You have been told you need more leads from Google, and two people are telling you different things. One says to invest in SEO and wait. The other says to switch on Google Ads and pay for clicks. Both are right for some businesses and wrong for others, and the expensive mistake is picking by habit. This guide sets out when each channel earns its place, how to split a search budget, and the one time we told a client to spend less with us.
Our view: SEO and PPC are not rivals. They answer different problems, and the right split depends on how fast you need enquiries and how crowded your market is.
Key takeaways
- SEO builds enquiries over months. PPC buys them from week one, and stops when the budget stops.
- Choose by speed and competition, not habit. Crowded regional markets can make SEO slow and PPC the faster route.
- Our client case: a £2,500 a month SEO retainer produced 3 to 5 enquiries. A £1,000 SEO and £1,500 Google Ads split produced 28 to 35.
- Search is the UK’s largest ad channel, so competition for clicks is real. Tight targeting matters more than budget.
- Do not stop SEO entirely. The two channels feed each other.
What is the difference between SEO and PPC?
SEO earns unpaid listings in Google over time. PPC (pay per click) buys paid listings that appear immediately and stop when you stop paying. SEO is an asset you build. PPC is a tap you turn on.
That one difference drives everything else. SEO needs months before it pays back, but a ranking page keeps working. PPC starts within days, but every enquiry has a price attached and the price continues for as long as you want them.
| Question | SEO | PPC |
|---|---|---|
| How fast do enquiries start? | Months | Days to weeks |
| What happens when you stop paying? | Rankings usually hold for a while | Traffic stops immediately |
| How is cost measured? | Monthly hours, no cost per click | Media spend plus management, with a cost per click |
| How much control over the message? | Limited. Google chooses the snippet | High. You write the advert and pick the page |
| Best for | Long-term, repeatable lead flow | Fast leads and tightly targeted offers |
For the broader comparison, our earlier guide covers SEO vs PPC for UK SMEs. This article goes narrower: how to decide where the next pound should go.
When is SEO the right call?
SEO is the right call when you can wait, your market is not saturated and your buyers search in a way you can answer with a specific page. Think of a facilities manager typing a service and an area into Google. A page that matches that search, built properly, will keep bringing enquiries long after the work is done.
- You have a long runway. If six months without a result would hurt, SEO alone is a risk.
- Your buyers search by service and area. That is exactly what a service or location page answers.
- Your margins cannot carry a cost per click. Organic traffic has no per-click charge.
- The market is winnable. If the first page is full of large national sites, ranking takes longer.
We cover the fundamentals in our SEO service. The point is that SEO suits patient, repeatable demand. It is a poor fit for a business that needs enquiries next month.
When is PPC the right call?
PPC is the right call when you need enquiries quickly, the offer is specific and the value of a won contract covers the cost of finding it. It also suits markets where SEO is slow because competition is heavy, or where you want to test a service before investing in pages for it.
Search is where buyers already are. It took 44% of UK digital ad spend in 2025, worth £17.9bn, according to IAB UK. That tells you buyers use search, and it tells you rivals are bidding for the same clicks.
It is the UK’s largest advertising channel overall, with 38.3% of all ad spend in 2025, ahead of social media at 24.7% and TV at 11.2%, according to the AA/WARC Expenditure Report. In Q1 2026 it stayed the largest channel at £4.6bn, up 9.8% year on year, Advertising Association and WARC report.
Is that good or bad news for a small business? It depends how you play it. When a facilities manager needs a new contractor, they turn to search engines, so a well-targeted campaign meets them at the right moment. It turns bad if you compete on national, generic terms without tight geo-fencing, a hard negative keyword list and dedicated landing pages built to convert.
If this is the route you need, see our PPC service. We also show the working in how we cut cost per lead for a cleaning company.
What happened when we moved budget from SEO to PPC?
We worked with a client paying a £2,500 a month organic SEO retainer. Over 12 months it produced only 3 to 5 qualified commercial enquiries a month, because regional competition was severe. The SEO work was sound. The market was the problem.
We reallocated £1,500 of that budget into targeted Google Search PPC and kept a lighter £1,000 technical and content SEO retainer. The result was 28 to 35 qualified commercial enquiries a month. The average cost per lead fell from about £625 to about £71.
That also cut our own fee, because the right answer for that client was to spend less on SEO with us. We said so. A retainer that does not produce leads is not worth defending, and reporting should be by leads and cost per lead, not by activity.
These results were achieved by Marcus Lobow, some in-house as a senior marketer and some through Lobo Digital.
How should you split a search budget between SEO and PPC?
Start with how fast you need enquiries and how crowded your market is, then split the budget to match. There is no universal ratio. These are starting points we use, not rules.
- Need leads within weeks, competitive market: lean towards PPC, with a smaller SEO retainer to build for later.
- No rush, winnable market: lean towards SEO, with a small PPC test on your best-converting service.
- Not sure: split the budget, measure cost per lead by channel for three months, then move money to whichever is cheaper.
Whatever you choose, measure it properly. Count leads and cost per lead by service, not impressions. If you want to see typical spend levels, our published pricing shows what senior hours cost: £62.50 an hour plus VAT, from 15 hours a month, with a three-month minimum term.
How do SEO and PPC help each other?
PPC shows you which searches turn into enquiries within weeks, which tells you which pages SEO should build first. SEO then lowers your reliance on paid clicks as those pages start to rank. Run together, each makes the other cheaper to run.
- PPC data guides SEO. Search term reports reveal the exact words buyers use.
- SEO pages lift PPC. A fast, clear landing page improves conversion, so each click goes further.
- Both protect you. If a campaign pauses or a ranking drops, the other channel keeps the phone ringing.
This is why we plan search as one budget in our marketing strategy work, rather than selling two disconnected packages.
Frequently asked questions
Is SEO or PPC better for a small business?
Neither is better in general. SEO suits businesses that can wait and have a winnable market. PPC suits those who need enquiries quickly or face heavy competition. Many small businesses do best with both, weighted by speed and cost per lead.
How long does SEO take compared with PPC?
SEO usually takes months before it produces regular enquiries, and the timeline depends on competition. PPC can produce enquiries within days of launch, though a campaign normally needs a few weeks of tuning before cost per lead settles.
Can I stop SEO if I start PPC?
You can, but it is rarely wise. PPC traffic stops the moment the budget does. In our client case we kept a lighter £1,000 SEO retainer so the site kept building value while PPC delivered the volume.
How much should a small business spend on Google Ads?
It depends on your sector, your location and what a won contract is worth. Work backwards from the value of a customer and the cost per lead you can afford, then set a test budget and measure.
What is a good cost per lead?
A good cost per lead is one that leaves a profit after the sale. In our client case it fell from about £625 to about £71. Your number depends on contract value and close rate, so calculate it before you set the budget.
Should I use an agency for SEO and PPC?
Use one if the person doing the work is senior and reports on leads. Be wary of fixed task lists and impressions reports. Ask who does the work, and what they will tell you to stop spending on.
Choosing between SEO and PPC is a budget decision first and a marketing decision second. If you want a senior marketer to look at your site and tell you plainly where the next pound should go, start here.
Sources: IAB UK Digital Adspend 2025; AA/WARC Expenditure Report; Marketing Week: UK ad spend Q1 2026.
