Resource
Google Ads vs SEO: Which Should You Invest in First?
This is one of the most common questions we get from new clients. The honest answer is: it depends on where your business is right now. Both channels work. They just work differently — and the right starting point depends on your timeline, budget, and competitive landscape.
The Core Difference in One Sentence
Google Ads
You pay for every click. Leads start immediately. The moment you stop paying, the leads stop too.
SEO
You invest in rankings over time. Leads grow gradually. Once you rank, traffic keeps coming even if you reduce spend.
01 Start With Google Ads If You Need Leads Now
If your business is new, you have just launched a website, or you have a specific time-sensitive offer, paid ads are the right starting point. There is no waiting period. A well-structured Google Ads campaign can be generating enquiries within days of going live.
Ads are also the right call if you are in a highly competitive market where ranking organically would take 12 to 18 months. Paying to appear at the top of search results while your SEO builds is a sensible bridge strategy.
Google Ads suits you if:
- → You need leads within weeks, not months
- → You have a clear offer with a specific target audience
- → You can define what a lead is worth to your business
- → Your website is fast and your landing page is clear
- → You are in a competitive market where organic ranking takes time
02 Start With SEO If You Are Playing the Long Game
SEO takes longer to show results — typically three to six months before significant movement, and six to twelve months before strong organic traffic. But the returns compound in a way ads never can.
A business that ranks on page one for its core keywords is receiving free, qualified traffic every month. That traffic does not stop when you pause a campaign. The asset you build with SEO — your domain authority, your content, your rankings — belongs to you permanently.
For businesses with a medium-term view and some runway, SEO delivers a better cost per lead over time than paid advertising in almost every local service category.
SEO suits you if:
- → You can invest for 6 to 12 months before expecting strong returns
- → You want to reduce your reliance on paid advertising over time
- → Your competitors are weak on SEO — there is ranking opportunity
- → You serve a specific local area where local SEO has high impact
- → You have existing content or a website worth optimising
03 The Best Answer for Most Businesses: Both — In Sequence
For most established small businesses with a modest marketing budget, the optimal strategy is to run Google Ads immediately for short-term lead flow, while investing in SEO simultaneously to build long-term organic traffic.
As your SEO rankings improve over 6 to 12 months, you can reduce your ad spend on those terms — because you are now getting free organic clicks. Your total cost per lead drops, and your marketing becomes less dependent on a monthly spend commitment.
A Realistic Timeline
Google Ads live and generating leads. SEO audit complete, technical fixes underway, content strategy set.
Ads optimised and profitable. SEO starting to show keyword movement and early organic traffic.
Strong organic rankings for local and service terms. Ad spend reduced on ranking terms. Cost per lead dropping.
Organic traffic handling a significant share of leads. Ads used selectively for high-value terms and new offers.
The One Thing That Kills Both Channels
Whether you invest in ads or SEO first, neither works properly if your website is slow, unclear, or hard to use on mobile. A Google Ads campaign sending traffic to a 5-second loading page is wasting every dollar. An SEO strategy built on a site that bounces visitors immediately will not hold rankings.
Before investing seriously in either channel, it is worth running a free audit to see where your site currently stands — and whether there are quick fixes that would dramatically improve your return from any marketing spend.
Not sure where your business sits right now? A free audit will show you your current PageSpeed scores, keyword opportunities, and whether ads or SEO is the higher-leverage starting point for your situation.