Choosing the right strategy is crucial for businesses just starting their digital campaigns. This decision can make or break your investment of time and money, determining whether you attract high-quality traffic that converts into sales and revenue. As a Google Ads agency Gold Coast, we frequently encounter a common dilemma among business owners: Should they opt for SEO or Google Ads campaigns? While various factors can influence the choice, we firmly believe that Google Ads can benefit most businesses. While it does require a budget, Google Ads consistently delivers rapid returns on investment, leads, and sales. On the other hand, SEO, while more cost-effective, demands a longer timeline to yield results.
Contrasting SEO with Google Ads
For many marketers, finding valuable sources of leads without an overwhelming effort is a big challenge. This challenge becomes even more significant for industry newcomers eager to make their businesses visible quickly without breaking the bank. So, what’s the best approach in such a situation? Well, it depends.
Starting with SEO can be a wise move. When done right by experts like SEO Services Gold Coast, SEO can boost your rankings in search engine results. However, it’s essential to understand that SEO is a long-term strategy. It demands both time and investment before you start seeing solid results. While a well-executed SEO plan can bring excellent results over time, it might not be the best choice if you need quick visibility.
On the flip side, Google Ads is known for its speed. This is why many businesses invest billions in search advertising each year. If your Google Ads campaign is generating profits, there’s no need to limit your spending on it. Increasing your PPC (Pay-Per-Click) budget allows you to scale up your leads and profits accordingly. This makes Google Ads a cost-effective choice for businesses that require a lot of leads but don’t have the budget for a full-blown SEO campaign. In the short term, Google Ads can be a great option for quick results.
Evaluating the Outcomes of SEO and Google Ads
Traditional advertising methods like TV and magazine ads cannot precisely measure effectiveness. In today’s fast-paced market, they fall short of meeting the demands for accurate data. Similarly, SEO can be challenging to measure because it involves numerous factors that influence long-term organic results, making it less straightforward to quantify.
In contrast, Google Ads offers a level of transparency. It provides a wealth of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) metrics that allow you to assess the performance of your campaigns in great detail. This means you can easily determine if your campaigns deliver a return on investment (ROI). This valuable data lets you track your progress and make real-time adjustments. You can distinguish highly effective campaigns from less successful ones and continually refine your strategy to achieve the best results. Google Ads offers a more measurable and adaptable approach to marketing in the digital age.
What is the Speed of Achieving Results?
For new businesses and websites using SEO, it can take quite a while, anywhere from 6 to 18 months, to start seeing a return on investment (though our accelerated SEO plans can shorten this to 4 months). This waiting period has been dubbed the ‘Google sandbox effect’ in the past because it seemed like Google was intentionally keeping new websites out of search results. But the truth is, connecting with your audience through SEO is a gradual and organic process. It must follow its natural course, and building authority and credibility takes time in a competitive online landscape.
However, with Google Ads, new businesses don’t have to wait as long to see results. It’s a more direct and targeted approach that can deliver quick outcomes. Both SEO and Google Ads can work together to complement each other. You can invest in a Google Ads campaign to get impressions and clicks immediately while improving your website’s SEO by enhancing its authority and content. This strategy allows you to test if specific keywords or audience segments are worth pursuing through organic search. If your Google Ads campaign generates high conversions, it’s a sign that it’s worth ranking for those keywords in SEO and expanding your content in that area.
Additionally, Google Ads often provides vouchers that give new advertisers some free PPC budget to get started.
Managing SEO vs. Google Ads: Ongoing Efforts
Managing a large website and staying updated in your niche is a tough and time-consuming job that demands significant resources. A dedicated team must consistently create SEO content, optimize your site, and build links to boost organic traffic. It’s a massive undertaking in every aspect and can consume much of your time and effort, with outcomes that aren’t always guaranteed. You need to be sure you’re ready for such a project.
Conversely, once your PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaigns are set up, they are more predictable and provide value based on your investment. It might or might not be expensive, but the advantage is that it gives you much control over the process.
Striving for Success on Search Engine Results Pages
Google Ads make up about 97% of Google’s earnings, so it’s not surprising that the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) has evolved to feature more ad space above the organic results. Depending on your perspective, this can be seen as either a downside or an advantage. While it may be frustrating for SEO experts, it presents a fantastic opportunity for PPC (Pay-Per-Click) marketers to showcase their message prominently on the SERP, where they will likely get more clicks. For searches with strong commercial intent, sponsored ads capture 2 out of every three clicks on the first page, making SEO less relevant in certain industries.