Quick Answer: For most small businesses, start with your free Google listing (your Google Business Profile), reviews and a clear website, because that work keeps paying off. Add Google Ads when you need enquiries quickly, or to fill a specific gap. Ads usually start much sooner than SEO, but stop the moment you stop paying. SEO (search engine optimisation) is slower but doesn’t charge you per click. I’d do them in that order.
Spend any time looking into this and you’ll find SEO agencies who say SEO is best, and ad agencies who say ads are best. Digimill builds websites and also manages Google Ads, so bear that in mind, but I don’t need you to pick one over the other.
Here’s how the two compare, and how I’d make the decision if it was my money.
What’s the difference between SEO and Google Ads?
Google Ads means paying to appear at the top of the results, usually for each click. You can be live quickly, and it’s labelled as an ad.
SEO means earning your place in the unpaid results. Google says it doesn’t take payment to rank a site higher, and advertising doesn’t give you a boost in search. It’s free to appear, but not free to do, as it takes your time or someone else’s fee.
How does Google Ads pricing work?
There’s no fixed price. An auction runs for every search, and your bid, how good your ad is and how good the page behind it is all decide whether you show and how high.
- You usually pay for each click, not for each customer. Someone can click, look and leave, and you still pay.
- Better, more relevant ads can pay less and appear higher than a bigger bid.
- If you hire someone to run it, their fee comes on top.
How much do Google Ads cost in the UK?
There isn’t a good official figure, so treat this as rough. UK agency guides from May and June 2026 put a local trade click at around £3 to £12, with emergency searches up to about £25. These guides don’t all agree, few show their sources, and they’re written by people selling marketing. I couldn’t find a sourced figure for salons, cafes and similar businesses.
Costs depend on your trade and area. Cities tend to cost more, and emergency searches can be among the dearest, though the guides differ.
Here’s a made-up example so you can see how the sums work. Say you pay £5 a click, one in ten clicks becomes an enquiry and you win one enquiry in three. That’s about £150 for each new customer. For a £5,000 extension, that’s fine. For a £40 haircut, it only works if they keep coming back. Run the numbers using the profit on your own jobs before spending anything.
What are Local Services Ads?
These are a different kind of Google ad, where you pay for leads rather than clicks: calls and messages from people who found you through the ad. They’re available in the UK for lots of trades, including plumbers, electricians, cleaners, roofers and carpenters.
One thing to watch for is older articles promising a “Google Guarantee”. Google has replaced that money-back scheme with a “Google Verified” badge.
One UK guide puts leads at roughly £15 to £40 for plumbers. If your trade’s on the list, they’re worth a look. The badge isn’t available for auto, beauty or dining, so check before you plan around them.
Is SEO cheaper than Google Ads?
Over time, I think it often can be, but it’s not a fair race. Ads have a cost per click you can see. SEO’s cost is mainly your time or a fee, and the return builds up slowly.
The big difference is what happens when you stop. Pause your ads and they stop showing, and the enquiries stop with them. Your reviews, listing and pages don’t vanish if you take a month off, though your position can slip if your competitors keep going.
So ads are more like renting, and SEO is more like paying off a mortgage.
Which is faster?
Ads, easily. They usually start much sooner, while SEO usually takes months, as I go through in how long SEO takes.
But that speed is only useful if you’ve got somewhere good to send people. Paying for clicks that land on a slow, confusing page, or a site that doesn’t work on a phone, is a quick way to spend a lot and get nothing.
Does running Google Ads help your SEO?
Not directly. Google says plainly that advertising gets you no ranking boost.
There’s a useful side effect, though. If you track your enquiries, ads can show you which searches lead to work sooner than waiting on SEO. Then you know which services are worth writing about.
When are Google Ads worth it?
I’d seriously consider them if:
- You’re brand new. You need work coming in now, and SEO hasn’t had time to build.
- You’re losing out on urgent work. I’d expect someone with a burst pipe not to look far down the page.
- Your jobs are high value. One new customer pays for a lot of clicks.
- You’ve got a quiet patch. Ads can be switched on when you’ve got capacity and off when you’re full.
- You’ve got a new service or area to test. You can find out if there’s demand before committing to it.
When should I hold off on ads?
Hold off if your Google listing isn’t set up, you’ve got hardly any reviews, or your website isn’t ready. It’s worth fixing those first, because I’d expect people who click your ad to check you out, and those same things help them decide whether to call.
I’d also hold off if your typical job’s so small that the sums above don’t work.
What’s the right order?
I’d do it like this:
- Set up your Google listing. It’s free, and it’s the first job in local search.
- Start collecting reviews. Ask every customer. Google says more reviews and better ratings can help your local ranking.
- Get a proper website live. You need it for both, so it pays to do this before spending on clicks. If you haven’t got one, here’s why a listing isn’t enough on its own.
- Work on your local SEO. Keep it going in the background.
- Add ads if you need more, sooner. Start small, with a limit you’re comfortable with, and judge it on enquiries rather than clicks. In my made-up example above, £300 buys 60 clicks, about 6 enquiries and 2 customers. If you’d rather not run them yourself, here’s how I manage Google Ads.
Want the first three done for you?
That’s what Digimill sets up for local businesses across Lancashire and Yorkshire: your website, your Google listing and your reviews, all working together. Then if you do run ads, you’ve got something good to send people to.
Tell me about your business and I’ll build you a free preview of what your site could look like, with nothing to pay unless you go ahead.