Dear Manager Obsessed with SEO, the Simplest Case for Search Engine Ads

Did I call you out with this headline? If so, then I would like to share my perspective with you.

Far too many business owners, managers, or executives are absolutely OBSESSED with SEO. Don’t get me wrong, SEO is great.

But…

It’s too easy to get drunk off of the sweet nectar of the promise of constant free website traffic.

First I’m going to list a few problems with an over-reliance on SEO. Then I’m going to explain how search engine ads can solve many of these issues.

But before either of those things, I need to state one cold-hard fact:

Like investing, your marketing efforts need to be diversified. If all your eggs are in the SEO basket, you are vulnerable. This is true for any form of marketing--not just SEO.

But with SEO, you are particularly vulnerable. This is because the rules of the game are completely controlled by Google and can change at a moment’s notice leaving you in the lurch.

Don’t allow yourself to be this vulnerable!

With that said, onwards to the risks of over-reliance on SEO.

• As stated in the preceding section, Google controls the game. Not you.
• Your competitors have just as much to say about your success as you do. Just because you’re investing in SEO doesn’t mean you will be successful. If your competitors are also investing, you can get stuck in an epic--but expensive--battle for every position rank.
• It may not work. There is absolutely no guarantee of success with SEO. Sometimes the investment is wasted.
• It can be insanely expensive to move up through the more competitive ranks. You might be caught relying on link building to move up. Link building can be difficult, time consuming, and costly.
• It can take a long time to get results that turn into revenue. Moving up positions doesn’t always directly correlate with more traffic and revenue. Sometimes jumping positions yields no additional traffic. It isn’t unusual for SEO efforts to take six months or even longer for revenue to be impacted.

Many of these issues are solved by investing a modest amount of money into clicks through search engine advertisements.

• Google still controls the game, but they are far more transparent about it.
• As long as your account is set up correctly and you’re bidding enough for a click, you will definitely be visible. It will work every time.
• You pay only for the clicks. No steep investments to get to the top spot. If you want the top spot, bid for it and pay only once you get traffic.
• Instant success. No more six month wait periods to see if your investment pays off. You can be at the top of page one on day one if you want.
• The costs are predictable and can be budgeted. This is especially true once you have enough data to determine the conversion rates of your landing pages. Once this is the case, budgeting is just a simple formula.

SEO is definitely a big part of what I do. Despite that, I ALWAYS recommend coupling SEO with paid advertisements.