Organic SEO vs Adwords - Which is better?

Question

Are generating “free” motivated seller leads through organic seo worth it?

Or does Adwords produce better leads?

Want your opinion?

Jerryll Noorden · Answer

No.

If you read the question asked, the answer is not "both".

Do you all really want to for ever pay for PPC?

Of course not. SEO is obviously the best lead generating system.

He didn't ask what is best to get deals right now. He didn't ask which methods gives faster leads.

He asked which one gives better leads.

The answer is SEO and this is not a matter of opinion, and there is no arguing or debating this

SEO gets you super motivated leads for free like clockwork. PPC does not.

PPC also gets you both  motivated sellers AND not motivated sellers. Most of the leads you will be getting through PPC are not motivated. This is the nature of the beast.

This IS the reason it is so expensive, you need to pay for many many many clicks before you get a motivated click. Because you just open the floodgates with PPC you have little control over who is let through your funnel. People that just want to see how much you would offer in cash for your house simply because they happened to see your PPC listing will be among your list.

People do not realize this but the more motivated the seller, the more credible YOU NEED to be.

You are simply not very credible when you do PPC, because you are just PAYING to be on the top. You are not there because you are good/credible.

This is common knowledge now with consumers.

Therefore no PPC sucks!

It is a necessary evil if you want leads right now yes. Absolutely... but that is not what the OP asked.

So:

Are generating “free” motivated seller leads through organic seo worth it?Yes.

And no, adwords does not give "better" leads. Adwords just lures leads in. ANY leads both good and bad leads. The thing is, good leads usually do not choose to click on adwords...

Do I know the credibility of this resource? Nope, and I don't care either. Not only is this the first organic GOOGLE chosen result.. I do not need data to answer this.

Ask your self. When was the last time you clicked on an ad for one of your motivated personal searched?

Exactly!

NO PPC sucks! Can you get a deal? Of course. But plan to spend a lot of money.

SEO still remains the best because it is free and the leads are inherently motivated!

Trevor Mauch · Answer

@Nettles Mason what's up man!

I don't think either one are better. It's like asking if getting $5 in 1's or a single $5 bill is better. They're both great and they're both a part of the overall strategy.

PPC is great for getting traffic going and keeping that consistency... and SEO is a momentum builder. They should both be a part of the long-term strategy though.

If you rely only on SEO... what happens if there's a big SEO change? You're outta business. If you rely on only PPC... what happens if there's a big PPC change or click costs get driven up so high it doesn't work for you anymore?

It's less about which is better and more about setting a solid foundation for creating consistency and predictability in your lead flow.

As far as performance... we see similar conversion rates on both (really varies by market though) but in general SEO ones tend to be a lead that has built more trust and people trust organic listings more in general.

But ya man... BOTH! Go get it! Reach out if we can help you ramp up your Carrot site man!

Adriana Silva · Answer

Both the options are better. You need to figure out which one you are looking for in long term or short term. When you are ranking for your keywords on top pages you wouldn't want to spent your money on SEO. This way you need to figure out which one you are looking for in near future. For fast lead generation Adwords works.

Adriana Silva · Answer

Both the options are better. You need to figure out which one you are looking for in long term or short term. When you are ranking for your keywords on top pages you would not need to spent your money on SEO. This way you need to figure out which one you are looking for in near future. For fast lead generation Adwords works.

Trevor Mauch · Answer

@Nettles Mason what's up man!

I don't think either one are better. It's like asking if getting $5 in 1's or a single $5 bill is better. They're both great and they're both a part of the overall strategy.

PPC is great for getting traffic going and keeping that consistency... and SEO is a momentum builder. They should both be a part of the long-term strategy though.

If you rely only on SEO... what happens if there's a big SEO change? You're outta business. If you rely on only PPC... what happens if there's a big PPC change or click costs get driven up so high it doesn't work for you anymore?

It's less about which is better and more about setting a solid foundation for creating consistency and predictability in your lead flow.

As far as performance... we see similar conversion rates on both (really varies by market though) but in general SEO ones tend to be a lead that has built more trust and people trust organic listings more in general.

But ya man... BOTH! Go get it! Reach out if we can help you ramp up your Carrot site man!

Brian Rockwell · Answer

@Nettles Mason will echo what @Trevor Mauch just said. Do both. I started doing PPC once I believed my website could do well at converting leads. SEO is a long term play. It has taking me over a year to rank for some keywords. When I had the idea of generating leads online, I wanted to do SEO but PPC allowed me to get started quicker. But even though now I am ranking and getting consistent organic leads, I am still pounding away at PPC because it is still working for me. I am seeing a slightly better conversion rate with SEO but it is really not that different. I did a podcast with @Trevor Mauch about this if you want to check it out or hit me up! Best of luck to you!

Angel-Ty L. · Answer

Hi @Nettles Mason , I agree with what@Zachary Wilson said about having both in your lead generating arsenal. I think a good strategy to execute on is to start with building out your SEO, while you are doing that simultaneously run paid traffic. as you will see SEO takes time and paid traffic gives you results in a very short amount of time. However, if you're like most REIs you probably aren't so familiar with running a Google Adwords account or implementing SEO.

So you have two options...

• Option A would be to learn PPC and SEO. Learning both come with a pretty big learning curve. Especially PPC for Real Estate. Most businesses are trying to sell moderately-priced products. With Real Estate your dealing with profits of 10k-60k up per deal. All that profit means people are willing to spend a lot to get motivated seller leads – and competition can be fierce. Also, There’s a lack of good data on what actually works.
• Learning both come with a pretty big learning curve. Especially PPC for Real Estate. Most businesses are trying to sell moderately-priced products. With Real Estate your dealing with profits of 10k-60k up per deal. All that profit means people are willing to spend a lot to get motivated seller leads – and competition can be fierce. Also, There’s a lack of good data on what actually works.
• Option B hire somebody who knows about running ad accounts for REIs This I think is the best option. Instead of focusing on marketing you would be able to delegate it to somebody actually knowledgeable now you would be able to focus more on closing deals. I think Oprah Winfrey said it best "I attribute my success to staying in my own lane "
• This I think is the best option. Instead of focusing on marketing you would be able to delegate it to somebody actually knowledgeable now you would be able to focus more on closing deals. I think Oprah Winfrey said it best "I attribute my success to staying in my own lane "

• Learning both come with a pretty big learning curve. Especially PPC for Real Estate. Most businesses are trying to sell moderately-priced products. With Real Estate your dealing with profits of 10k-60k up per deal. All that profit means people are willing to spend a lot to get motivated seller leads – and competition can be fierce. Also, There’s a lack of good data on what actually works.

• This I think is the best option. Instead of focusing on marketing you would be able to delegate it to somebody actually knowledgeable now you would be able to focus more on closing deals. I think Oprah Winfrey said it best "I attribute my success to staying in my own lane "

Hope I was able to give you a little more insight. I write consistently about online marketing for REIs, you can check my latest post here . Any questions or concerns you may have I would be more than happy to answer.

-Angel-Ty Lebron

Nettles Mason · Answer

That's awesome man. Love your carrot layout!

I agree, multiple lead generation methods are key to any business.

2 questions specifically for you:

WAG's are welcome (Wild a Guess)

1. Which have a better close rate for you?  10 Adwords leads vs 10 organic leads (or 20 vs 20)

2. Which generate more MLS listings or houses offered by wholesalers? (leads that are not direct to seller)

ex. 2 out of 10 organic leads are wholesalers and 2 out of 10 Adwords leads are listed

Organic SEO vs Adwords - Which is better?

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