One of the most common questions I get when consulting for a new client is, ‘how the hell do we market our business most effectively: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC Ads)? Social media? ChatGPT?’
The truth here is that many small business owners don’t have any idea about marketing (just as I wouldn’t know a damn thing about installing a water heater or how to install a new roof). So when they ask these types of questions about where to spend their marketing dollars, they really need a marketing consultant with experience in all of those areas to answer it for them.
And, I can tell you, that every marketing agency in Glens Falls will tell you something different. Some local marketing agencies prefer to funnel your company’s marketing budget through ad buying to acquire paid leads through Google Ads, Meta Ads, and Reddit Ads. Others in the area will have you focus entirely on local social media and acquiring customers or leads through social marketing.
The answer here is actually a bit more complicated than you might think, and there are many different factors that should go into making any marketing decisions. But, for the most basic and general strategy that I recommend here at Adirondack SEO REV is to focus on organic growth with SEO first, and then when your website’s SEO is running smoothly, start putting some money into PPC Ads.
That’s the TL;DR, really. But as I mentioned, the recommended strategy does vary based on a number of different factors, such as your business niche, your current SEO success, your target audience demographics, how you rank among your competitors, and your ever-changing marketing budget.
Below, I’m going to break down the ADK SEO REV ethos revolving around SEO vs PPC and when to use SEO versus when to use PPC Ads.
TL;DR: What Is the Difference Between SEO and PPC?
SEO is about earning traffic from search engines organically, while PPC is about paying for traffic through ads.
With SEO, you optimize your website, content, Google Business Profile, backlinks, and other ranking factors so your business appears naturally when potential customers search for what you offer. It usually takes longer to see results, but you aren’t paying every time someone clicks your listing, and strong rankings can continue producing traffic over time.
With PPC, you pay to place ads in front of a targeted audience. Results can happen much faster, but you’re paying for each click or interaction, and once you stop funding the campaign, your paid visibility stops with it.
In simple terms: SEO builds long-term organic visibility. PPC buys immediate visibility. For many businesses, the right strategy isn’t choosing one forever. It’s figuring out when SEO, PPC, or a combination of both makes the most financial sense.
When Should Your Business Use SEO First?
As stated, I mostly recommend getting your site’s SEO right before investing in PPC ads, but there are, of course, caveats to that recommendation.
If your business is a location-focused business with little competition…
This is an easy one: essentially, the more competition your business has, the more difficult getting leads from Google organically becomes. So, if you have a business where your location is important (like a contractor, restaurant, dispensary, etc) and there is little to no competition in your area, chances are that SEO is going to be your best route for developing new customers or leads.
If you’re going the DIY route
Many small businesses and startups are trying to get as many new customers as possible while spending the least amount of money. And with PPC Ads, you have to literally pay for clicks to your website – so you can’t really DIY Pay per click.
Conversely, with SEO, there are a never-ending number of free resources on the internet that will allow you to teach yourself the basics of SEO – with no cost to your wallet, only the cost of time. So, if you’re willing to put in the time, you should be able to at least get your website ranking for a few keyphrases on your own with just a couple hours of learning about SEO and what you need to do to implement things on your own.
If you’re looking for long lasting success
With PPC, your ROI is relatively short-lived when compared to SEO. With PPC Ads, you shell out $1000 bucks for a 10 day Meta ad, get whatever leads collected from the ad while it runs, and then 10 days later, you have X amount of leads that the $1000 earned you – that will forever be your ROI for PPC ads.
With SEO, though, the ROI continues over time as the SEO services you already paid for start working in the background for you. With SEO services, you’d take that $1000 and put it towards various SEO services (many of which are a one-time fee, not monthly), and although the initial boost doesn’t quite match up to a paid ad, your ROI improves over time (and eventually surpasses the ROI from your paid campaign).
When Should Your Business Use Paid Ads First?
There are some instances where it makes more sense to get immediate leads over solely relying on SEO.
If you’re looking to get a new business off the ground QUICKLY
Brand new businesses who need their first customers through the door ASAP might want to opt for PPC ads. PPC ads can typically get leads significantly quicker than SEO would start working well. With SEO, you need to create a brand new website, writing content for that website, create a Google Business Profile, get local citations, etc and so forth [it can take some time!].
If your business is being overrun by long-tenured businesses
There are some markets where you can succeed pretty quickly with SEO because there’s virtually no competition. Conversely, there are some markets where you have absolutely 0 chance of ranking above your competitors without putting in a hefty amount of work to catch-up to them!
If you’re a local contractor in a competitive niche like plumbing or HVAC services or garbage collection, SEO is going to take a hot minute to start working for you. The local competitors in your market have been on google for 20 years, leading the pack by some guy named Big Tim who runs everything right out of his garage…I can promise you, Big Tim isn’t going anywhere any time soon when it comes to Google’s rankings.
In order to insert your business into a competitive niche, you’re probably going to be better off starting slowly on small SEO wins while running PPC ads.
When Should Your Business Use BOTH Paid Ads and SEO in Conjunction?
If you want some quick, short-term visibility but don’t want to give up on long-term organic growth, using both PPC and SEO in conjunction is the way to go.
SEO and PPC work well together when a business wants short-term visibility without giving up on long-term organic growth. PPC can put your business in front of searchers almost immediately, while SEO takes time to build rankings and consistent organic traffic.
Using both makes the most sense when:
You’re entering a competitive market.
Pay per click advertising gives you access to valuable searches while your website builds enough authority to compete organically.
You’re launching a new website or service.
New pages rarely rank immediately. Paid ads can generate traffic and leads while SEO gains traction. Certain keywords are especially valuable. Ranking organically and running an ad for the same high-intent search gives your business more visibility on the results page.
You want better keyword data without paying for a third party tool.
PPC campaigns can quickly show which search terms generate clicks, leads, and sales. That information can help determine which keywords deserve more attention in your SEO strategy.
You have seasonal promotions or time-sensitive offers.
SEO can maintain your year-round presence, while PPC lets you increase visibility during the periods that matter most.
Your organic rankings aren’t at the top yet.
PPC can fill the visibility gap while you work toward stronger organic positions.
The two channels also don’t need identical budgets forever. As SEO begins generating more traffic and leads for certain keywords, PPC spending can be shifted toward keywords where organic visibility is weaker, new services, promotions, or searches that consistently produce profitable conversions.
How Much Are New Customers Actually Worth To You?
One factor that often gets overlooked when comparing SEO and PPC is the actual value of a new customer to your business. Before deciding how much you’re willing to spend on marketing, you need to have at least a rough idea of what acquiring a customer is worth.
Let’s say you’re running Google Ads and paying an average of $25 per click. If it takes 20 clicks to generate one new customer, you’ve spent $500 to acquire that customer.
If you’re selling a $75 service, that’s obviously not going to work.
But let’s say you’re a roofer and that same $500 in ad spend lands you a $14,000 roof replacement. Now the math looks completely different. You can afford to pay considerably more for clicks and leads because a single customer can generate thousands of dollars in revenue.
This is why there’s no universal answer for how much a business should spend on SEO or PPC. You need to look at things like your average customer value, profit margins, conversion rate, cost per lead, and customer acquisition cost.
Lifetime customer value matters here, too. A plumber might spend $200 acquiring a customer for a relatively small repair, but that same homeowner could call them several more times over the next decade. A business with recurring customers can often justify spending more to acquire each new customer than a business built primarily around one-time purchases.
Once you understand those numbers, deciding where to put your marketing budget gets a whole lot easier. The question stops being How much does SEO or PPC cost? and becomes How much can I profitably afford to spend to acquire a new customer?
When You Should NOT Spend Money on PPC YET
PPC can get traffic to your website almost immediately, but that doesn’t mean your business is ready to start paying for that traffic. Before you give Google or Meta your credit card number, you need to make sure you’re actually prepared to turn those clicks into customers.
If Your Website Sucks…
If your website is outdated, confusing, painfully slow, or doesn’t clearly explain why someone should hire you, fix those problems first. Paying $10, $20, or $50 for every person you send to a crappy landing page is a pretty efficient way to burn through your marketing budget. If your website sucks and you don’t want it to suck, please check out my web design portfolio.
If Your Offer Isn’t Clear…
The same applies if you haven’t figured out your offer yet. Your potential customers need to quickly understand what you do, why they should care, and what they’re supposed to do next. Your phone number, contact form, booking button, product page, or whatever you’re using to generate conversions shouldn’t require a scavenger hunt to find.
If You’re Not Ready for Conversion Tracking
You should also hold off on serious PPC spending until you have proper conversion tracking in place. At a minimum, you should know which campaigns are generating phone calls, form submissions, purchases, appointments, or whatever constitutes a legitimate lead for your business. Otherwise, you might know that you spent $2,000 and received 600 clicks, but you won’t know if those clicks actually made you any money.
If You Don’t Have Enough Bandwidth
And finally, make sure you’re equipped to handle the leads you’re paying for. If you’re running ads for emergency plumbing services but nobody answers the phone after 5 PM, paying for clicks at 8 PM doesn’t make much sense.
PPC works best when there’s already a functional sales funnel behind it. Get the website, offer, tracking, and lead-handling process right first. Then start paying to send more people through it.
Not Sure if SEO, PPC, or Both Makes Sense for Your Business?
You don’t need to throw money at every marketing channel and hope something sticks. The right approach depends on your competition, budget, current rankings, customer value, and how quickly you need new leads.
At ADK SEO REV, I’ll take a look at where your business stands now and help you figure out where your marketing dollars are actually worth spending. That might mean investing in SEO, running paid ads alongside it, or holding off on PPC entirely until your website is ready to convert that traffic.
Ready to figure out where your marketing budget should go? Set up a free marketing consultation with Bobby at ADK SEO REV today and let’s talk about your business.
