Slightly better than Google. The visual ads performed okay. But again—the moment we stopped paying, traffic stopped completely.
Meta Ads ROI: ~2x (barely break-even)
SEO & Content Results: $500 Spent
What we did:
Wrote 5-6 blog posts targeting long-tail keywords
Built 10-15 backlinks through outreach
Got listed in tool directories and listicles
Results after 12 months:
Metric
Value
Total visitors
100,000+
Conversion rate
3%+
Monthly organic traffic (current)
5,000+
SEO ROI: 50x+ return on $500 investment
But here's what's crazy: one single blog post drove 70% of our traffic.
The Blog Post That Changed Everything
We wrote an article called "Gen Alpha Slang: The Complete Guide"—a fun, shareable piece about internet slang that resonated with our audience (students, young professionals making presentations).
That one post generated:
Metric
Value
Total visits (12 months)
35,000+
Current monthly traffic
3,500+
Keywords ranking
80+
Google position
Top 10 for "gen alpha slang"
Search volume
20,000+/month
One $100 blog post. 35,000+ visitors. Still growing.
To get 35,000 visitors from Google Ads at our CPC, we'd need to spend $10,000+.
How SEO Traffic Compounds (While Ads Don't)
This is the part most people miss.
Paid Ads: Linear Growth
Month 1: Spend $500 → Get 200 clicks
Month 2: Spend $500 → Get 200 clicks
Month 3: Spend $0 → Get 0 clicks
The moment you stop paying, traffic stops. You're renting attention.
For every $1 spent on SEO, you get $12.20 in value over time
Our actual numbers:
Metric
Paid Ads
SEO/Content
Total spend
$1,000
$500
Total conversions
3
100,000+ visitors
Cost per conversion
$333
$0.005
Ongoing value
$0
Growing monthly
ROI
~2x
50x+
The ROI gap is even wider than the industry benchmarks.
The New Traffic Source: AI Search
Here's something the "SEO vs PPC" articles from 2023 don't mention: AI search engines are now sending traffic.
In the last 30 days, we got visitors from:
ChatGPT: 300+ visitors
Perplexity: 200+ visitors
AI assistants recommend GenPPT because we rank well in traditional search and have quality content. This is a new traffic channel that literally didn't exist 18 months ago.
Paid ads can't tap into this. Only content can.
💡Tip
Want to track if AI chatbots recommend your product? Check out AI SEO Tracker to monitor your brand visibility in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
When Paid Ads Make Sense
To be fair, paid ads aren't useless. They work for:
Product launches — Need immediate visibility
Validating demand — Quick test before investing in SEO
Retargeting — Bringing back visitors who didn't convert
Competitive keywords — Where SEO would take years
But as a primary growth channel? For most SaaS companies, SEO wins long-term.
What We'd Do Differently
1. Start SEO Earlier
We waited 6 months before seriously investing in content. If we'd started earlier, we'd have 2x the traffic today.
2. Write More Bottom-Funnel Content
Our viral posts ("gen alpha slang") bring traffic but aren't high-intent buyers. We're now adding:
"GenPPT vs Canva" (comparison)
"How to make an AI presentation" (how-to)
"Best AI pitch deck generator" (listicle)
3. Build Distribution First
Content + distribution = unstoppable. Our X/Twitter posts drove 20,000+ visitors. Directories and listicles drove thousands more. Don't just publish—promote.
How to Get Started with SEO (Instead of Ads)
Based on what worked for us:
Find one long-tail keyword with 1,000-10,000 monthly searches
Write the best article on that topic (2,000+ words, actually useful)
Build 5-10 backlinks via guest posts, directories, or outreach
Wait 6 months — SEO is slow but compounds
Measure traffic value — Compare what you'd pay in ads for the same visitors
Our $500 in content = 5-figure value over the next 3 years.
Paid ads? Gone the moment you stop paying.
ℹ️Note
Need your content indexed faster? Check out website indexing tools to get Google crawling your pages in minutes instead of weeks.
FAQs: SEO vs Paid Ads
Is SEO better than paid ads?
For long-term ROI, yes. SEO delivers 7.3x average ROI vs 3.8x for PPC. Content compounds over time while ad traffic stops immediately when you stop paying.
How long does SEO take to work?
Typically 4-6 months to see meaningful traffic. Our blog posts started ranking after 3 months and hit peak traffic around month 8-12.
Is SEO cheaper than PPC?
Yes. Content marketing costs 62% less than paid advertising while generating 3x more leads. Our cost per visitor was $0.003 for SEO vs $5+ for ads.
Should I do SEO or PPC first?
Start with SEO if you have 6+ months runway. Use PPC for quick validation or product launches. The best strategy combines both—use PPC data to identify keywords, then build SEO content around them.
What's the ROI of content marketing?
Industry average is 844% over 3 years. Our ROI was 50x+ ($500 spent → 5-figure revenue attributed to organic traffic).
