Do I Need SEO If I’m Running Google Ads?

Trades owners ask me this all the time, usually right after their first good month on Google Ads. The phone is ringing, so why pay for SEO too? It’s a fair question. Here’s how I think about it for plumbers, electricians, renovators, cleaners and other local service businesses, including when I’d tell you to skip SEO for now.

What each one does

Google Ads puts you at the top of the search results for the searches you choose, in the area you choose, for as long as you pay. SEO is the work that gets your website and Google Business Profile showing up in the regular results and the map, without paying for each click. Both reach the same person searching for the same thing. They just get there differently.

Why ads alone can feel like enough

Ads are fast. You can launch a campaign and get calls the same week. For a new business or a slow season, that’s exactly what you want. The catch is that every click costs money, every month, for as long as you run them. The day you pause the campaign, you disappear from those results. If ads are your only way of being found, your whole pipeline depends on one line in the budget.

Where SEO pulls its weight

Plenty of people scroll past the ads to the map and the regular results. Some don’t trust ads. Some want reviews, photos and a business that looks established. Showing up there takes a Google Business Profile that’s complete and active, service pages that answer real questions, and a site Google can understand. It’s slower to build, but it doesn’t switch off the day you stop paying for a click. It also covers the long tail of small searches you’d never bother to bid on, like one specific job in one specific town.

How they make each other better

This is the part people miss. Ads and SEO aren’t really fighting over the same budget. They feed each other. Your ads send people to a page on your site. If that page is slow or vague, you pay for clicks that never call. Good SEO work fixes exactly that: clear service pages, fast loading on a phone, and answers to the questions people ask before they book. Better pages usually mean more calls from the same ad spend. Going the other way, your ads show which searches actually turn into jobs. That tells me which services and towns deserve their own pages. I’d rather build pages for searches we know pay than guess.

When I’d skip SEO for now

If your budget only covers one thing and you need calls this month, start with ads. If your website is so weak that no SEO plan will help, fix the site first. If you’re booked out for months and don’t want more work, you don’t need either one. There’s also some SEO you can do yourself for free, starting with your Google Business Profile. I wrote a checklist for getting your profile onto the map.

When both make sense

If you plan to be in business in five years, I’d want both working. Ads cover the busy season and new offers. SEO builds the base that keeps enquiries coming when the ad budget is tight. For a lot of trades, that mix is steadier than leaning on either one alone. If you’re still deciding between Google and Facebook for the ads side, read Google Ads vs Meta Ads for trades and home services.

What it costs with me

SEO and AI search plans are $750 to $1,900 a month plus a one-time $1,000 setup. Google Ads management starts at $750 a month plus a one-time $500 setup. Ad spend is separate. You pay Google directly from your own account, so you see every dollar. Prices are CAD plus applicable GST/HST, and the scopes are on the packages page. You can buy either one on its own. I’ll never tell you SEO guarantees a ranking, because nobody can honestly promise that.

How to tell if it’s working

Track calls and form fills from both, not just clicks and rankings. An ads report should show what each enquiry cost. An SEO report should show the searches you appear for, the clicks they bring, and the enquiries you can tie back to them. I wrote about measuring SEO and AI search enquiries if you want the detail.

Next step

See how I run SEO and Google Ads, or book a free call and tell me what you’re spending now and where your calls come from. I’ll tell you whether adding SEO makes sense for your business, or whether your money is better spent somewhere else first.