Don't Pour Money into Google Ads Until You've Fixed Your SEO: Here's Why

Don't Pour Money into Google Ads Until You've Fixed Your SEO: Here's Why

You've possibly heard the sales pitch before: "Just run some Google Ads and watch the traffic double!" It's a tempting proposition, especially when organic results seem like a slow burn. But launching headfirst into paid advertising without sorting your website's fundamentals is rather like putting a Ferrari engine in a car with flat tyres, you'll burn through fuel at an alarming rate while going nowhere fast.

The Common Mistake Most Businesses Make

Too many UK businesses treat Google Ads as a quick fix for deeper website issues. They pump money into campaigns that direct potential customers to pages that simply aren't ready to convert. The result? High bounce rates, wasted ad spend, and the inevitable conclusion that "digital marketing doesn't work for our industry."

The truth is rather different: digital marketing works brilliantly when you build from the ground up, starting with solid website fundamentals and organic SEO before layering paid strategies on top.

Why Your Website Fundamentals Matter for Paid Ads

Google doesn't just care about who pays the most for clicks. Their business model depends on delivering relevant, helpful content to searchers – even in paid results. This means your Quality Score (Google's rating of your ads and landing pages) significantly impacts:

• How much you pay per click

  
  

• Where your ads are positioned

  
  

• Whether your ads show at all

  
  

A website with poor fundamentals typically leads to:

• Higher cost-per-click rates

  
  

• Lower ad positions

  
  

• Reduced impression share

  
  

• Disappointing conversion rates

  
  

In essence, Google penalises advertisers who direct users to subpar websites by charging them more and showing their ads less.

The Organic SEO Foundation You Need First

Before spending significant sums on Google Ads, ensure these organic SEO elements are sorted:

1. Technical Structure

Your website should be technically sound, with:

• Fast loading speeds (under 3 seconds ideally)

  
  

• Mobile-friendly design

  
  

• Secure connection (HTTPS)

  
  

• Clear navigation and site structure

  
  

• No broken links or error pages

  
  

A comprehensive SEO audit can identify these issues before they sabotage your ad campaigns. Many businesses are shocked to discover just how many technical issues are lurking beneath the surface of their seemingly functional websites.

2. Compelling, Optimised Content

The pages you're sending traffic to, whether organic or paid, need:

• Clear, benefit-focused headlines

  
  

• Concise, scannable content

  
  

• Naturally incorporated keywords

  
  

• Obvious next steps for visitors

  
  

• Trust signals (testimonials, credentials, etc.)

  
  

Remember, the content must serve both users and search engines without sacrificing readability for keyword stuffing.

3. Local SEO Foundations

For businesses serving specific geographic areas, local SEO elements are crucial:

• Fully optimised Google Business Profile

  
  

• Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across the web

  
  

• Location-specific content and landing pages

  
  

• Local structured data markup

  
  

• Regional backlinks and citations

  
  

These elements help both your organic visibility and the performance of locally targeted ads.

The Virtuous Circle: How Organic SEO Improves Your Ad Performance

When you invest in organic SEO before heavily funding ads, you create a virtuous circle:

1. Better website fundamentals improve your Quality Score

   
   

2. Improved Quality Score lowers your cost per click

   
   

3. Lower costs mean your budget reaches more potential customers

   
   

4. More traffic provides data to further optimise both paid and organic strategies

   
   

5. Organic improvements continue to lower your reliance on paid traffic

   
   

Eventually, you reach a balanced approach where organic SEO brings in consistent traffic, while paid ads are used strategically for specific campaigns, product launches, or competitive terms.

Optimising for Google Ads After Your SEO Is Sorted

Once your organic SEO foundation is solid, you can approach Google Ads with a much stronger position:

• Use search term data from your SEO efforts to inform your keyword strategy

  
  

• Create dedicated landing pages that build on your SEO-optimised templates

  
  

• Align ad copy with the organic meta descriptions that are already performing well

  
  

• Target location-specific campaigns that complement your local SEO effort

  
  

• Implement proper tracking to see how paid and organic traffic work together

  
  

This strategic approach ensures your ad spend enhances your digital presence rather than merely compensating for organic weaknesses.

Practical Next Steps: Your Action Plan

If you're keen to improve your digital marketing results, here's a sensible approach:

1. Commission an SEO audit to identify technical issues, content gaps, and opportunities for improvement. This will provide a roadmap for fixing critical issues before scaling up ad spend.

   
   

2. Fix the technical fundamentals that affect both user experience and search visibility. Page speed, mobile usability, and site structure should be priorities.

   
   

3. Develop cornerstone content for key services or products, ensuring these pages are fully optimised and conversion-focused before sending paid traffic to them.

   
   

4. Sort your local SEO by claiming and optimising online profiles, ensuring consistent business information, and developing location-specific content.

   
   

5. Start small with Google Ads, focusing on your highest-value services and most optimised pages. Use limited campaigns to gather data while continuing to improve organic elements.

   
   

6. Scale gradually, using performance data to inform both organic improvements and expanded ad campaigns.

   
   

The Bottom Line

While there's nothing wrong with using Google Ads to grow your business, building on shaky foundations is a recipe for wasted budgets and disappointment. By sorting your organic SEO fundamentals first, you not only improve your long-term visibility but also ensure that when you do invest in paid advertising, each pound works considerably harder.

A balanced approach that prioritises website fundamentals, organic SEO, and strategic paid campaigns will outperform a paid-only strategy every time, delivering sustainable results that continue to improve rather than requiring endless investment to maintain.

The smartest businesses don't choose between organic SEO and paid advertising, they use both in the right sequence and proportion to maximise their digital marketing return on investment.