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SEO or Google Ads? Choose Google Ads if you need customers this month, want to test a new offer or market, or want to appear for terms you do not yet rank for: you pay per click, in a Western European market such as Belgium usually between 0.30 and 8 euros, and visitors arrive from day one. Choose SEO if you want a flow of enquiries in a few months without a cost per click: you pay for work, not for visitors, and the result stays when you stop paying. For most companies the combination wins: ads for now, SEO for the months after.
How we handle each: Google Ads and SEO. Click prices differ per country and sector; the ranges below come from Belgium, where we work, and serve as an example.
How SEO and Google Ads work
SEO makes your pages the best answer to what people search, so Google shows them high in the regular results. You pay Google nothing; you invest in pages, technical work and content. It takes months; see how long does SEO take.
Google Ads places your ad above or among the results, as long as you bid in the auction. What a click costs depends on your bid, the quality of your ad and landing page, and the competition. You set your own budget; Google has no minimum. What that costs in practice: how much does Google Ads cost.
SEO and Google Ads side by side
- First visitors
- SEOAfter weeks to months
- Google AdsFrom day one
- Cost
- SEOWork on pages and technical setup, no cost per click
- Google AdsEvery click, as long as you advertise, plus management
- When you stop paying
- SEOYour pages stay and keep being found
- Google AdsYour ads disappear at once
- Control
- SEOLittle: Google decides who ranks
- Google AdsA lot: budget, terms, region and time are yours
- Trust
- SEOMany people prefer clicking a regular result
- Google AdsClearly labelled as sponsored
- Measuring
- SEOImpressions, rankings and clicks in Search Console
- Google AdsCost per click and per enquiry, to the cent
Google Ads buys you time, SEO builds an asset. Using both, you learn within months which terms really sell, and put your pages on those.
Earning or buying
- Google Ads
- SEO
Visitors from Google
- Google Ads: Your ads disappear at once.
- SEO: Your pages stay and keep drawing visitors.
Schematic, without figures
What each costs, per month and per enquiry
| SEO | Google Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | Work: 500 to 2,500 euros a month at agencies that publish prices, or your own hours | Clicks: your own budget, for a local firm usually at least 1,000 euros a month, plus management |
| Price per click | 0 euros | 0.30 to 8 euros in Belgium, depending on your sector |
| When you see results | Months | Days |
| What you have after a year | Pages that keep ranking | Data on which terms sell, and no lasting rankings |
All amounts before VAT; the details per service are in how much does SEO cost and how much does Google Ads cost. What your ad budget returns, work out with the Google Ads budget calculator.
Worked example: twelve months of SEO, ads or both
An installer. A Google Ads click costs him 1.50 euros on average, 4 percent of visitors request a quote, and one in three enquiries becomes a customer with 900 euros margin. For SEO he budgets 1,200 euros a month. The numbers are an example, not a promise.
| Over twelve months | Google Ads only | SEO only | Google Ads and SEO together |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 12 x (1,000 click budget + 300 management) = 15,600 euros | 12 x 1,200 = 14,400 euros | 30,000 euros |
| Enquiries | 12 x 27 = 324 | 0 in months 1 to 2, then rising, about 120 in total | 324 + 120 = 444 |
| Customers (1 in 3) | 108 | 40 | 148 |
| Margin | 97,200 euros | 36,000 euros | 133,200 euros |
| Net: margin minus cost | 81,600 euros | 21,600 euros | 103,200 euros |
| What is left in month 13 | Nothing, unless you keep paying | Pages that keep bringing enquiries | Pages that keep bringing enquiries, plus Ads data on which terms sell |
A 1,000 euro click budget at 1.50 euros buys 667 clicks a month; at 4 percent that is about 27 enquiries. In this example ads already pay off in year one, while SEO returns less in year one. The difference comes in year two: SEO pages keep bringing enquiries without click costs, while every ad enquiry has to be paid for again. If your ads perform this well, keep advertising and build SEO alongside. That is why most companies combine: ads on the terms that are profitable, SEO underneath, and lower bids on terms where you reach the top organically.
When to choose what
| Your situation | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You are starting and need customers this month | Google Ads | Visitors from day one |
| You want to test a new offer, region or country | Google Ads | Within weeks you know whether people search and click |
| You want to depend less on ads in a year | SEO | Pages keep working when you stop paying |
| You sell something people read about first | SEO | Guides and comparisons catch demand early |
| Your market is small and local | SEO plus your Business Profile | Little volume, little competition; see create a Google Business Profile |
| Your competitors advertise heavily | Both | Ads to stay visible, SEO to escape the cost per click |
| Your product is seasonal | Ads in season, SEO all year | You only pay for clicks when they pay off |
| You enter a new language market | Ads first, SEO per language | Ads test demand while the new pages build up |
What about social? People who are not yet searching you reach on Facebook and Instagram, not in Google. That is a different question: see Meta ads or Google Ads.
Where the budget leaks away
- Stopping ads as soon as SEO startsSEO delivers little in the first months; without ads your inflow stalls.
- Advertising to a weak pageA click to your homepage instead of a page about exactly that service costs money and returns little.
- Paying for your own brand namewhen you already rank first. Sometimes needed if competitors bid on your name, often not.
- Looking only at rankingsMeasure enquiries, for ads and for SEO.
- Letting automated campaigns run uncheckedGoogle keeps pushing features such as AI Max; check which search terms you actually pay for. See Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max.
A fair comparison: cost per enquiry
Do not compare the cost per click with SEO's monthly fee. Compare what an enquiry costs you, per channel:
- Google Adsclick budget plus management, divided by enquiries from ads. In the example 1,300 euros divided by 27, or about 48 euros per enquiry.
- SEOwhat you put into SEO per month, divided by enquiries from organic traffic. High in the first months, then falling, because the pages keep working.
Measure both with the same tracking: a form, a call or a booking, with its source. A simple ROAS calculator shows whether a campaign earns more than it costs.
How the combination works in practice
- Months 1 to 3: Google Ads on terms close to a purchase, with a landing page per service. At the same time the technical base and first pages for SEO.
- Months 3 to 6: ads show which terms bring enquiries. Build your SEO pages on those first.
- Months 6 to 12: where you rank in the organic top three, lower your ad bid. The budget moves to new terms, regions or countries.
Questions about SEO and Google Ads
What is the difference between SEO and paid search?
SEO is being found in Google's regular results, with no cost per click, by making your pages the best answer. Paid search is advertising in the results, such as Google Ads: you pay per click and appear as long as you pay.
Is SEO or Google Ads cheaper?
Per click SEO is cheaper, because you pay Google nothing. But SEO costs work and time before it returns anything. Google Ads costs per click, 0.30 to 8 euros in Belgium, but delivers at once. Over one to two years SEO usually wins; in the first months ads do.
Does Google Ads help my SEO?
Not directly: advertising does not change your position in the regular results. Indirectly it does: ads show which terms bring enquiries, and that is where you build your SEO pages first.
How much budget do I need for Google Ads?
Google has no minimum. For a local firm, 1,000 euros a month in clicks is a realistic start; national, multilingual or B2B campaigns need 2,000 to 5,000 euros. Management comes on top.
Can I stop SEO once I rank first?
The pace can drop, but stopping completely is risky: competitors work on their sites and search behaviour changes. Upkeep and an occasional new page keep your rankings.
Which is better for a small business?
For a local business with little budget, start with a strong Google Business Profile and a few good pages. Google Ads helps if you need customers fast or compete in a busy market. The combination works best when the budget allows.