SEO vs Google Ads: Which Should You Invest In First?

The age-old question: organic or paid?

Every business owner eventually asks this question. Should I invest in SEO for long-term organic traffic, or Google Ads for immediate results? The answer depends on your situation, but here's a framework to help you decide.

Google Ads: The Fast Lane

Google Ads puts you at the top of search results immediately. You set a budget, write your ads, choose your keywords, and you're live. Traffic starts flowing within hours.

Best for:

• New businesses that need leads now
• Testing whether a market or service is viable
• Seasonal promotions or time-sensitive offers
• Competitive industries where organic ranking takes years

The catch: The moment you stop paying, the traffic stops. It's a tap you turn on and off. And if your campaigns aren't optimised, you can burn through budget fast.

SEO: The Long Game

SEO is about earning your place in organic search results. It takes time — usually 3-6 months minimum to see meaningful results. But once you rank, that traffic is essentially free.

Best for:

• Businesses with a 12+ month planning horizon
• Local businesses targeting "near me" searches
• Content-rich industries where expertise matters
• Building long-term brand authority

The catch: It's slow, it's competitive, and Google changes the rules constantly. You need patience and consistency.

So Which One First?

Here's our general framework:

Start with Google Ads if:

• You need leads within the next 30 days
• You have budget to invest (minimum £500-1,000/month)
• You haven't validated your offer yet
• Your industry has high commercial intent keywords

Start with SEO if:

• You have a longer timeline (6+ months)
• Your budget is tight (SEO compounds over time)
• You're in a local market with less competition
• You already have some content or domain authority

The Best Answer? Both.

The real power comes from running both in parallel. Use Google Ads for immediate traffic while building your SEO foundation. The data from your paid campaigns — which keywords convert, which landing pages work — feeds directly into your SEO strategy.

Over time, as your organic rankings improve, you can reduce ad spend on the keywords you now rank for naturally. Your cost per lead drops while your total leads increase.

The Mistake Most Businesses Make

The biggest mistake we see is businesses running Google Ads without tracking what happens after the click. They know they're getting traffic, but they have no idea which keywords or ads are generating actual revenue.

Without this data, you can't make informed decisions about where to invest. Fix your tracking first, then decide where to allocate budget.