The question of whether paid marketing or SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is better will depend on various factors such as your business goals, target audience, budget, and the time frame for achieving results. This has been a dilemma for most new online marketers as they try to balance their time (SEO) with their budget (Paid ads). Here are a few things to consider when thinking about driving traffic to your businesses. Read to the end to find out my most effective marketing strategy mix for driving traffic, generating leads, and increasing profits.

First, let's examine paid marketing!

Paid Marketing Immediate Results:

Paid advertising, for example, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on Google, Bing, FB, and YouTube, can produce immediate results. It's beneficial for short-term goals or promotions but requires strict budget management and relentless tracking to gauge Return on Ads Spend (ROAS).

Here are some Pros for Paid Advertising:

Targeted Audience: Platforms like Google Ads or social media advertising allow you to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors.

Budget Flexibility: You can start with any budget, adjusting based on performance.

Measurable ROAS: Paid campaigns provide clear metrics to measure return on investment.

Immediate Returns: You can start to see results as soon as the same day!

Low Barrier to Entry: You can get started with little in-depth knowledge. You just need a few things to launch a paid ad campaign. Even though the better you get is the more your ROIS will get.

Here are some of the Cons of Paid Marketing:

High Competition: The cost can be high, especially in competitive industries.

Temporary Visibility: Your visibility is tied to your budget. Once you stop paying, your presence diminishes.

Learning the nuance of each ad platform can be frustrating, and getting really good at paid advertising will require some knowledge and specialized skills. I know I said before that there is a low barrier to entry, but the fact is, if you want to get good at paid advertising, like everything else, you will have to dedicate some time to learning how to increase your ROAS.

The best approach is to start small, track and evaluate everything, and scale once you are profitable.

Well, what about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

SEO is a great way to get started for those on a shoestring budget. SEO is the process of generating non-paid traffic from search engines like Google to your website through producing content online, such as videos, blog posts like this one, and some social media content. The best part is that all it will cost you is some time! Although, for some, that is the worst part:)

Here are the Pros:

Long-Term Results: SEO efforts usually take some time but can provide sustained traffic over a long time, making you profit long after the content was first produced.

Cost-Effectiveness: SEO requires very little upfront cost, and it can be more cost-effective in the long run when compared to paid marketing.

Builds Trust and Credibility: High rankings in search results can enhance brand credibility.

Here are some of the Cons:

Dependent on Algorithm Changes: SEO strategies must constantly evolve to keep up with search engine algorithm updates.

Requires Content Creation: Effective SEO often requires regular content creation, which can be resource-intensive.

Unpredictable: Rankings and traffic from SEO can fluctuate and are less predictable than paid traffic.