FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the difference between SEM and SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) refers to actions that increase a website's visibility in free, organic search results. SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is a broader term covering all marketing activities in search engines — both SEO and paid advertising (Google Ads). In practice, "SEM" is sometimes used as shorthand for "paid search", which can be confusing. The key difference: SEO builds positions for free (but at the cost of time and effort), while Google Ads buys them directly — paying for every click.

SEO vs. Google Ads — a comparison for business decisions

Criterion	SEO	Google Ads
Time to first results	3–6 months	Immediate (24–48h after setup)
Cost per click	€0	€0.12–€12 (depends on industry)
Durability of results	Lasting — positions are maintained	Disappear when the budget runs out
Control over visibility	Indirect — depends on the algorithm	Full — you decide when and to whom
ROI over 3 years	Usually higher	Depends on industry and CPC
Targeting options	Organic phrases	Phrases, location, time, demographics
User credibility	Higher (organic results)	Lower (ads are labelled)

When to choose Google Ads over SEO?

Google Ads makes sense when time is critical: you are still validating a business idea and need traffic within a week, you have a seasonal product or promotion with a specific end date, or you are entering a market and want to find out which phrases convert before investing in SEO (Ads as market research).

Ads also works well in industries with very high value per conversion, where a CPC of €3–€12 is justified (legal, financial, luxury products, B2B with contracts worth €10,000+). When a single conversion generates €1,000 in net profit, spending €100 on Ads to acquire one customer is a 10× ROI. The maths works.

Why SEO is usually the better long-term investment

Imagine you have been spending €700 per month on Google Ads for 2 years and generating 60 clicks per day. Tomorrow you switch off the campaign — traffic drops to zero immediately. Now imagine you invested the same €700 per month in SEO for 2 years. The organic positions you built do not disappear when you stop paying — they depreciate slowly, but for months or years they continue generating traffic without further spend.

This is the fundamental business model difference: Google Ads is renting traffic, SEO is building an asset. After 3–5 years of systematic SEO, the cost of acquiring a customer from organic is typically 3–10 times lower than from Ads. I have seen businesses that after 4 years of SEO cut Ads entirely and maintained the same sales — because organic traffic fully replaced the paid traffic.

How to combine SEO and Google Ads for the best results

The best strategy is sequential, not either-or. Phase 1 (months 1–6): Google Ads on transactional phrases delivers immediate traffic and data on which phrases convert best. At the same time SEO starts — audit, technical optimisation, first pieces of content. Phase 2 (months 6–12): SEO starts generating organic traffic. You can gradually shift Ads budget away from phrases where you are already organically in the TOP 5, towards phrases where Ads still wins (high competition, long road to organic TOP ranking).

The SEO + Ads synergy: remarketing in Google Ads to users who arrived from SEO (cheaper than cold traffic), data on converting phrases from Ads informs the SEO content strategy, higher organic CTR for brands with strong ad visibility (brand awareness effect). Effective SEO positioning combined with a well-managed Ads campaign is a synergy, not a competition — two channels that amplify each other.

How much does Google Ads cost and how does it compare to SEO?

Cost per click (CPC) in Google Ads varies greatly by industry. The cheapest sectors are entertainment, fashion, food — CPC €0.07–€0.35. Local services (plumber, dentist, solicitor) — €0.70–€3.50 per click. Finance, property, B2B — €3.50–€14 or more. With a budget of €470 per month and a CPC of €2.35, you buy 200 clicks. At a 2% conversion rate that is 4 enquiries per month — a cost of €120 per lead.