As a professional digital marketer, people often ask me to tell them which is better between Google ads, and SEO marketing. They want to know which is better between these two marketing tactics so that they can focus on it.
Meanwhile, as an experienced digital marketer what I tell most business owners who ask me this question is that both Google ads, and SEO marketing have their advantages and disadvantages.
Both digital marketing techniques require your investment, the investment can be in a form of money, time, and any other thing, but the thing is that both online marketing techniques don’t require the same investment.
Google ads is a pay-per-click advertisement marketing technique by Google that allows you to pay for ad each time an online user clicks on it, while SEO is a marketing technique that focuses on optimizing your website to become visible to your potential customers who are actively searching for you online.
In this article, I want to let you know how both google ads and SEO marketing work, the differences between both marketing techniques, and the one that is best for your business. We will go deeper into both and get the one that will be the best for you.
First of all, let’s start with Google ads (PPC), let’s understand how it works, its advantages, and its disadvantages.
How Google Ads Work
Every business owner wants his/her to be on the first page of Google search engine results pages (SERPs) for their products or services, they want this because they want to become visible to their potential customers. For example, if you are a divorce attorney when online users search for “Best Divorce lawyer” you want to be the first search that will become visible to them.
One of the benefits of Google Ads is that it can easily get you to the top spot of Google search engine results pages (SERPs) for your business-related keywords or key terms. Google ads make it easy for you to become visible at the top of search engine results if you have a good website and your ad bid is higher than that of your competitors.
Google ads work by allowing you to place a bid on search engine keywords that you want your business to rank for. After you are done with your bidding, you are required to pay that bid each time an online user clicks on your ad.
Typically, most industry keywords' average bid starts from $1 to $10+, which is called cost-per-click (CPC). The cost-per-click (CPC) that you pay for your Google ad will depend on your industry and how competitive those keywords are.
Google Ads works as a “paid search”. This means that you are allowed to pay a certain amount in order for your website to become visible on Google search engine, and also earn placement on Google partner websites that allow Google AdSense.
Search engine is built to serve online users by providing them with the best content. Even with the availability of ads, Google still makes sure that they serve online users with the best quality content.
Advantages of Google Ads
This is an example of Google ads results in SERPs
Disadvantages of Google Ads
How SEO Marketing Works
SEO marketing is a long-term marketing solution that can earn you the top spot in Google search results as long as your website provides valuable content for online users, it is different from Google ads that will let you earn the top spot in Google search results as long as you continue to pay for it.
SEO marketing can earn you the top spot in Google search results by providing online users with quality content and a seamless website experience. It doesn’t require you to pay for a top spot like Google ads.
SEO marketing requires you to optimize your website so that Google search engines can rank higher in their search engine results pages (SERPs).
These optimizations will involve you doing the following;
- 1Create long-form quality content that is valuable to your potential customers.
- 2Optimize your website to load fast if it was slow.
- 3Optimize your website for easy navigation by your potential customers.
- 4Create a Backlink profile for your website and so much more.
These optimizations will increase your website rankings, traffic, and conversions. SEO marketing makes sure that your website is visible to your potential customers through the use of keywords that you use in your website content.
If you are running an effective SEO campaign, it will be easy for your potential customers to find your website by typing your business-related keywords.
Optimizing your website will make it easy for your potential customers to spend more time on your website, and engage themselves in more activities like playing a video, clicking on your inbound links, adding items to their cart, and finally making a purchase.
These optimizations and many more are what SEOs do at the backend of your website to help you rank higher in Google search engine results pages (SERPs).
Let’s now get down to the advantages of SEO;
Advantages of SEO Marketing
Example of an SEO Results in Google SERPs
Disadvantages of SEO
Which is better between Google ads, and SEO marketing?
Google ad is the best option if you want quick results from your marketing investment, while SEO marketing is the best option if you want to invest in a long-term marketing plan without spending a fortune on your marketing budget.
If you don’t have much money to spend on marketing, and time is not a concern then SEO is a better option for you.
On the other hand, if you have a huge marketing budget and you want to earn the top spot in Google search results tomorrow then Google ads are the best option for you. Meanwhile, you can also combine the two marketing strategies together as both have the capacity to work together perfectly.