In 60 Seconds

The Trade-off

•PPC (Google Ads): It's a faucet. Turn it on, leads come out. Turn it off, they stop. Expensive but instant.
•SEO (Organic): It's a garden. Plant seeds, water them, wait 6 months. Harvest is 'free' (no click cost) and sustainable.
•The Mistake: Choosing one. If you only do PPC, your CAC never goes down. If you only do SEO, you starve while waiting for rankings.
•The 60/40 Rule: Spend 60% on Activation (PPC/LSA) for cash flow. Spend 40% on Brand/SEO for long-term equity.
•Synergy: PPC data (which keywords convert?) tells you what to write SEO content about.

The most common question in digital marketing: "Should I do SEO or Ads?"

The answer is: "Do you want to eat today or retire tomorrow?"

The Economics of PPC

Pros: Instant. Scalable. Precise.
Cons: Renting traffic. Always expensive. No equity built.
Role: Cash Flow Generator. It feeds the business now.

The Economics of SEO

Pros: Owning traffic. High trust (people trust organic more than ads). Compounding returns.
Cons: Slow (6-12 months). Hard to predict.
Role: Asset Builder. It lowers your Blended CAC over time.

The Allocation Strategy

Phase 1: Survival ($0 - $1M Revenue)

Allocation: 80% PPC / 20% SEO.
Why: You need phone calls to pay the bills. You can't wait for SEO.

Phase 2: Growth ($1M - $5M Revenue)

Allocation: 60% PPC / 40% SEO.
Why: You have cash flow. Now you need to lower acquisition costs. Invest in content, authority, and reviews.

Phase 3: Dominance ($5M+ Revenue)

Allocation: 40% PPC / 60% SEO + Brand.
Why: You want to own the market. You want to be the "Default Choice" (Brand). You want to occupy so much shelf space (SEO) that competitors can't find a foothold.

The Synergistic Loop

Don't silo them.

Run PPC ads for "Tankless Water Heater."
See which headline gets the most clicks.
Write an SEO article using that headline.
Rank organically for "Tankless Water Heater."
Reduce PPC spend on that keyword and move budget to a new test.

[!TIP] Blended CAC Stop looking at just "Ad Spend." Look at Total Marketing Spend / Total New Customers. SEO makes PPC cheaper by building Brand Trust. PPC makes SEO faster by providing data.

Read Next in This Hub:

Why Ads Fail - PPC pitfalls.
Google Business Profile - Local SEO core.

Related System:

Local Visibility Systems - We do both.

SEO vs PPC: The 60/40 Budget Rule