SEO or Google Ads? It’s the question I get asked most, and my answer is nearly always the same: fix the website first, then use both. But the order you lean on them depends on what kind of business you are. Here’s how I decide, with real figures from my clients.
The quick difference between SEO and Google Ads
Google Ads puts you at the top of the results today. You pay for every click, and the moment you stop paying, the clicks stop.
SEO earns you a place in the normal results and the map pack. It takes months to build, but once you’re there, the visits keep coming without a cost per click.
Both send people to the same place: your website. That’s why the website comes first.
Why the website comes before SEO or Google Ads
If your site is slow, vague or hides the phone number, you pay for every visitor who leaves. With ads that’s literal: you pay per click. With SEO you pay in wasted months.
On one hire company’s account, a new homepage tested head to head against the old one in Google Ads. The new page produced 10 enquiries at £247 each. The old one produced 1 at £1,342. Same ads, same budget, completely different result, purely because of the page.
Business type 1: new or urgent, choose Ads first
If you’re a new business, have spare capacity right now, or sell something seasonal, Google Ads gets the phone ringing while SEO builds.
For a marquee hire company, a restructured campaign brought in 61 enquiries in about 60 days at £58.66 each. For a Wirral campervan conversion company, the account had produced 89 enquiries at £39 each, with window fitting enquiries coming in at under £16.
Business type 2: established local trade, choose SEO first
If you’ve been going a while, have good reviews and work in a defined area, SEO usually gives you the better long term return.
A Wirral garden room company got to position 1 in its best towns with location pages, and its website now brings in 18 to 25 enquiries a month. When I compared the two, organic visitors were enquiring at 3.5% per session against 0.7% from paid traffic at the time.
Business type 3: high value jobs, use both together
If one job is worth thousands, it usually makes sense to run both. Ads cover the searches you don’t rank for yet, and SEO gradually takes over the ones you do.
That garden room company runs both. In the first week after restructuring their ads, impression share went from 20% to 51%, and their best local keyword was bringing enquiries in at £9.88 each. Meanwhile, the SEO work kept compounding underneath.
The mistake that wastes the most money
The most expensive mistake I see is running Google Ads to a homepage that tries to do everything. Someone searches for one specific service in one town, clicks your ad, and lands on a page about everything you do everywhere.
Send each group of ads to the page that matches it: the service page, or better still the town page for that service. It’s the same principle as location pages SEO. Match the page to the search, and both your rankings and your ad costs improve.
How to choose between SEO or Google Ads for your business
Ask yourself three questions:
1. Do I need enquiries in the next 30 days? If yes, Ads.
2. Will I still be serving the same area in two years? If yes, SEO.
3. Is my website ready for either? If no, fix that before spending a penny.
Want a straight answer for your business?
I’ll look at your website and your market for free and tell you whether I’d start with SEO, Google Ads or the website itself.
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FAQ
Is SEO cheaper than Google Ads?
Over time, usually. SEO costs effort up front but doesn’t charge per click. Ads cost money every day they run.
How quickly does Google Ads work?
Ads can show the same day, but a new campaign usually needs a few weeks of data before it settles.
Can I stop Ads once SEO is working?
Many clients reduce ad spend as rankings improve, keeping ads for their most valuable searches.
