I run a Marketing agency and an IT company on the side as a hobby. Earlier this year, I set up a website to get more weekend business. Initially, I was ranking well locally and got a few form submissions. Then, my mate who had never run Google ads before, decided to give it a go using Google’s suggested keywords. We spent $50 a day for two weeks, which brought in around 10-15 jobs. But after stopping the ads, I noticed my organic leads dried up. I republished the homepage and got a lead a few hours later. Has anyone experienced this? Could it be my local market?
When you run ads using the same keywords as your organic listings, users tend to click the top options. So if your ad is showing up high, it might steal clicks from your organic results. You could try targeting competitor keywords or long-tail keywords you’re not ranking for yet.
Timmy said:
What services do you offer in marketing and IT? I haven’t checked out your site yet but curious about what you specialize in.
For IT, I provide MSP solutions like managing Windows users, servers, and also do phone and computer repairs, security system installs, video walls, TV mounting, help desk services, and software development. On the marketing side, I handle Google Ads, website building, hosting, basic SEO, and non-white label CRMs like Odoo, along with email campaigns and fleet tracking.
Running Google Ads could have temporarily affected your organic traffic since paid ads take the spotlight. When you stopped the ads, your site’s visibility dropped, and republishing the homepage probably helped it regain some relevance with Google.
Your site might not have enough content. You likely saw an early boost from citations and links, but competitors with better content and links have overtaken you. Add more content and build a few quality links, and you should bounce back.
You could drive organic traffic through SEO strategies like guest posting, which would boost your rankings. I specialize in guest posts, so let me know if you want to discuss further.