So, we received this question on our Google Business Profile, “What’s more important, SEO or Google Adwords?”, it sparked some great bluesky conversation about the topic as well as ruined some life-long friendships!
Why? Because they both work in conjunction with each other, and in theory should always be partnered to ensure a solid marketing and metadata plan. In this landscape, one does not out rank the other in importance because they have their place and time for deployment to leverage the synergy between the two.
Overall, you could make the blanket case that SEO is more important than Adwords, but that is just an observation that is surface level. Dig deeper and you might find out that the answer is not so easy to define…
SEO and Google AdWords are two of the most popular digital marketing techniques used to drive traffic to websites.
While SEO focuses on organic search engine rankings, Google AdWords is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising model that allows you to place ads on the top of search engine results pages.
Both SEO and Google AdWords have their advantages, but it can be difficult to decide which one is more important for your business. It truly depends on your goals and budget – if you need quick results and are willing to pay for them, then Google AdWords may be a better choice. On the other hand, if you want long-term success with organic search engine rankings, then SEO is the way to go.
However, in Google’s new GA4 model, both are required to ensure a great quality score and search engine results. Our truth at Influx is that content and placement are not mutually exclusive; they are cohesive pieces that when managed properly will provide solid SEO through keyword density and reach through placement on Google’s Adwords.
Hope this non-answer answers the question, but I have a feeling this debate will carry on!
-Tom, Founder