Can You Pay Google For SEO

Does Google Offer SEO Services

Does Google offer search engine optimization services? Google runs the world's largest search engine, so why not pay them to rank your website? Unfortunately, while ranking can be simple, it isn't that simple. While Google does control what types of practices will cause your website to rank higher, they don't offer services that would allow you to pay them directly for organic rankings. So with that out of the way, we'll answer some common questions regarding Google and search engine optimization.

Can You Pay Google To Rank Higher

The quick answer to whether or not you can pay Google to rank higher is no, not exactly. Google ads is a service that places your website on the first page of results, with those ranking organically due to their investment in search engine optimization. Google does have a service that can influence the amount of traffic that visits your website, but doing so is much different than investing in SEO. While you can pay Google for ads displayed in the search console, paying for this service in no way influences the actual ranking of your website. The moment you stop paying Google for their ads service, your website drops back off the first page. With search engine optimization, however, when you end services with your consultant, you will continue to rank. 

The benefits you receive from hiring an SEO agency like ours is way more rewarding than paying Google for ads. "Why?" you might ask. Theoretically, assuming Google doesn't drastically overhaul its algorithm - causing current best practices to become outdated - you could continue to rank for years after ending your search engine optimization campaign. Once an SEO uses best practices to rank your website, Google will only allow it to rank if it is quality content that genuinely deserves the spot it earned. 

While paying Google for ads may have a much more instantaneous result - in that you see results immediately - SEO delivers more value. It takes much longer to rank your website, but as it's said - it's a journey, not a sprint. Any professional search engine expert aims to make your website an authority in your market. Whether city-wide, state-wide, or nationally, this is something you cannot do with Google ads.

Is Paying For SEO Worth It

Whether or not paying for SEO is worth it is determined by your goals. If you want more immediate results, then investing in an ads campaign would work well. If you want your website to build trust & authority for your business, think SEO. If you want your website to bring in more and more traffic organically as time goes on, SEO is for you. If you want your website to stay ranked for keywords that bring you in 30-300 unique visitors each month and keep increasing that number by ranking for more and more keywords as time goes on, search engine optimization is for you. 

The benefit of this traffic that SEO will drive to your website is that it is comprised of visitors searching for the products & services you offer. Depending on the level of competition, this form of internet marketing can take anywhere from 3-12 months before you start seeing any increase in organic traffic. However, buckling down and investing in an SEO expert can be one of the most impactful ways to drive traffic to your website. It is so impactful and powerful because this traffic can last for years long after you've finished paying your SEO. 

How To Pay For SEO

There are many different ways to pay for search engine optimization services. Typically there are a few payment structures consultants use. Below, we'll walk through some of the most common payment structures you're likely to come across. 

Contractural SEO

A 3, 6, 12, and even 24-month contracts are common types of agreements used for campaigns. The specifics of these agreements will vary depending on the SEO company you're dealing with, but regardless, most will try to secure a contractual agreement of some sort. These arrangements ensure that you will likely stick around long enough to see the desired results. Every once in a while, a client decides to leave before they start ranking. Contracts ensure that the option to leave prematurely is off the table, ensuring the customer will stick around long enough to get the increased traffic they want. 

While contracts are a go-to agreement in the search engine optimization industry, there are some other structures companies might use as well.

Pay On Results SEO

Month-to-month agreements are another way some SEO companies decide to operate. The main benefit of a month-to-month agreement is that you aren't locked in. If you choose to leave, you absolutely can, whenever you want, without notice. This model ensures that the SEO agency must continually be on their game to deliver the best results possible as their clients aren't obligated to stay with them in any way.

It is crucial that whichever company you decide to work with should give you a monthly report. Each month they should deliver a report to you, either by video, in person, or via zoom call. This report is the only way to ensure that they are giving you a proper ROI. Your SEO expert should walk you through the progress they have made, the obstacles they are faced with, their goals for next month, etc. Ask them for the websites they are using to report these statistics and improvements to you. Ask that they share photos or videos of your actual SEO stats.

Month-to-month agreements are the primary form of agreement we use in our search engine campaigns. Not only do we offer month-to-month campaigns, but we also offer a 30-day risk-free trial. If we don't improve your rankings within 30-days and you are unhappy with your results, you get 100% of your money back. Guaranteed. In addition to this guarantee, we also deliver detailed monthly reports backed by actual statistics. If you are going to pay for Google ranking, don't take risks. Book an SEO strategy call with us today.

Google Ads Or SEO

Both Google ads and search engine optimization have their place. A good SEO agency will use both ads and SEO. It isn't ideal for an SEO to use Google ads all the time, but it is sometimes necessary at the beginning of a campaign. It is typical for Google ads to be used in the first month or two of a campaign as a form of marketing to help bolster authority to the page and help Google rank the page in general. However, Google ads aren't necessary by any means to a campaign, and they can even hurt your SEO efforts in some cases. 

Often you'll see an SEO agency using ads when ranking new domains. Google ads can even help your search engine optimization if you are neck and neck with a competitor in rankings and want a slight edge on them to try to pull ahead. This is why it's important to find an SEO expert who is also a Google ads specialist. We typically reinvest some of our campaign budget from each client back into Google because running ads is a great way to provide supplemental value while carrying out the beginning stages of a search campaign.

I wouldn't say that the decision is so much should you invest in Google ads or SEO. I would say that you, a business owner, should invest primarily in SEO and allow your consultant to determine when makes the most sense to employ the use of ads, if at all. Typically it makes the most sense to use Google ads at the beginning of a campaign, and it makes little sense to continue after the campaign starts expanding. However there are absolutely times where this isn't the case at all, which is why it makes sense to hire both a search engine expert, and an ads specialist.

Because of the time and resources required to rank for more competitive keywords, it makes the most sense to invest your budget into allowing the SEO you've chosen to spend as much time possible working towards ranking. Typically after the first 3-6 months of  your campaign, the keywords you will be ranking for will be much more competitive and will require much more time and effort. Therefore, spending more of your budget on ranking for those high-value keywords makes more sense than spending it on ads.

Overview - Google Ads Or Search Engine Optimization

Now that you know you cannot pay Google for SEO and would have to hire an agency, what should you do next? Well, suppose you are sure hiring an SEO agency is something you are interested in investing in for your business. In that case, we have an article on how you can find the perfect agency for your business. We also have an article that goes over the benefits of local SEO! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us. We are a web design & SEO agency based out of grand rapids, and we would love to help guide you in any way we can.