SEO vs Google Ads: Which One Should You Choose for Your Startup

SEO vs Google Ads: which one to choose? This is one common question that comes to mind when you are thinking about digital marketing. In today's time, being a startup, you can't undermine the importance of digital marketing.

However, that's the point from where this brainstorming began. When you search out there, you will find so many digital marketing strategies that it becomes hard to choose one. Among them, Google Ads and SEO are two prominent digital marketing strategies.

Here, we are talking about digital marketing strategy for your startup. Hence, you can't afford to choose an ineffective marketing plan for your business. Whichever option you choose should align with your business goals, be within your budget, and offer you a good ROI.

That is why selecting any option as your digital marketing strategy is difficult. You may even think of employing multiple marketing tools for your business.

That is where a question like SEO vs Google Ads, which one to choose, becomes important. While both are excellent digital marketing tools, they offer different features.

Thus, we will discuss this question in this article and see what conclusion we can draw. Shall we choose one, or can we work with both, and if yes, then how?

What is SEO?

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is how search engines like Google rank your website. Let's take an example to understand how SEO works and why it is crucial for you.

Suppose you are trying to search for something on Google. Now, what will you do when you get results for your search?

Of course, you will go with the first few search results for your query. It is very unlikely that you will go further down. And this is not just you, but an estimated 28% of people go with the first search result for their query.

Almost 18% and 10% go with the second and third search results, respectively. Now, what you have understood from this example.

First, as a website, you can only succeed if you achieve one of the top three positions on search engines. Otherwise, chances are dim of getting visitors to your website.

Additionally, it is important to understand how to attain the highest rank on search engine result pages. Well, let's turn around to our example for that. What's the reason you only visit the first few results on search engines?

The answer is that they are most relevant to your query. And that is how you can achieve a high ranking on SEO.

To determine the order in which websites appear on search results, search engines consider various factors. Although all the factors count up to 200, they vary too. However, there are a few prominent factors that you can incorporate into your content. They are,

Keywords
Meta description
Backlinks
Images
User intent

More than these factors, your content matters the most in SEO. So, if your content is user-friendly, engaging, and high quality, you can rank high.

The higher your rank, the more views you will get on your website. Ultimately, you can convert these views into organic traffic.

What is Google Ads?

Earlier, it was known as the Google AdWords and took upon this new name in 2018. Google Ads is a digital marketing tool with a PPC or pay-per-click system.

With Google Ads, you can display your business on search engines and get paid traffic.

There are various forms in which you can display your ad with Google Ads.

Search Ads

Search ads are similar to organic search results and appear when a person types a keyword relevant to a business. These search results are separated from organic search results through an "ad" tag.

Shopping Ads

Shopping ads appear at the top of the search result whenever you search for some product. They are generally displayed in carousel format and contain images of the product, prices, and brand names.

Local Search Ads

When you search for something with the phrase "near me", these ads occur on your result page. These ads are of local businesses looking for local clients. These ads have information about the listed business, like its location, services provided, and operating hours.

Display Ads

This type of ad appears on videos, websites, or articles on the Google Display Network. In this category, your ads approach a global audience that is on Google. That is why it is important to narrow down your targeting base in terms of demographics, location, and interests so that your ads will attract potential consumers.

As Google Ads works with the PPC system, you have to pay for every click that you will get on your ad. It is a good feature because you will pay for the responses you get in your advertisement.

Now, Google Ads works through a bidding system where you have to bid for keywords. These keywords have to be relevant to your business, and you have to analyze their search volumes beforehand.

You can attract more visitors when you bid for keywords with high search volumes relevant to your business.

SEO vs Google Ads: Difference

As we have discussed, SEO and Google Ads will help you attract traffic to your website. However, you may ask what's the difference between. Well, here are some points.

Traffic

When we are talking about digital marketing, views, leads, and traffic matter to your website. That being said, Google Ads will fetch you momentary traffic. You can think of it as a machine with a switch on and off button.

SEO provides a continuous traffic flow, while Google Ads only generates traffic during active campaigns.

Results

We have mentioned above that Google Ads will fetch you short-term traffic. However, it will be instantaneous. As soon as your ad is on Google and you have made a significant bid, you will start getting responses on your campaign immediately.

With SEO, you must wait for results because it will bring you organic traffic. So, you have to create engaging content, optimize your website, and get valuable backlinks. And all these things will take time to see results in weeks or even months.

Cost

Now, cost is a tricky thing when we are talking about SEO. If you are using free tools for your SEO, then there is no cost involved. However, if you are using paid SEO tools, you have to pay for them according to their pricing plans.

Google Ads will also cost you, and you have to pay for the clicks you will get. The bidding system may require higher payments in competitive niches, but it's worth it.

Placement

With SEO, you can secure top positions on search engine result pages (SERPs) for specific keywords. However, you can get placed anywhere on the entire Google Display Network with Google Ads. It can be on YouTube, Blogger, or any other Google ad form listed above. The placement of your Google ads also depends on the audience you want to target, ad timing, and ad quality, just to count a few.

In a nutshell, Google Ads can provide your business with a quick starting, timely traffic, and you can promote specific products. On the other hand, SEO is a long-term game that helps you build a loyal audience base that trusts your brand.

Can Google Ads Team Up with SEO?

Now, we have discussed Google Ads and SEO and the differences between them. However, regardless of such differences, it is possible that Google Ads can improve your SEO campaigns. We can't say that Google Ads can work directly for your SEO, but let's see how it can work.

Google Ads Can Help You to Get Quick Start

You already know that SEO will make you wait for the results. You can't expect to get immediate traffic as soon as you start a website.

Bear in mind that to attract traffic, you must proactively take action. Remaining idle will not yield results. Instead, you can use other tactics to give your SEO campaign a quick start. Google Ads can be used to increase brand awareness and drive traffic.

While getting some viewers on your website, you can build a social media following and gain loyal customers.

If you have a budget, using Google Ads for your SEO is a great option. Once you gain some traction, you can use that for marketing.

Use Retargeting to Increase Conversion Rates

_Source:_{Think with Google}

Once people have gone through your website and products, they know all about you. They have already shown their interest in your business but didn't get to reconsider because of lack of time.

What your customers need here is a firm push in the right direction. And Google Ads can help you here.

It will remarket your products to people who have already viewed them on your website or engaged with your brand elsewhere.

This retargeting or remarketing is an excellent way to increase your conversion rates and reclaim sales that otherwise will be lost.

Get Valuable Insights

Whenever you use any Google tools, it will offer you a treasure of data with helpful insights.

The same is true with Google Ads. It offers a huge chunk of data that you can use to improve ongoing SEO campaigns and future products. Let's take an example to understand how Google Ads help you here.

Suppose you have started a new SEO campaign and used Google Ads to derive traffic on it. Now, you can draw various insights through the responses you will get on your ads.

You can identify the search trends and follow them to get better results. You can identify the gap between your target terms and the search terms displaying your ads.

Using the data that Google Ads has presented, you can learn the behavior and nature of your consumer base. For example, people of what age range respond most to your ads. You can use SEO tactics to tap into this demographic base when you know this.

Similarly, you will know what customers want from your products or how to target them effectively. It will help to achieve an all-rounder SEO marketing strategy for your business.

However, don't forget here that the user intent is important for your SEO, too. You can't just leverage conversion rates solely because of SEO tactics; your content can help sustain you in the long run.

Improve Your Content Marketing

When we are talking about brand recognition and trust building, the content always wins. It can make your audience loyal to you.

However, here, too, Google Ads can help you. It can tell you what keywords are working for your business.

First, create engaging and educational content with low commercial intent, and list down your special products there. Then, create conversion-centric landing pages with high commercial intent to target your ready-to-purchase customers.

Increase Your Local Reach

_Source:_{Think with Google}

Today, people are not just using search engines to get some remote businesses but to know about local ones. According to HubSpot, 88% of consumers who do a local search call or visit the store the same day.

Hence, Google Ads can help you to approach local customers. You can use geo-specific Google Ads data to make your business available to local customers. Moreover, this can also help you with your regional and national SEO campaigns by making them more reachable and effective.