SEO vs Google Ads: Which Should a Local Business Invest in First?

The Short Answer: It Depends on Your Timeline

Every business owner we talk to asks some version of this question. The honest answer is that it depends on how quickly you need results and how much you can invest upfront.

Google Ads can put your business in front of potential customers within 24 hours of launching a campaign. SEO typically takes 3-6 months before you see meaningful improvements in your rankings. That timeline difference matters when you have bills to pay and a business to run.

But here is where it gets interesting: the businesses that grow the fastest are almost always running both simultaneously. Google Ads funds the business while SEO builds an asset that generates leads for years without ongoing ad spend.

What SEO Actually Does for Your Business

SEO is the process of making your website and online presence more visible in Google organic search results and the Map Pack. When someone searches "plumber near me" or "best roofer in Kirkland," SEO determines whether your business shows up.

The biggest advantage of SEO is that once you rank, you do not pay per click. A single first-page ranking can generate dozens of leads per month for years. We have clients who have been ranking on page one for 3+ years and continue to receive consistent leads without increasing their spend.

The downside is patience. Google needs time to recognize your website as authoritative and relevant. During the first 2-3 months of an SEO campaign, you are building the foundation: fixing technical issues, optimizing content, building citations and links. Results come in months 3-6 and accelerate from there.

For local businesses, SEO also means optimizing your Google Business Profile, managing reviews, and building local citations. These signals directly impact whether you appear in the Map Pack, which is where the majority of local clicks happen.

What Google Ads Does for Your Business

Google Ads puts your business at the top of search results immediately. You bid on keywords relevant to your services, write compelling ad copy, and pay each time someone clicks through to your website or calls your business.

The main advantage is speed. We have launched campaigns for clients on Monday and had them receiving phone calls by Wednesday. For businesses that need leads now, there is no faster channel.

Google Ads also gives you precise control over your budget, targeting, and messaging. You can target specific zip codes, run ads only during business hours, and adjust your spend week by week based on results. If a campaign is working, you scale it up. If it is not, you pause it.

The downside is that the moment you stop paying, the leads stop coming. Unlike SEO, there is no compounding effect. Your cost per lead remains relatively constant over time, and in competitive industries, click costs can be significant.

When to Start with SEO First

SEO makes sense as your first investment when you have a longer timeline and want to build an asset. Specifically, consider starting with SEO if you already have some leads coming in from referrals or other channels and can afford to wait 3-6 months for results.

SEO is also the better first choice if you are in an industry where Google Ads costs are extremely high. In legal services, for example, a single click can cost $50-$150. Building organic rankings is a more cost-effective long-term strategy.

Businesses with a strong Google Business Profile and existing reviews also benefit from prioritizing SEO, because you already have foundational signals that can be amplified.

When to Start with Google Ads First

Google Ads should be your first investment when you need revenue quickly. If you just opened a new business, entered a new market, or are in a cash-flow-sensitive situation, Google Ads gets money coming in while you build everything else.

Ads are also smart when you want to test demand before committing to a full marketing strategy. Running a 30-day Google Ads campaign tells you exactly which services people are searching for, what your cost per lead will be, and how well your website converts. That data makes every future marketing decision better.

We often recommend starting with Google Ads for seasonal businesses like roofers, HVAC companies, and landscapers who need to capture demand during peak months.

The Best Approach: Running Both Together

The most effective strategy for most local businesses is running SEO and Google Ads simultaneously. Google Ads generates leads and revenue immediately while SEO builds long-term organic visibility in the background.

As your SEO rankings improve over months 3-6, your reliance on paid ads decreases. Many of our clients start with a 70/30 split favoring ads, then shift to 40/60 favoring SEO within a year as their organic rankings strengthen.

There is also a compounding benefit: data from your Google Ads campaigns, specifically which keywords convert and which landing pages perform best, directly informs your SEO strategy. And higher organic rankings improve your overall credibility, which increases your Google Ads conversion rate.

At Integrity Marketing, our SEO and Google Ads teams work together because the data flows both directions. That is not something you get when you hire separate vendors for each service.