Guide · SEO in online marketing
SEO in Online Marketing: Where the Channel Really Belongs
SEO is one of four core channels in online marketing
SEO is one of four core channels in online marketing – alongside SEA, social media and email. The central difference: SEA works from day 1 and stops with the budget. SEO usually needs 6 to 12 months, but then delivers visitors without click costs. Which channel fits is decided by your time horizon and the search volume.
The four core channels compared
Every channel answers a different question. SEO and SEA pick up people who are already actively searching. How much runs through this path is shown by an analysis across thousands of domains: 53 percent of measurable website traffic comes from organic search, 15 percent from paid search and only 5 percent from organic social media (BrightEdge, 2019). Social media creates demand where there is none yet. Email keeps contacts warm that you’ve already won.
| Channel | Share of measurable website traffic |
|---|---|
| Organic search (SEO) | 53 % |
| Paid search (SEA) | 15 % |
| Organic social media | 5 % |
Source: BrightEdge, analysis across thousands of domains, 2019.
| Channel | Cost | Time to effect | Sustainability |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Ongoing work instead of media budget; with me from €1,000/month | 6–12 months | High – rankings often last for years |
| SEA | Click prices from approx. €0.50, in B2B often €3–15 per click | 1–7 days | None – ad off, traffic gone |
| Social media | Content production plus ads budget | 1–4 weeks (paid), months (organic) | Low – posts usually live 24–72 hours |
| Tool from approx. €20/month plus editorial work | Immediate – with an existing list | Medium – as good as your list |
The basic pattern: speed and sustainability stand against each other. No channel delivers both.
When which channel is the right choice
SEA, if you need results fast: product launch, seasonal business, or to test keywords before betting twelve months of SEO on them. A click price of 5 euros at a 2 percent conversion rate means: 250 euros per lead – you have to be able to afford that, permanently.
Social media, if your offer needs explanation or is new and nobody is searching for it. Or if your audience buys visually: fashion, furnishings, food.
Email, as soon as you have a list. The channel with the consistently best return, because you don’t pay anew for the reach every time.
SEO, if there’s measurable search volume and you think in timeframes of years. What SEO delivers in detail is its own topic – this is about the classification in the overall picture.
SEO as a compound effect
SEA works like rent: you pay every month, and when you stop, you’re out. SEO works like repayment: every good article pays into a stock that keeps working.
Run the numbers. A guide costs you once – say eight hours of work. If it ranks stably after a year and brings 500 visitors a month, that’s 6,000 visitors per year without you paying per click. Over three years, the cost per visitor drops to a fraction of what the same clicks would cost through ads.
The effect amplifies: 30 good articles support each other via internal links, the domain gains authority, new content ranks faster. That’s exactly why the “SEO vs. SEA” comparison is always skewed in SEA’s favour on a monthly view – and almost always the reverse on a three-year view.
Prerequisite: clean keyword research and texts that match search intent. Without both, nothing compounds.
Honestly: when SEO is the wrong choice
Short-term promotions. A discount weekend, an event in six weeks – by the time SEO kicks in, the promotion is over. That’s a case for SEA and email.
No search volume. If nobody searches for your offer, there’s nothing to rank. A novel product needs demand first – via social, PR or ads. SEO comes after.
No budget for the dry spell. Whoever can’t last the first 6 to 12 months quits before the effect sets in. Then better start with SEA, and begin SEO when there’s headroom.
The reallocation in real client projects
The swap of ads budget for SEO budget is not a model on paper. I see it repeatedly in ongoing client projects.
“I see this reallocation repeatedly in ongoing client projects: if the SEO budget is built up with discipline over 12 months and more, the share of the ads budget in total costs drops noticeably without inquiries declining.”
— Viktor Pásztor, SEO freelancer
Common mistakes in the channel mix
Playing SEO off against SEA
The channels cover different time horizons. SEA delivers immediate data that saves your SEO strategy six months of guesswork.
Quitting after three months
Plan at least 12 months, otherwise don’t bother.
Choosing channels by gut feeling
Whether SEO is worth it is in the search volume data – not in gut feeling. Whoever plays all four channels half-heartedly at once masters none of them consistently.
Measuring traffic instead of inquiries
10,000 visitors without conversion are not a success.
Frequently asked questions about SEO in online marketing
How much budget does SEO need per month?
Serious, ongoing support usually starts in the four-figure range – with me from €1,000/month at an hourly rate of €100. Below that, selective audits make more sense than continuous support.
How long does it take for SEO to work?
Expect 6 to 12 months until clearly visible results; first movement often shows after 3 to 4 months. Fixed ranking guarantees for a deadline are not credible.
SEO or SEA – which is better?
Wrong question. SEA works in days and ends with the budget, SEO needs months and then carries for years. For short-term goals SEA, from a planning horizon of 12+ months usually SEO.
What share of the marketing budget should SEO have?
No blanket number. Practical guideline: if you spend more than twice your possible SEO budget per month on clicks for keywords you could rank for organically, the reallocation is almost always profitable.
Viktor Pásztor
Viktor Pásztor is an SEO freelancer in Berlin, has been in digital marketing for over 15 years and manages around 15 client projects in parallel, mostly e-commerce and B2B. He has been working 100 % remotely for more than five years – with WordPress, Shopify, Shopware and TYPO3. More about Viktor Pásztor
Keep reading
Keyword research
How search volume becomes a priority list.
SEO pricing
What ongoing SEO support actually costs.
SEO support
What the collaboration looks like over the first 12 months.
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