You’re probably familiar with two common digital marketing strategies: SEO and SEM (Google Ads). But which one is the best for your business? And should it even be a “decision”? In this article, we’ll outline the features and benefits of each, and the considerations in choosing SEO, GoogleAds (SEM), or both.
And before we get started, Ronin is the digital marketing agency Brisbane businesses trust with their digital marketing services & SEO services, and Google Ads management for over 15 years, so if you have any questions, just call us on 07 3358 5062 or get one of our free SEO Audits or GoogleAds Audits.
What is SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the practise of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to a website from search engines. The goal is to improve the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs) in order to attract more visitors to your site and, in turn, increasing your sales / revenue.
SEO is a long-term strategy that requires effort and patience to see results. It’s all about creating valuable content that will rank high in search engine results pages for relevant keywords. This means that you need to understand your target audience, what they’re searching for, and how to best reach them.
What Are the Digital Marketing Benefits of SEO?
When you’re looking to improve your website’s visibility and organic search traffic, SEO is the way to go. Here are some of the benefits of SEO:
- Increased Visibility: One of the main benefits of SEO is that it increases your website’s visibility. This means that your website will show up higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs), which in turn means that more people will see your website. This can lead to an increase in sales and conversions.
- Improved Branding: SEO can also improve your branding. When your website ranks higher in the search results, it will help to build trust and credibility with potential customers. This can also ultimately lead to more business.
- Cost-Effective: SEO is a cost-effective digital marketing strategy. It doesn’t require you to pay for every single click like SEM (GoogleAds). This means that although it still costs time / money, once it’s working, you will get high-quality traffic to your website in volume.
- Long-Term Results: SEO generates long-term results. Once you’ve achieved a good ranking, you can typically maintain it for the long-term. This means that you’ll continue to get organic traffic and with a little maintenance, can enjoy the benefits of SEO for years to come.
- Increased ROI: Another benefit of SEO is that it helps you achieve a higher return on investment (ROI). This is because, as mentioned above, SEO helps you get more website traffic and improves your website’s visibility and rankings across a wide variety of relevant keywords in a long-lasting way.
What Is SEM? (Search Engine Marketing)
SEM is a type of digital marketing that involves using paid ads to promote your products or services in search engine results pages (SERPs).
The main benefit of SEM is that it can be a very effective way to reach your target audience. With SEM, you can specifically target people who are actively searching for the products or services that you offer.
Another benefit of SEM is that it can be a very efficient way to get results. With SEM, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, so you’re not wasting money on ads that no one sees.
Finally, SEM is a great way to complement your SEO efforts. By running SEM campaigns, you can get immediate results while also working on long-term SEO goals.
What Are the Benefits of GoogleAds for Your Digital Marketing?
With GoogleAds, you can be sure that you’re reaching potential customers at the precise moment they’re searching for what you have to offer. That’s the power of Search Engine Marketing.
GoogleAds is an effective platform for SEM because it allows you to target your ads to a very specific audience. You can target by location, time of day, type of device, and even what type of keywords they used in their search.
Plus, with GoogleAds, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This makes it a very cost-effective way to reach potential customers. And because you can track your results with GoogleAds, you can be sure that your SEM campaign is working and generating a positive return on investment.
You can also use GoogleAds to create retargeting campaigns, which are incredibly effective. Retargeting is when you show ads to people who have already visited your website or taken some kind of action. The goal of this form of digital marketing is to get them to come back and take the next step, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for your email list, or downloading a guide.
There are a lot of different ways to use GoogleAds, and it can be a great way to get more out of your digital marketing. However, it’s important to remember that as GoogleAds is a paid advertising platform, you will obviously need to invest some money into your campaigns. The ROI that you get will depend on how high you have to bid for each click, what your conversion rate is, and how it stacks up against the value of the resulting sales.
Which is Best: SEO, Google Ads, or Both?
So now you know a bit more about SEO and GoogleAds and how they work. But which one is right for you?
The answer, unfortunately, is that it depends. It depends on your business, your marketing goals, your budget, and a whole host of other factors. If you’re looking for immediate results, then SEM might be the best option for you. But if you’re looking to build long-term success, then SEO might be a better choice.
Considerations a Digital Marketing Agency Would Make
Here are some things to consider when choosing between SEO and GoogleAds when planning a digital marketing strategy:
- What are your marketing goals? If you’re looking to increase brand awareness or build credibility, then SEO might be the best way to go. If you’re looking for immediate results or sales, then GoogleAds might be a better option.
- What’s your budget? If you have a limited budget, then SEO might be a better option since it generally takes longer to see results from SEO than from GoogleAds. However, if you’re willing to invest more in the short-term, then GoogleAds can give you a quick boost.
- What’s your timeline? How quickly do you need results? If you need results fast, then GoogleAds is probably the way to go. However, if you’re willing to wait a bit longer for sustainable results, then SEO is a better option.
- What’s your level of expertise? If you’re not sure how to get started with digital marketing or don’t have the time to learn, then working with an agency that offers both SEO and GoogleAds might be the best way to go.
- As a Brisbane digital marketing agency, there’s a reason why we help people with both SEO and GoogleAds management. Because you often need a combination of the two. All else being equal, we generally recommend approaching GoogleAds as a sort of stopgap until you can rank better organically, and/or to fill the holes in the keywords you rank for with SEO alone.
How Does a Digital Marketing Agency Help with SEO and Google Ads?
At Ronin, we help our clients with SEO and Google Ads. We are experts in both SEO and Google Ads, and we can help you with your digital marketing in order to get more sales. But how?
First, we can help you with your SEO.
We can help you optimise your website for the search engines so that you can rank higher in the search results and get more traffic to your website.
How does an SEO agency improve your website’s Google ranking?
Well, there are a number of things we can do, but the most important thing is to make sure that your website is optimised for the right keywords. We will research your industry and find the best keywords for your business, and then we will help you to optimise your website and your content for those keywords. (Which is why we will occasionally make mention that we are a Brisbane digital marketing agency – or digital marketing agencies Brisbane…! – because it helps Google and other search engines recognise how to categorise this blog post, for instance.) Doing this forms one small part of helping you to rank higher in the search results for those keywords, and in turn it will also help you to get more traffic from people who are searching for those keywords. Of course, as you now know from above, there is much more to it than stuffing keywords into a page, and digital marketing agencies are good at taking all that work off your plate.
Second, we can help you with your Google Ads.
Amongst other digital marketing services, a marketing agency can create and manage your Google Ads campaigns so that you can get more traffic to your website and more sales.
How does a digital marketing agency improve your Google Ads campaigns?
Again, there are a number of things we can do, but the most important thing is to make sure that your campaigns are targeting the right keywords. We will research your industry and find the best keywords for your business, and then we will help you to create and manage your campaigns so that they are targeting those keywords. This will help you to get more traffic to your website and more sales.
Third, we can help you with your social media marketing, which is a whole other topic! But long story short, social media marketing will aid your SEO as it drives traffic to your content, amongst other things. We can create posts for you and help you promote your digital marketing content so that you can reach more people and get more engagement.
Lastly, we can help you with your overall digital marketing strategy, to pull these things and a bunch of others together to ensure it works as a sort of marketing machine. We can help you develop a plan so that you can achieve your goals and get more out of your digital marketing budget.
So, what’s the verdict? Is SEO or SEM (Google Ads) the best way forward for your digital marketing?
It really depends on your situation, and what you’re looking to achieve with your digital marketing. If you’re just starting out, or if you have a limited budget, then SEO may be the best option for you. However, if you’re looking to get immediate results, or if you have a large budget, then Google Ads (SEM) may be the best way to go.
If you’re not sure which is best for you, then we recommend talking to an experienced digital marketing agency Brisbane trusts like Ronin. We can help you assess your situation, and develop a customised digital marketing strategy that will help you achieve your desired results. So if you have any questions, just call us on 07 3358 5062 or get one of our free SEO Audits or GoogleAds Audits.
