Why organic and paid search are better as teammates than rivals
In the digital marketing world, people love to compare SEO and PPC like they are in some kind of turf war. You’ll hear things like, “Why pay for traffic when you can just rank on Google for free?” or “Ads give instant results, SEO takes forever.”
But here’s the real deal: SEO and PPC aren’t fighting. In fact, when you use them together, they can do some pretty amazing things for your business.
At Mushroom Cloud, we help businesses get the best of both worlds by building search strategies that combine organic reach and paid ads. Here’s why using both SEO and PPC together just makes sense.
1. Same Goal, Different Tools
SEO and PPC might take different paths, but they’re both heading in the same direction. Whether it’s free traffic from a blog post or a paid ad at the top of Google, the goal is simple: get the right people to your site and get them to take action.
Using both gives you more chances to show up on search results. If someone skips your ad but clicks your organic listing (or the other way around), you’re still getting the click. That’s a win either way.
2. PPC Gives You Fast Feedback That Helps SEO
One of the hardest things about SEO is the waiting game. It takes time to climb those rankings. But PPC can give you answers quickly.
With paid ads, you can find out which keywords convert, what headlines or offers work best, and which pages people actually engage with. Then you can use all that info to shape your SEO strategy, instead of guessing and waiting for months to see what sticks.
3. SEO Builds Long-Term Wins, PPC Covers You Right Now
Good SEO takes time, but it’s worth it. Once your content is ranking, it can keep bringing in traffic without ongoing costs. But what if you’ve got a new product or a short-term campaign?
That’s where PPC comes in. It gives you visibility straight away while your SEO gets going in the background. They balance each other out, and you get the quick wins and the long play at the same time.
4. You Look More Trustworthy When You Show Up Twice
Let’s be honest.
When you see a brand pop up both in the ad spot and just below in the organic results, you assume they know what they’re doing. It builds trust.
That double presence boosts your chances of getting the click and makes people more likely to remember and trust your brand. It’s a great way to stand out from the crowd.
5. Retargeting Helps SEO Pay Off
SEO often brings in people who are still looking around, doing their research. They might not buy straight away. But with PPC, you can follow up with retargeting ads that remind them about you later on.
It’s like SEO opens the door, and PPC helps close the sale.
6. Smarter Keyword Coverage, Without Wasting Budget
When you combine SEO and PPC the right way, you can cover more ground with your keywords. You might use paid ads for competitive or high-intent terms that are tough to rank for, or for time-sensitive offers.
Meanwhile, SEO can focus on building up authority for the bigger picture content — the blogs, the how-tos, the brand-building stuff that works well over time.
Wrapping It Up
At Mushroom Cloud, we don’t see SEO and PPC as rivals. We see them as mates that work better together.
One brings in the steady flow of organic traffic. The other gives you a boost when you need it most. Together, they help you show up more often, learn faster, build trust, and make your marketing dollars go further.
Want to see how they can work for your business?
👉 Get in touch with us and we’ll help you build a search strategy that actually works, but without the guesswork.