When a person searches Google for a service, they see ads at the top and ordinary search results below. There are two ways to get there: pay for ads or promote your site with SEO. Each has its advantages.
How Google Ads works
You show your ad to people who are searching for your service right now, and you pay Google for visits to your site. Enquiries can appear in the very first days after launch. Switch the ads off and the impressions stop.
Setting up Google Ads costs from €350, and management is optional, from €100 a month. You pay the ad budget directly to Google.
How SEO works
SEO is work on a website so that it climbs in ordinary search results: structure, text, speed and the technical side. You don't pay for clicks, but the result builds up gradually. First results appear after roughly 3 months.
SEO costs from €200 a month, with a contract of at least 3 months. We work with sites we built ourselves. We'll be honest: no reputable specialist can guarantee first place on Google.
What SEO includes
SEO isn't a one-off setup but a plan of work for every month. It usually includes:
- a technical audit and fixing errors on the site;
- choosing the searches your customers use to find you;
- text and pages built around those searches;
- blog articles that bring people in from search;
- a report every month: what was done and what has changed.
Ads and SEO compared
- Speed. Ads: the first days. SEO: from 3 months.
- Costs. With ads you keep paying for clicks. With SEO you pay for the work, and clicks are free.
- After you stop. Ads end immediately. Search positions last longer, though not forever.
- Trust. Many people are more willing to click ordinary search results than ads.
Where a small business should start
If you need enquiries now, start with ads. You'll quickly see which services and searches bring customers. If you're working for years ahead and aren't in a hurry, add SEO as early as possible: it pays off over time.
The best option for many companies is to combine them: ads give enquiries right away while SEO grows. Over time you can reduce the ad budget.
Examples: what to choose in different situations
- A bike workshop in Berlin has just opened and wants customers for the season. It's best to start with Google Ads: they'll show the workshop to people searching for a repair nearby.
- A clinic in Milan has been running a long time and plans years ahead. It's worth adding SEO: over time search brings patients without paying for every click.
- A clothes shop in London sells things that look good in photos. Here it's worth adding Instagram, Facebook or TikTok ads to Google.
How to tell whether ads pay off
Look not at clicks but at enquiries and sales. Divide your ad spend by the number of enquiries and you'll know the cost of one enquiry. Then compare it with what you earn from a customer. If an enquiry costs less than the profit from a customer, the ads are working. We send a report every month so these figures are in front of you.
Common mistakes of small businesses
- Running ads to a slow site that's awkward on a phone. You pay for clicks and get no enquiries.
- Switching SEO off after a month without waiting for results.
- Showing ads to everyone instead of to people searching for the service in your city.
- Not counting enquiries and making decisions blindly.
What to do before launch
Both ads and SEO are useless if the site doesn't turn visitors into enquiries. First check that it's fast, easy to use on a phone and easy to contact you through. We wrote about this in the article why your website isn't bringing enquiries.
