SEO vs Digital Marketing, it's been a long time battle between those two. While it's a smart choice for most businesses to run both there are pros and cons for both of them and in this new blog post we're going to go through them to help you make the best choice as to whether you choose SEO or some form of digital marketing (paid advertising) like Google ads, Facebook ads and so on.

Just to break down what those options are and what each of them do, we will explain each in detail below:

• SEO: Search Engine Optimisation also known as SEO is the art of ranking a website higher on search engines such as Google. This is done through a variety of methods and includes improvements to your website content but also involves many off-page practices also such as good quality backlinks to your website and more. SEO generally improves your ranking on search engines such as Google but is not a paid ad which will be explained below.
• Digital Marketing: Digital Marketing is where you pay to run ads on certain platforms. These could be ads ran on Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc. You are usually charged each time someone sees your ad or clicks your ad.

These services vary quite a lot when it comes to the speed and longevity of your results. We could harp on and on but we think it's easier to just show the pros and cons of both SEO vs Digital Marketing in a nice little list.

• Long term solution. Your SEO results will continue bringing in traffic as time goes on.
• Can be inexpensive and fast to rank quickly depending on your industry and competitors.
• Ranking high on Google means more traffic to your website.
• Even if you stop SEO, you will still bring in traffic for some time before your website starts dropping rankings.
• Adds real value to your website because of the extra content and optimisation.
• A lot of people won't click ads, they will look for organic search results first which is what SEO will do for you.
• Usually the first place anyone searches for a business, brand or product is Google.
• Can be ran alongside a digital marketing campaign (highly recommended)

• Can take some time to start seeing results. Digital Marketing would provide instant results but also has it's downsides.
• Can be expensive and difficult to rank quickly depending on your industry and competitors.
• Needs to be an ongoing arrangement to stay ahead of your competitors and keep your ranking.
• No reach on any platforms other than Google and other search engines if you're only doing SEO. Most businesses will engage in SEO services and digital marketing at the same time.

• Instant results. As soon as your ad starts running you will be receiving traffic.
• Can be inexpensive to run ads depending on your industry and competitors.
• Faster results than SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
• Huge reach across multiple platforms (Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc).
• Can be ran alongside SEO (highly recommended)

• If you stop your ads, your traffic will also come to a halt.
• Can be expensive to run ads depending on your industry and competitors.
• No long lasting results, once your ads stop your traffic will stop also. SEO provides long term traffic.
• Budget can continually increase over time as competitors increase their ad bids and budgets.
• A lot of people won't click ads, they will look for organic search results first.
• You're only reaching the platforms you're advertising on. Most businesses will engage in SEO services and digital marketing at the same time.