Whether it is on-site SEO, a Google Ads campaign, off-site SEO or most likely: all three – I will devise a strategy to ensure you rank highly and are visible to all potential customers. Perhaps the vital first thing to note is that they are all inextricably linked. As you work on the one you notice you need to focus and improve on the other. As an example, you bid on the keyword “plumber near me” but the page you direct the traffic to performs really poorly, Google realises that, and gives you a low quality score and so you must fix your website’s on-site SEO to improve your ranking, and bring down your CPC (Cost per Click).
One thing I find incredibly helpful is using Google Ads to learn how many people are coming to a website, how competitive that term is, and just what terms they are inputing to see the Ads we set up. Google Search Console, and Google Analytics will help you with that information as well but somehow the literal $ spend in front of you really forces you to notice the value of each keyword, and click.
Sometimes it is a huge encouragement (you sell an environmental consulting service, a click costing you £1 results in £8,000 worth of work, and then you are winning!) and sometimes not so much… maybe selling a product for £10, and each click is £2, of which your profit is next to nothing. Thankfully, due to natural competition, that is unlikely to happen as most people will bid accordingly in line with the value of the end goal.
This is all to say that when setting up your Ads campaigns you want to start broad and flesh out Ad groups as you go along, in line with segmented keywords for your industry or niche. It is incredibly rewarding and insightful to see just what people are searching and then day by day, and later weekly make incremental changes that deliver high value for your website or brand. I mean: physical equivalent is imagine seeing written above each shopper (as they enter Sainbury’s, Woolworths, or any retail shop) their intent. This is what Google provides us with, and this is what Google Ads (and their epic Keyword Planner) can show in even more detail.
And so, perhaps you don’t want to spend money on Google Ads and rather put that budget into a long-term SEO campaign that will deliver more benefits over time, and save you money on Ad spend, because you will generate organic traffic that is free. However, I would contend that (especially for any new website or brand) you rather spend the money on Ads and learn some amazing insight into your website users’ minds. After that, then certainly migrate across to working on your SEO thereafter. One keyword at a time…