We sat down with Linford, our Sales Manager, to talk about one of the most common questions he hears from potential clients. If you're already investing in Google Ads and seeing results, does SEO really make sense? Here's what Linford had to say.
Answer: It's usually some version of, "We're already getting traffic and leads from ads, so why would we need SEO as well?" And honestly, it's a completely fair question. When budgets are tight and you need results now, SEO can feel like an unnecessary extra cost.
Answer: I usually start by explaining that SEO and paid search aren't competitors. They're actually most effective when they work together. It's not about choosing one or the other.
Answer: On the surface, yes. Both get your brand in front of people searching on Google. Both target keywords. Both drive traffic. But what happens over time, and what’s happening behind the scenes, is completely different.
Paid search gives you instant visibility. You turn it on, you’re there. But the second you stop spending that visibility vanishes. SEO takes longer to build, but once it’s working, it continues to deliver results whether you’re actively paying for clicks or not.
And SEO isn’t just about rankings. A strong SEO strategy improves the overall health of your website by addressing site speed, broken links, duplicate or missing content, and structural issues that affect how search engines and users experience your site. In that sense, it’s more like a long-term foundation and regular health check than a simple traffic play.
Modern SEO also extends beyond traditional search results. Optimising for AI-driven discovery and generative search visibility means your content is positioned to appear wherever people are finding answers, not just in classic rankings.
The best-performing accounts use paid search for speed and immediate data, and SEO for longevity, building a healthier, more resilient digital presence over time.
Answer: Oh, absolutely. It’s one of the biggest concerns, and I completely understand why. With ads, you can see conversions, cost per lead, and ROAS almost immediately. Paid search is great for quick wins. SEO feels fuzzier, especially at the start.
But SEO ROI compounds. Each month of work builds on the last. More visibility, more authority, more pages pulling in traffic. Crucially, it also builds trust. A strong SEO strategy follows E-E-A-T principles, strengthening your site’s credibility and authority so customers feel confident returning to you. Over time, that lowers your overall cost per lead, supports repeat business, and means your ad budget doesn’t have to work as hard.
In practice, we often see businesses reduce paid spend as their organic performance strengthens, without seeing their leads drop off. SEO becomes the bedrock that supports long-term traffic, trust, and sustainable returns.
Answer: Exactly. And that's a totally fair concern, especially in the current climate. This is why SEO works best alongside paid search, not instead of it.
Ads keep the leads coming in the short term. At the same time, we use paid search data to identify which keywords actually convert, not just which get clicks. Then we build an SEO strategy around those same commercial terms.
That way, SEO isn't a shot in the dark. It's guided by real performance data, and you start seeing meaningful progress sooner than most people expect.
Answer: Yeah, I hear that one a lot. You’re definitely not alone if you’ve had that experience.
More often than not, it’s because the SEO was focused on traffic rather than outcomes. Rankings for the sake of rankings. Blog content that never converted. Reports that looked busy but didn’t actually move the needle.
Another common issue is skipping the fundamentals. Our first priority is making sure the website itself is healthy. That means addressing site speed, broken links, missing or duplicate content, and structural issues that affect how search engines view your site. Without that foundation, it’s difficult to build authority or trust, and even well-targeted keywords won’t perform as they should.
Our approach is much closer to how paid campaigns are run. Everything ties back to business goals, commercial keywords, and measurable performance, not vanity metrics.
If SEO didn’t work before, it doesn’t necessarily mean SEO doesn’t work. It often just means the strategy, or the groundwork behind it, wasn’t right.
Answer: That's actually a great starting point, and if anything, it's more of a reason to invest further into SEO.
Usually, when people say their site ranks well, they mean strong branded rankings or visibility for top-of-funnel terms. The real opportunity often sits in non-branded searches. The ones people use before they know who you are. These are also the exact searches businesses usually end up paying for in Ads.
SEO helps you compete for those clicks organically, so you’re not forever bidding on traffic you could be earning naturally. And modern optimisation goes beyond traditional rankings. Even if you perform well in search today, it’s worth asking whether your site is structured and optimised for AI-driven discovery too. A simple audit can reveal where competitors are capturing organic and AI-surfaced visibility that you’re currently paying to reach.
Answer: Not always. But if you want to reduce your long-term dependence on paid spend, make your ad budget work harder, capture high-intent searches without constantly bidding on them, and build something that continues to deliver beyond this month's budget, then SEO plays a big part in that balance.
Answer: We're always happy to have a look. We offer free, no-obligation reviews to help you understand where SEO could support your paid activity, what's worth prioritising, and what can wait.
Whether it's a simple sense-check, a clearer roadmap, or a way to start building your organic presence into 2026, there's genuinely no pressure. Just practical insight and honest advice.
If that sounds useful, get in touch, and we'll take it from there.