Google Ads vs. SEO: Which Should Small Business Owners Prioritize First?

It Depends on Your Marketing Budget and How Much Time You Have

Google Ads and SEO solve the same problem for your business (needing leads or site traffic), but on different timelines and for different amounts of money. Most small business owners decide which to focus on first based on whichever one a trusted friend mentioned last or whichever one sounds cheaper.

While recommendations from friends are important and can help guide you in the right direction, no two businesses are the same so you cannot expect to see the same results they did. The real decision factors you need to consider are: how quickly do I need leads or site traffic, am I willing to pay more for quick traction or pay less but have to wait a few months to see results, and is there anything else wrong with my website that I need to address before doing either of these?

What Will Google Ads Do for My Business

Google Ads puts you at the top of the search results page for keywords your customers are searching for the same day you launch a campaign. You are not waiting on Google to crawl, trust, and gradually rank your website. You are paying for the premium placement and it will be present at the top of the search list for as long as you keep paying for it.

Based on your type of business, here are some basic guidelines:

• If you are a services business that offers price-specific project-based work, such as home repairs, plumbing, car maintenance, landscaping, etc. Google Ads is incredibly effective because you can promote discounts, be transparent with your fees, and be shown on Google above your competitors.

• If you are a professional services business where people need to trust you to be willing to buy your services (such as legal, financial advisors, CPAs, etc.), your website is equally as important as your rank on Google. If you are low on Google's search list for your services, you can run Google Ads to temporarily go to the top of the list, but you also need to fix your website to make sure it's trustworthy and details exactly why someone should work with you. We did this for a Financial Advisor client with great success, so check out our case study if you would like to learn more

At the end of the day, Google Ads costs significantly more than SEO work, but it is an extremely effective way to drive new business if you have the budget.

How Does Prioritizing SEO Help My Business

SEO work to create organic search momentum can take months to show results, sometimes six or more, because you are earning your way into search results through expert content and a trustworthy website rather than paying for immediate placement at the top of Google. But once your website ranks at the top of the list organically, it will continue to drive traffic to your site for free. That compounding benefit is why every small business must do some at least some foundational SEO work even if you decide to run Google Ads.

SEO also requires more than simply publishing content. It requires your site to already be structurally sound, your pages to answer the questions that someone is actually searching for, and you need to have the patience and financial runway to keep yourself going before the work pays off. For more information, check out our blog post showing what Google looks at when it determines your site's rank.

How Do I Decide Which is Right for Me Now?

Ask yourself two questions before deciding:

How soon do you need customers? If the answer is "this quarter," prioritize paid search first. If the answer is "I have a year of runway and want something durable," prioritize SEO first.

Can you calculate what a customer is worth to you? If you don't know your break-even cost per acquisition, you will have no way to measure whether Google Ads is bringing in enough business to keep the channel sustainable. We have built a calculator that helps you determine what your break even CAC cost is

In an ideal world, you should run both strategies simultaneously; Google Ads to get you going while you work on building out your site so that it ranks high on Google Search organically.

How Propel Collective Can Help You Determine What to Prioritize

We have executed SEO and paid ads strategies that have driven meaningful revenue for small business owners. An honest assessment on which strategy is right for you requires a conversation where we ask the questions most volume-based agencies ignore:

• What are the challenges your business is facing
• What are your revenue goals
• Who are your customers
• Why do your customers choose your business over your competitors

No campaign successful campaign or SEO strategy can be properly executed without answering these questions and any agency that has pitched you their services without taking the time to understand your business is not working in your best interest.