Marketing Strategy
The real ROI of a website and SEO.
Most owners compare SEO to paid ads on month 1. SEO loses every time. The right comparison is over 18 to 36 months.
Paid ads, 24 months
$3k/month in. $36k/month out. Every month the same.
Month 1: $3,000 spend, 30 leads, 9 booked, $36k revenue. Month 12: same. Month 24: same.
Total over 24 months: $72k spend, 216 booked jobs, $864k revenue. Cost per booked job: $333. Predictable. Flat. Stops the day you stop paying.
SEO + content, 24 months
Slow start. Then it compounds.
- 01
Months 1 to 3: 0 to 5 leads/month
Google is still indexing and ranking. Nothing looks like it’s working. This is where most owners quit.
- 02
Months 4 to 6: 10 to 20 leads/month
First service pages start ranking. Long-tail traffic begins to show up.
- 03
Months 7 to 12: 25 to 45 leads/month
Domain authority starts to lift everything. Local pack appearances multiply.
- 04
Months 13 to 24: 40 to 70 leads/month
Same $2k/month spend. 60+ leads in month 24 vs. 30 from paid at the same cost.
The compounding effect
Same revenue. $24k less spend.
SEO totals: ~720 leads, ~216 booked at 30% close, $864k revenue. Cost: $2,000/month × 24 = $48,000. Cost per booked: $222 vs. $333 for paid.
Stop paying for ads, leads stop the next day. Stop paying for SEO, the work you bought keeps producing for 6 to 18 months.
Why most owners get this wrong: they need cash flow in month 1, can’t wait 6 months for SEO to ramp. Right answer: run BOTH. Paid ads for cash flow now. SEO for compound growth that pays you forever.
The bottom line
Paid ads rent leads. SEO owns them.
Different jobs, same goal. Run them together and stop arguing about which is better.