Is SEO or Google Ads better for your Small Business?
All small businesses need to work hard to find new customers. Quite often SEO or Google Ads are the main marketing tools used. We are often asked by our clients which is best for their small business. There is no simple answer to this, as it depends on many factors.
These factors include your budget, time frame, as well as how competitive your industry is. However, the best place to start is to understand the difference between SEO and Google Ads.
1. What is Google Ads?
By far, the quickest way to get people to your website is to use Google Ads. However, Google Ads costs money. Every time someone clicks onto your website, Google charges you. That’s why if your campaign is not managed correctly you can waste a lot of money in a short period of time. It also means you website has to be ‘up to scratch’. This is because there is no point paying for people to get to your website if it is hard to navigate, is slow to load or looks out of date. Remember you only have a few seconds to grab people’s attention before they click away.
2. What is SEO?
The aim of search engine optimisation (SEO) is to get your small business to rank on page one of Google for keyterms that are relevant to your business and likely to result in sales. But you need lots of patience for SEO – especially if you are in a competitive industry, where everyone else is also doing SEO. It can take months for strategies to work. That’s why you need to be committed to the long term and not pull out after a few months – as this will only waste money.
3. What is better for your small business?
In the long term we always recommend SEO. This is because it is the most cost effective way to get people to your website. There is also usually a higher conversion rate when people find you via SEO rather than Google. This is partly because there is a perceived increased level of trust when people have found you via SEO rather than Google Ads. In fact, it is estimated that less than 10% of people click on Google Ads – but go straight to SEO results.
However, if you need more instant results we recommend that you run a Google Ads campaign alongside your SEO campaign. As your SEO position starts to improve, you can gradually decrease the amount you spend on Google Ads.
Dynamic Websites specialise in small business web design. We are based in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn and provide services throughout Australia. We understand what it takes to get a small business online at an affordable price and with the minimum of fuss. Along with designing websites for small business, tradies and NDIS service providers we provide online marketing services. Our online marketing for small business extends to Google Ads, Google My Business, Microsoft Advertising, search engine optimisation (SEO), content writing and, blog writing.