How PPC works

With pay-per-click advertising you bid to show an advert when someone searches for a relevant term, and you pay when they click. You can launch quickly, target by location and device, and switch campaigns off if they underperform. The trade-off is that traffic stops when the budget does, and popular terms can be expensive. Platforms such as Google Ads explain the mechanics in their help centre, but the commercial question is whether each click costs less than the value it brings.

How SEO works

SEO improves your website so it can earn visibility in organic results. That means useful pages for the questions people ask, a site that search engines can crawl and understand, and signals of credibility. Google's own SEO starter guide is a good plain-English introduction. Results are never guaranteed and they take time, but well-built pages can keep earning traffic without a charge for each visit.

Compare them on what matters to you

Rather than asking which is better, compare them against your situation:

• Speed: PPC can bring visitors in days, SEO typically takes months

• Cost profile: PPC costs rise and fall with clicks, SEO is mostly an upfront and ongoing effort

• Control: you can set exactly who sees a paid advert, but organic visibility is never guaranteed

• Longevity: paid traffic stops with the budget, good organic pages can last

• Learning: PPC shows quickly which searches and messages convert

When PPC should come first

Start with paid search if you need enquiries soon, you are launching a new offer, or you want to test whether demand exists before committing to a longer project. It is also helpful when your site is not yet in a state to rank. Make sure the landing page is ready first, because paying for clicks that arrive at a weak page wastes money. Our Google Ads landing page checklist and guide to reducing wasted Google Ads spend cover the common leaks.

When SEO should come first

Lean towards SEO if you have time, your customers research before buying and the topics you cover have lasting demand. It also suits businesses whose paid clicks are too expensive to scale. Be wary of anyone promising specific rankings or quick shortcuts, and read Google's spam policies so you know which tactics risk a penalty. A sensible first step is keyword research for a service business, to find searches worth targeting.

Why many businesses use both

The two work well together. Paid search gives fast data on which keywords and messages convert, and those insights shape the content you build for organic search. As organic visibility grows, you may be able to reduce spend on terms you now rank for naturally, while keeping paid activity on high-value searches. Use Google Search Console to see which queries bring organic visits and where paid and organic overlap.

Questions to help you decide

• How soon do you need leads, and what happens if they take six months?

• How competitive and expensive are the search terms in your market?

• Do you already have pages worth ranking, or do they need building?

• Can you track conversions properly from the first visit?

• What is a new customer worth to you, and what can you afford to pay to win one?