Both SEO and Google Ads are marketing strategies that involve search engines and keyword usage that you can engage in to attract web visitors, increase leads, and boost your sales. However, there are several differences between the two, and your choice of which technique to use will depend on your overall marketing goals.

#1 Cost:
SEO is an organic way to rank your website on top of search engine results page. With some website modifications, content optimization, and technical tweaks, you can dominate Google without spending a lot of your marketing budget. Meanwhile, Google Ads require budget spend because you will have to bid on keywords, buy placements, and pay on every click you get on your ads. It definitely costs more than engaging with SEO.

#2 Results:
When done properly and maintained regularly, your SEO campaign can drive long-term results. This means, all the time and effort that you’re exerting today in optimizing your website will not be wasted and will bring in traffic even after years to come. On the other hand, the increase in traffic, visits, and conversions brought by Google Ads are just short term. As long as you’re funding your AdWords campaigns, you will be getting good results. But, as soon as you turn them off, all metrics will go down again.

#3 Traffic:
When your website ranks organically on top of Google search results from an effective SEO campaign, you can expect a huge volume of traffic to come in, with a daily increase as long as it maintains its good position. Additionally, the more web pages you rank, the bigger the volume of traffic you’ll be getting. With Google Ads, they will only generate traffic for the duration of the campaign.

While Google AdWords provides faster results and instant placement of your website on top of Google search results (under Sponsored links), it can be really costly and the results are not lasting. With search engine optimization, you can guarantee excellent results that can last for years!