28/02/2025
𝗦𝗘𝗢 (𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲) 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝘀 (𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵)? 🤔
It’s one of the questions I often get asked - which approach is best.
Basically I respond like this:
➡️ 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 works quickly, but it can be expensive without proper planning and management.
➡️ 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 takes time and is a longer-term investment, but its value builds up and compounds over time.
However, more often than not, SEO wins. Why? Because it’s "free," and perceived as the better return on investment (whilst SEO is free traffic, there is a time and cost implication in getting results).
But in truth it's like comparing 🍏 apples and oranges 🍊. The two are not alike.
𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 aren’t competing strategies; they work better together because when combined, they maximise visibility 👀, save money 🤑 and drive results 📈.
✅ 𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁: You don't want to be sending paid search to a weak website. Also when you have a strong organic presence you don't have to rely on paid search as much.
✅ 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵: Paid search means you can take what is working with SEO and rank for more competitive keywords that you can’t win organically.
✅ 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿: Using insights from both, paid search data helps refine organic keywords. Equally SEO insights can help to improve ad targeting and reduce paid search costs.
At Engaging Content, we take a holistic approach to search strategy, 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 instead of against each other. But our focus is getting organic results first before amplifying your reach with paid search.
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜?
If you would like to chat about how we can help to save you money and make your content go further, 𝗗𝗠 𝗺𝗲.
