COMPARE TIME NEEDED TO DELIVER RESULTS
SEO
At least 3 months for google my business & 6 months for organic results, this will involve a cost of INR 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 depending on quality of competition i.e. low, medium or high difficulty levels of competition.
Google Ads
Advertising on Google platforms is the easiest & fastest way to deliver results but not so easy they can turn out to be risky if not well planned & researched – otherwise SEO WOULD BE DEAD. Google ads support team will tell you, they have the insights to deliver results but it needs your own understanding of your product, geography, customer segments, keywords, etc to succeed. Depending blindly on google advice can bleed you to death.
why google ads are still not the most preferred choice even for big businesses with deep pockets & everyone thinks SEO as the only reliable long term option is because consumers according to studies put less faith on products advertised through google ads as compared to organic or google my business listing reviews.
GENERAL ADVERTISING
General advertising as newspapers and other platforms can give instant results and brand visibility but you need to break even fast to succeed.
SEO vs GOOGLE ADS vs GENERAL ADVERTISING
DELIVERING VALUE
SEO
Once target achieved, one can get returns wth ever increasing intensity & volume with minimal investments. Best part of SEO strategy is competitors cannot bridge the gap overnight. you will have enough time to understand competition before any credible challenge comes up. Also, remember google will advertise your product for a certain number of keywords but SEO will give visibility on hundreds of keywords which google ads cannot.
GOOGLE ADS
Anyone can advertise on google platforms at a price & any beginner will have the same visibility as compared to someone who has advertised for 3 long years. with deeper pockets your competitor can beat you in no time.
GENERAL ADVERTISING
General advertising can create brand value via visibility but still not risk free when it comes to beating competition, as new advertiser can scale the competition.