SEO or Adwords - Which is most useful?

[John M]

It really depends on how quickly you want results and how much you want to spend.

Quick results will usually be from Adwords while SEO takes longer to get going - I often use the analogy or Adwords being a speedboat while SEO is an oil tanker. The speedboat is quicker to start and easier to change direction but slows down quicker when you turn the power off (stop spending) while the tanker takes longer to get going and change direction but also takes longer to stop if you stop working on the site.

I know how competitive accountancy services is in the search engines, I work as an SEO manager for a firm that builds sites and provides content for accountants (with almost 1,000 sites in the UK) and every day I am looking to improve accountants sites.

One tip I would give you is focus on what people are searching for - professional services are often searched for in the visitors immediate location - so for example if you are based in Walthamstow in North East London make your phrases relate to the service you provide and Walthamstow, not North East London, East London, or even London. This could be why your visitors are not converting to sales for you - people will not travel miles to see an accountant or bookkeeper unless they offer a very specialised service (Audits of FTSE100 companies for example).