Key takeaways
- PPC delivers leads in days. SEO delivers leads in 3-6 months but compounds for years.
- Average UK trade PPC cost-per-lead: £40-£80 (permanently).
- Average UK trade SEO cost-per-lead at month 12: £8-£20 (and falling).
- Best approach: PPC first to fund cashflow, SEO running in parallel for long-term growth.
Most UK tradespeople ask the wrong question: 'Should I do SEO or PPC?' The right answer is almost always 'both, in this order'. Here's why – and how to budget for both without going broke.
Speed: PPC Wins, But Not Forever
Switch on Google Ads today and you can have your first lead by tomorrow morning. SEO, by contrast, takes 30-60 days for first Map Pack movements and 3-6 months for service-page rankings.
But that speed comes with a permanent cost: every click is paid for, forever. Pause your ads and the leads stop instantly.
Cost: SEO Wins on the Long View
A typical UK trade Google Ads campaign costs £40-£80 per lead. That number doesn't decrease with time.
A typical UK trade SEO retainer costs £400-£700/month. By month 12 it usually delivers 30-60 leads/month, taking the cost-per-lead to £8-£20. By year 2 it's often under £10.
Across a 3-year horizon, SEO is roughly 4-7x cheaper per lead than PPC for trades.
Lead Quality: SEO Slightly Better
SEO leads convert at a slightly higher rate (typically 35-45%) than PPC leads (25-35%). The reason is trust – ranking organically signals legitimacy in a way ads don't.
But high-intent PPC keywords ('emergency plumber Norwich') still convert exceptionally well – often as high as SEO.
The Right Answer: Use Both, Sequenced
The optimal trade marketing playbook in 2026:
Months 1-6: PPC funds the business while SEO is built in the background.
Months 6-12: SEO leads start to flow; you can scale PPC slightly back.
Year 2 onwards: SEO is the dominant lead channel; PPC reserved for high-intent emergency keywords and capacity gaps.
Frequently asked questions
Continue learning
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