If you’re brand new to the world of digital marketing, you may not have a clear understanding of what distinguishes SEO from AdWords. Both methods impact your visibility in search results, but there are major differences in terms of cost and long-term value.
In today’s Top Tip Tuesday video, Riz explains why AdWords is more like a fast-moving speedboat, and SEO is more like a graceful sailboat.
Which is a better investment: SEO or AdWords?
This is a very common question we receive from new and potential clients.
In an ideal world, you would invest in both AdWords and SEO. The reasoning is simple. If you can have an advertisement and an organic listing show up in the search results for a relevant search query, you’ve doubled your online visibility.
However, not all businesses have the budget to invest heavily in AdWords and SEO. In these cases, it is important to ask yourself what your main objective is with online advertising.
If you want to get immediate sales and conversions through your website, AdWords is your best bet. If you want to build brand visibility and trust over the long term, SEO is a better bet. While SEO takes longer than AdWords to achieve first page results, it can be cheaper in the long run since you don’t have to pay recurring advertising costs.
Ask yourself these questions to get a sense of whether SEO or AdWords is the better choice for you:
- Are you a new business with a new domain, or have you had a digital presence and a website for a long time?
- Is it sustainable for your business to pay for online advertising over the long term?
- Are you under pressure to increase your revenue quickly, or are you comfortable with waiting for the conversions to pour in?
In general, the older your website is and the more comfortable you are with long time horizons, the more suited you are for SEO. If your website is brand new and you need quick results (and it’s sustainable for your business to keep paying for clicks), you are probably more suited for AdWords.
At Pure SEO, we provide both SEO and AdWords digital marketing solutions. Contact us to discuss which solution might be the best fit for your business.