The last time you used a search engine to find a product or service, what did you notice in the results? With several layers of information included in every SERP (search engine results page), it’s important for a business owner to understand how and why their website appears in each section. Sponsored results, Google Verified ads, the Map Pack, organic listings - these placements are all achieved differently and all can have tremendous value for your business.
Choosing the right marketing strategy for your small business can feel overwhelming, especially with so many buzzwords thrown around. Among these, SEO and PPC are two you might have encountered - but what do they actually mean, and how can they benefit you? While both share the common goal of driving traffic to your site, they achieve this in distinct ways and offer unique advantages.
In this article, we’ll clarify the differences between the two and their role in your digital marketing strategy.
The Difference Between SEO and Paid Ads (PPC)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Would you spend time organizing, decorating, and inviting people to a party if you knew that less than 10% of them would ever see your invitation? That’s what poor SEO can do for your website—only about 9% of Google users make it to the bottom of the first page of search results, and even fewer click on the second page.
In essence, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about making your website so relevant, authoritative, attractive and user-friendly that search engines can’t help but recommend it. The goal is to get your site to the top result of high value search terms on Google and other search engines, ensuring it’s selected by as many potential visitors as possible.
What does that mean?
If you wanted to find an advertising company in your area, you might search for something like “best advertising company near me” on Google. The search engine will display the most relevant websites based on that search. How does Google choose which sites to rank above others? The sites that appear in the top search results are typically using several SEO strategies to show Google (or other search engines) that they have the best content to help users find the answers they’re looking for - and therefore appear above other sites with similar information.
Unlike pay-per-click ads, achieving a top position organically is free. These rankings are constantly changing, and you can improve your position by enhancing your SEO footprint with things like:
Consistent, new content creation (that’s relevant to what you do)
Page meta title & description optimization based on research
Optimizing page heading tags based on research
Using proper internal linking structure
Backlinks from high authority websites relevant to what you do
Gathering positive reviews to your Google Business Profile
Increasing the page load speed of your site
This is far from an exhaustive list - but a fantastic place to start. While you may not pay money to reach the top of an organic search result, you’ll almost certainly pay in time and effort as you strategize ways to provide better relevance than your competitors.
What Are the Benefits of Organic SEO?
Success Yields Free Traffic
Investing in organic SEO is a forward-thinking, long-term investment and, unlike paid ads, when someone reaches your site organically, you don’t have to pay anything! Once your site ranks well, it can continue to attract traffic without any additional costs.
Brand Awareness & Credibility
Web users often seek out companies they recognize and trust. In fact, many people (especially those in advertising) tend to skip over paid ads at the top of search results in favor of organic search results.
Why is that? Organic search results are perceived as more credible because they are not paid placements. Users believe that these companies have earned their position through genuine expertise and quality, as Google has selected them based on their relevance and value.
Long-Term Results
While paid advertising offers immediate visibility, its impact lasts only as long as the budget does. Organic SEO, however, focuses on long-term growth by steadily increasing your visibility and capturing more of the search market share—especially in competitive industries where every click matters.
Higher Click-Through Rates (CTR)
Google rankings are constantly evolving, but reaching the first page is key to establishing recognition and authority—not just with your audience, but with Google itself. Click-through rate (CTR) is a major factor in this process, as it tells Google that your site offers valuable content that people are eager to engage with. This boost in CTR can enhance both your search rankings and potentially your sales. In fact, some sources track over 27% of clicks are awarded to the top organic search result on average.
What Are the Drawbacks of Organic SEO?
Initial Time Investment
One of the biggest challenges of organic SEO is the time it takes to see measurable results. Unlike paid advertising, which can generate immediate traffic, SEO is a long-term investment. It takes time to implement effective strategies, conduct research to differentiate your site from competitors, and wait for Google to index your pages. Additionally, it requires time for users to discover and engage with your content. As a result, you may not see significant results right away. On average, pages at the top of search results are 2.6 years old.
However, this timeline can be shorter in niche industries where you might be the only "dog in town." In these cases, we focus on identifying and promoting the unique aspects of your business to achieve quicker visibility.
High Competition
The competition for top spots on search engine results pages (SERPs) is fierce. In many industries, especially popular and profitable ones, numerous businesses are vying for the same keywords. This high level of competition can make it challenging for smaller or newer businesses to rank well, as they are up against established companies with more extensive SEO resources and domain authority.
Algorithm Changes
Search engines, particularly Google, frequently update their algorithms to improve the quality of search results. While these changes are generally beneficial for users, they can be unpredictable and sometimes detrimental to a website’s ranking, even if nothing has changed on the site itself.
Lack of Time and Expertise
As mentioned earlier, SEO requires a significant investment of time. Unfortunately, many small business owners simply don't have the time to implement these strategies or to continually update their site with SEO improvements while managing a wide range of other tasks.
That’s why many small businesses in Eastern Iowa rely on trusted advertising partners like Flanker Media. We bring the expertise, resources, and dedication needed to enhance their marketing efforts effectively.
Google Search Ads (PPC)
While Google isn't the only search engine available, it dominates with over a staggering 90% of the market share, leaving other search engines like Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo with the remainder. Google is where most people turn when searching for answers to their questions and companies to assist them. Google Search Ads, also referred to as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, are ads that appear above organic search results. You pay to have your ad displayed front and center within SERPs (search engine results pages) based on your bid.
Google Ads offer various types of ad formats, and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, calls your business using the ad or completes a form through the ad. This visibility can help you reach a larger audience by placing your business name at the top of search results.
Unlike SEO, Google Ads do not influence your organic search rankings. However, they are highly effective for promoting specials and targeting specific keywords and audiences who are further down the marketing funnel and actively seeking your company’s services.
What Are the Benefits of Paid Advertising?
Immediate Visibility
As a new or small business, you may be seeking ways to quickly expose your products or services to your ideal customers. Google Ads can help you achieve this by placing your ad at the top of search results almost instantly.
Targeted Reach
Is there a specific group of customers you want to target? PPC ads let you narrow it down by age, location, gender, and which search terms you want to appear on. This precision helps you reach the exact audience who is most likely to be interested in your products or services.
Measurable Results
PPC platforms provide detailed analytics and reporting with a breakdown of clicks, impressions, and phone calls. With all of these metrics at your fingertips you will be able to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and make informed decisions on your ad spend.
Enhanced Brand Awareness
When you search for something on Google, you’ll often see PPC ads listed at the very top of the search results page—typically the first 2-4 results. These prime positions attract the most views from users searching for related terms.
Even if users don’t click on these ads, they still see them, which acts as a form of “online billboard” advertising. This repeated exposure helps increase your brand visibility and recognition, reinforcing your brand’s presence over time.
What Are the Drawbacks of Paid Advertising?
Cost of Clicks
You pay for every click on your ad, regardless of whether the click comes from employees, competitors, or accidental clicks. This means your budget could be spent on clicks that don’t result in meaningful leads or conversions.
To optimize your ad spend, we aim to avoid targeting search terms that might lead to wasted clicks, such as terms where users are already likely to find your business organically. This ensures that your budget is spent effectively on reaching potential customers who may not find you otherwise.
Bidding Wars
In competitive industries, bidding wars for high-value keywords can drive up costs significantly. Competing with other advertisers for the same keywords can lead to escalating bids and higher expenses, which may reduce your return on investment (ROI). Managing bids effectively and choosing less competitive keywords can help mitigate this issue.
Requires Constant Monitoring, Management & Optimization
Effective PPC campaigns require continuous auditing. Managing keywords, adjusting bids, analyzing performance metrics, and refining ad copy are all ongoing tasks. Without proper oversight, you risk wasting your budget on underperforming ads or targeting the wrong audience.
Which Digital Strategy is Better for Your Small Business?
Both SEO and paid advertising offer distinct benefits for your website, and ideally, they should work together to maximize your online presence. While investing in SEO is a smart, long-term strategy that builds credibility and authority, it's important to recognize that it can take time to see results. For small businesses with immediate goals—like driving sales or generating leads quickly—PPC can offer the fast, targeted visibility that SEO alone can't provide in the short term.
While following SEO fundamentals is always important for building a lasting online presence and capturing organic "free" traffic over time, PPC can help you achieve quick wins and target audiences that are ready to take action now. The key is to strike the right balance: using PPC for short-term or difficult-to-achieve organic results while investing in SEO for consistent and efficient long-term success.
Are you ready to get started with SEO or pay-per-click ads? Contact our team at Flanker Media today for a free consultation!
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