SEO vs Ads - which is better?

Hi there,

It’s the VGP Media team here, a partner of Pomegranate.

We are a marketing agency specialized in PPC advertising while Pomegranate specializes in SEO. While we may have our own bias as to which method of marketing we prefer, we will keep our comparison as fair as possible, while we discuss the pros and cons to each as well as who they work best for and how they can work together.

We shall aim to answer the question: SEO vs Ads - which is better?

The difference between Google Ads and SEO?

What is the difference between Google Ads and SEO ?

SEO and Google Ads are complementary to one another and differing at the same time. Google ads are a form of digital advertisement that lets you pay for every time someone clicks on one of your ads, hence the name Pay-Per-Click advertising. These ads are only shown to people who show interest in the same topics you have chosen for your ad.

SEO is different from Google Ads, in that it involves creating content and designing your website so that it is appealing to your potential customers, as well as making sure your website is shown to your potential customers through optimizing the content, and website structure on and off page.

What actually is SEO?

To answer the question: What actually is SEO?

SEO or search engine optimization, is the practice of getting websites to rank higher in Google’s search results without the use of ads (organicly).

SEO consists of:

On-page optimization, which is the practice of publishing the right content for your website that allows your site to be shown to the right audience and provide the customer with a good experience.

Off page optimization, which is the process of increasing your website's ranking through activities that do not involve the website directly such as link building.

And lastly Technical Optimization, which is the website related to SEO but not related to the actual content.

What is Google ads?

What is Google Ads? Google Ads involves setting a budget that gets charged every time a potential client clicks on one of your ads.

Your ads are shown to audiences based on your chosen keywords, which is why, similar to SEO, keyword research is so important to creating a good campaign and ensuring none of your ad budget is wasted.

Is Google ads better than SEO ?

Is Google Ads better than SEO, short answer is no they are just different.

If you’re looking for fast results Google ads will allow you to do that, it will just come at more of a cost in terms of budget. Whereas, if time is less of a concern and budget is more of an issue, then SEO will be the better option as it brings you long lasting results, but it just takes a bit more time.

Ideally if you can, my best advice would be to do both.

Use Google ads to get that initial boost of traffic, and then when your SEO improves and your organic ranking is higher you can lower your Google ads usage and rely on your organic results.

This way you can have a good short term and long term marketing strategy for your business.

Thinking of a two-prong approach but don’t know where to start?

If you are thinking of exploring the idea of utilising Google ads alongside your SEO strategy, take a look at our Google Ads partner VGP Media. Their team would be more than happy to conduct a free ad audit of your current campaigns and set up a consult call at no cost to you.

You can reach us at https://vgpmedia.org/