laughing at my ignorance.