Ads work fast and stop when you stop paying. SEO takes longer and keeps building. Put in your numbers and compare the two over 12 months.
By Annabelle Cochrane, Managing Director & SEO Specialist at ALC Consulting. Last reviewed November 2026.
| Ads | SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Total cost | ||
| Enquiries | ||
| Cost per enquiry | ||
| Cost per enquiry in month 12 |
SEO climbs in a straight line to your target, which real campaigns rarely do. Ad spend excludes management fees, SEO prices exclude GST, and both channels use the same enquiry rate. Treat this as an estimate, not a promise.
SEO earns you a place in Google's organic results. Google Ads, a type of PPC advertising, pays for a place in the ad results. People often search "PPC vs SEO" when they're really asking which one to fund first.
| SEO | Google Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | For the work, usually monthly | For each click, plus any management fees |
| How fast it works | Usually months | As soon as your campaign is approved and running |
| When you stop paying | Rankings can hold for a while, but aren't guaranteed | Your ads stop showing |
| Where you show up | Organic results | Paid ad positions |
You set your budget and pay when someone clicks. Your cost per click depends on the keyword, your competition and your ad quality. For this calculator, use the average CPC from your account or Google's Keyword Planner. Remember to add any management fees on top. Need help running them? See Google Ads management.
You need enquiries this month, you're testing a new offer, or you're running something short term.
You can give it time, customers research before they call, and you want to rely less on paying for every click.
Ads can bring in enquiries while SEO builds. Once your rankings improve, you can look at where the ad spend is still earning its keep.
Neither is better for every business. Ads bring traffic quickly while you keep paying. SEO takes longer to build, but you are not paying for each click.
It can be over time, but it depends on your click costs, your competition and how quickly your rankings improve. Use the calculator above with your own numbers.
Paying for ads does not directly improve your organic rankings. Your ad data can still show which searches bring in enquiries, which is useful for planning SEO.
Ads can start showing as soon as your campaign is approved. SEO usually takes months rather than days, and nobody can promise a date.
Often, yes. Ads can bring in enquiries while SEO builds. Once your rankings improve, you can check which ad spend is still earning its keep.
