Google Ads can be a great way to increase traffic to your website. However, if you’re looking for long-term consistent leads and sales, then you should be focusing on SEO.
In this article, we will discuss the differences between SEO and Google Ads, and why SEO is the better option for businesses.
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What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the process of improving your website’s ranking in search engines, such as Google and Bing. Through proper SEO strategy, you can increase organic traffic to your website which means more customers and sales for your business.
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is a form of online advertising that allows businesses to place ads on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) and millions of other websites across the web. Ads are charged on a per-click basis, so you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
Benefits of Google Ads
Here are the top benefits of using Google Ads:
- Ads are instant: You can instantly reach people at the exact moment they’re searching for your business.
- Targeted audience: Ads allow you to target a specific audience based on their location, age, interests, and more. This means that you’ll only pay for ads when someone likely to be interested in your product or service clicks it.
- Easy setup: There is no technical knowledge required to set up a Google Ads campaign, you can do it all yourself in just a few minutes from your own computer.
- Flexibility: You have full control over the budget and keywords used for each ad which allows you to test different strategies until you find one that works best for your business.
Disadvantages of Google Ads
Although Google Ads has many benefits, there are also a few disadvantages to consider:
- High costs: Ads can be expensive, especially if you’re targeting a large audience.
- Competition: It can be difficult to stand out from the competition when everyone is using Google Ads which makes it more expensive to have your ads shown.
- Short-term results: Traffic from ads tend to be more short-term and less likely to convert into long-term customers or sales.
- Difficult to keep up with: You need to constantly monitor the results of your Google Ads campaigns so that you can adjust them accordingly. This can be time-consuming and costly for some businesses that don’t have the resources available in-house.
Benefits of SEO
Here are the top benefits of SEO:
- Long term: Unlike Google Ads, the benefits of SEO are long-term and sustainable. Once you rank on the first page of search results for a particular keyword, your website will continue to attract organic traffic from that keyword until someone else beats out your ranking in SERPs.
- Higher ROI (Return on investment): In the long run, SEO is cheaper than Google Ads.
- Trustworthiness: Websites that rank high in SERPs are perceived as more trustworthy and reliable by users because they’re not paying for their spot at the top of results pages like advertisers do. This perception leads to higher conversion rates from visitors who see your website as a reputable source of information on the topic they’re looking for.
Disadvantages of SEO
Although SEO has many benefits, there are also a few disadvantages to consider:
- The time-consuming and ongoing effort required: To rank your website high in SERPs, you often need to continuously publish new content that is relevant to your target audience.
- Competition: It can be difficult to rank your website above other websites that are also using SEO tactics.
- Takes time: SEO can be a slow process that doesn’t produce results overnight. It may take several months or even years to see significant movement in your website’s ranking.
How Does SEO Work?
Now that we’ve looked at the benefits and disadvantages of both SEO and Google Ads, let’s take a closer look at how SEO works.
SEO is the process of optimising your website to rank higher in SERPs for relevant keywords. This can be done through on-page optimisation (e.g., adding keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and headings to your website), off-page optimisation (e.g., link building and social media outreach), and technical optimisation (e.g., improving site speed and crawlability).
Once you’ve optimised your website for certain keywords, it will start to rank higher in SERPs over time.
Why Invest in SEO?
SEO is a long-term investment, but it’s also the cheapest and most effective way to get your website in front of its target audience. With over 90% of all internet traffic being driven by search engines like Google, if you’re not investing in SEO then you’re missing out on millions of potential customers every day!
When Should You Invest in Google Ads?
Google Ads are great for short-term campaigns that need immediate results. They can also be used as a testing ground before investing heavily into an SEO campaign because they allow you to see what works and what doesn’t without having to wait months or years for results.
However, keep in mind that this will cost more money than just doing SEO alone there’s no guarantee that your keywords will convert into sales either.
How Does Google Ads Work?
Google Ads is a tool for advertisers who want to target specific keywords and bid on them to get their ads displayed at the top of search results pages when someone searches for those terms. The higher you are willing to pay per click (CPC), the more likely it will be that your ad gets shown above others bidding less than you or even not bidding at all; however, this doesn’t necessarily mean more conversions as some people just won’t buy anything no matter what kind of advertising method they see!
Which is better, Google Ads or SEO?
SEO is better than Google Ads because it is more sustainable. Once you rank on the first page of search results for a particular keyword, your website will continue to attract organic traffic from that keyword until someone else beats out your ranking in SERPs.
Additionally, SEO has a higher ROI (Return on investment) than Google Ads in the long run, and websites that rank high in SERPs are perceived as more trustworthy and reliable by users than websites that are paying for their spot at the top of results pages like advertisers do.
Finally, SEO takes time but it is a slow process that doesn’t produce results overnight; however, it is also the cheapest and most effective way to get your website in front of its target audience.
How long does it take for SEO to work?
SEO can take several months to produce significant results. This is because it takes time for your website to rank higher in SERPs for relevant keywords, and the higher you want to rank, the more effort you’ll need to put into your SEO campaign (depending on the competition). However, once you’ve achieved a high ranking it will be much harder for your competitors to overtake you!
Conclusion
Google Ads is great if you want immediate results and a short-term campaign. However, it can be expensive because you need to pay every time someone clicks on your ad (CPC) or when they convert into sales (CPM).
SEO takes longer but is more sustainable over time because once you rank high in SERPs for relevant keywords then it’s hard for others to overtake that position without doing some serious work themselves!
Also worth noting is that SEO has a higher ROI than Google Ads which makes investing any further money into organic search engine optimisation well worth considering.