If you need enquiries soon, Google Ads usually comes first, because ads go live as soon as Google approves them, with a learning period at the start while the campaign settles. If you can be patient and want enquiries that don't cost you per click, lean on search engine optimisation (SEO). Plenty of businesses end up running both, because each one covers the other's blind spot.
Google Ads and SEO side by side
| Google Ads | SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Per click, plus whoever manages the account. You set the budget. | For the work itself. Visitors cost nothing each. |
| How fast it moves | Live once Google approves the campaign, then a learning period while it settles. | Gradually, on Google's timeline rather than yours. |
| When you stop | The enquiries end when the budget stops. | Rankings fade over time instead of switching off. |
| Control | You pick the searches, suburbs, hours and spend. | You influence rankings. Google decides them. |
| Where you show | The sponsored spots at the top of the page. | The regular results and the map listings. |
| Best suited to | Urgent work, testing demand, filling a gap fast. | A long-term flow of enquiries that gets cheaper per enquiry over time. |
When to start with Google Ads
- You need work soon. Ads are the quickest route onto the first page for the searches you pick.
- The job is urgent. Emergency searches go to whoever is visible right now.
- You want to test demand. Ads reveal which searches actually turn into enquiries before you invest in pages for them.
- Your website is new. A fresh site has no rankings yet, and ads don't have to wait for them.
When to start with SEO
- You're busy enough today. Good for a business with a full diary today that wants more coming in down the track.
- Clicks in your industry are expensive. The dearer each click, the more valuable visitors become when they cost nothing each.
- Customers research before choosing. People hiring a builder, lawyer or accountant do a lot of reading first, and organic results carry trust.
- You serve a local area. The map listings sit high on local searches and reward a well-kept profile.
Why most businesses end up running both
Ads keep enquiries coming in while organic rankings build, so there's no dead stretch to sit through. They also show, in hard numbers, which searches end in a sale, and that tells the SEO work where to aim.
As rankings improve, budget can come off the searches you now win organically and go to the ones you don't. And holding a sponsored spot and an organic one on the same results page crowds competitors out.
Weighing up one channel on its own? We've written about each: is Google Ads worth it? and is SEO worth it?
What running both looked like for a law firm
A Darwin law firm we look after across several channels, with search and paid ads working at the same time.
A Darwin law firm
- +137%
- Conversion rate lift
- 70
- Monthly enquiries
- $10.21
- Cost per enquiry
- 3.3x
- Google Ads impression share (13.36% to 43.95%)
Measured Jul 1 to Jul 31, 2026. These are the paid search numbers; the organic result is below. Read the case study →
On the organic side
- #1
- Top organic spot for the firm's own name, previously stuck on page four
Tracked separately from the paid figures. Read the case study →
How we run Google Ads and SEO together
Stackt runs paid search and SEO for Australian service businesses under one roof, so the search terms you pay for, the pages people land on and the tracking all match, and one monthly report shows where every enquiry came from.
Which to lead with, and how to split the money, depends on your market, your competitors and how established your website already is. The free marketing review works that out for your business.
Google Ads vs SEO questions
Is SEO cheaper than Google Ads?
Not early on. SEO needs paying for well before it returns much. Over a longer stretch organic enquiries often end up cheaper, since each visit is free. Which wins for you comes down to your industry, your region and how long you can wait.
Does running Google Ads improve my organic rankings?
No. Google keeps paid and organic results separate, so spending on ads won't move your rankings. Ads do reveal which searches produce customers, though, and that's handy when planning SEO.
Can I show in the ads and the organic results at the same time?
Yes. Ranking organically doesn't stop your ad appearing for the same search, and having both on screen gives you more room than either alone.
What budget does Google Ads need?
Three things set it: your location, the number of businesses bidding against you and the quality of the account build. City clicks tend to be dearer than regional ones. You'll get a real starting figure from the free marketing review.
How long does SEO take compared with Google Ads?
Ads are live once Google approves them, followed by a learning period while Google's system works out who to show them to. SEO builds on Google's schedule and depends on your competition and starting point, so any agency naming a date for rankings is guessing.
What about Facebook and Instagram ads?
They suit a different stage. Search, paid or organic, catches people who are already looking. Facebook and Instagram ads find people before they start looking, which is better for awareness and for products people don't yet know exist. See our paid ads service.
Which is better for tradies?
Usually a mix: paid search for emergencies and bigger jobs, local SEO for the everyday work that comes through the map listings. Our lead guides for electricians, plumbers, builders and roofers go into each trade.
