Managing Expectations:
Understanding ROI for SEO and Google Ads
When it comes to investing in SEO and Google Ads, it’s important to manage your expectations. While these marketing channels can be very effective, they don’t guarantee overnight success. In fact, it can take several months (sometimes even years if you’re looking for top, highly competitive, national rankings) to see a significant return on your investment.
That said, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of success. First, make sure you’re targeting the right keywords. If you’re not targeting keywords that people are actually searching for, you’re not going to get any traffic to your website. Second, make sure your website is well-optimised for search engines. This means having high-quality content, good UX (user experience) using relevant keywords throughout your site, and having a good website structure.
Finally, be patient. SEO and Google Ads are long-term investments. It takes time to build up trust and authority with Google, and it takes time for your website to rank well for competitive keywords. But if you’re patient and you do things right, you can expect to see a significant return on your investment.
Understanding ROI for SEO and Google Ads:
ROI represents the value generated from an investment relative to its cost. In the context of SEO and Google Ads, ROI is typically measured by the increased website traffic, conversions, sales, or other desired outcomes generated from these marketing efforts. We see it as the actual amount of income you generate versus your spend.
So if you’re spending £2000 a year on your SEO and you are not getting at least £4000 a year in new business back (i.e. 100% ROI) from this, something needs to be tweaked.
SEO ROI:
SEO is a long-term strategy that aims to improve organic search visibility and drive targeted traffic to a website. While ROI can vary, research suggests that a well-executed SEO campaign can yield an average ROI of 5:1 or higher.
In fact our own stats show that we have produced ROI’s in general of much higher than this and in some cases in excess of 100:1. However, admittedly the average is in the region of 2:1 to 10:1.
However, it’s important to note that SEO is a continuous process that requires ongoing effort, and results may take time to materialise.
Google Ads ROI:
Google Ads, with its pay-per-click (PPC) model, allows businesses to target specific keywords and reach their desired audience instantly. ROI for Google Ads campaigns can also vary based on factors like industry, competition, and campaign effectiveness. On average, a well-optimised Google Ads campaign can generate an ROI ranging from 2:1 to 5:1 or more, depending on the factors mentioned earlier.
SEO is a low risk, high reward investment
SEO is a low risk, high reward investment: Even if you only have a small budget to invest in SEO and Google Ads, you can still expect to see a good return on your investment. For example, if you spend £200 per month on SEO, you can expect to generate around £500 in revenue. This is a very good ROI for such a low investment.
Of course, the amount of revenue you generate will depend on a number of factors, such as the keywords you’re targeting, the quality of your SEO work, and the competition. However, even if you don’t see the same level of ROI as businesses with larger budgets, you can still expect to see a positive return on your investment.
However, please be very careful who you entrust your SEO (and thereby your money/investment to) unfortunately there are a lot of charlatains and snake oil salesmen in the industry.
SEO ROI Compared to Other Investments
The ROI for SEO and Google Ads is very competitive when compared to other investments.
For example, the average ROI for property is around 7%. This means that for every £100 you invest in property, you can expect to generate £7 in profit.
The average ROI for gold is around 10%. This means that for every £100 you invest in gold, you can expect to generate £10 in profit.
The average ROI for stocks and shares is around 12%. This means that for every £100 you invest in stocks and shares, you can expect to generate £12 in profit.
As you can see, the ROI for SEO and Google Ads is very competitive when compared to other investments. This is because these marketing channels can help you to reach a large audience of potential customers who are actively looking for what you have to offer.
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Local SEO Silver
- Total of 4 Keyword phrases: 2 for website and 2 for Google map pack
- 1 hour SEO work including:
- Backlink Building
- Citation Building
- Onsite SEO improvements
- Google Profile SEO improvements
- Rank monitoring & management
- Google Review Management
- Quarterly Report
- Setup fee*
Local SEO Gold
- Total of 8 Keyword phrases: 4 for website and 4 for Google map pack
- 1.5 hour SEO work including:
- Backlink Building
- Citation Building
- Onsite SEO improvements
- Google Business Profile (GBP) SEO improvements
- Rank monitoring & management
- Google Review Management
- Quarterly Report
- 1 GBP Post per month
- Setup fee*
Local SEO Platinum
- Total of 14 Keyword phrases: 8 for website and 6 for Google map pack
- 3 hour SEO work including:
- Backlink Building
- Citation Building
- Onsite SEO improvements
- Google Business Profile (GBP) SEO improvements
- Rank monitoring & management
- Google Review Management
- Quarterly Report
- 2 GBP Posts per month
- Setup fee*
Is Google the best source of organic traffic?
Google is generally considered to be the most important source of organic traffic, as it is by far the most popular search engine worldwide, with over 90% market share in many countries. Bing, Yahoo!, and other search engines also contribute to organic traffic, but to a much lesser extent.
However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, in certain countries or regions, there may be a significant market share held by a local search engine. In China, for instance, Baidu is the dominant search engine, while Yandex is popular in Russia.
Additionally, some businesses may find that they receive significant organic traffic from sources other than search engines, such as social media, referrals, or email marketing. While these sources are not considered “organic” in the strictest sense, they can still provide valuable traffic and conversions.
Overall, while Google is the most important source of organic traffic for most businesses, it’s important to consider other sources of traffic as well and develop a well-rounded digital marketing strategy that leverages multiple channels to reach potential customers.
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