SEO vs. Growth Hacking: Which Strategy Wins?

SEO is no longer a 'should I do this'
It's like saying 'Hey I’m going on a road trip, should I put gas in my car?'
SEO is simply something that must be done. Period. Now, growth hacking… it is not a necessity. It is a luxury. If you want to grow your company from concept to a highly profitable business exceeding 1 million in revenue in less than 3 years, then growth hacking is imperative.

If however, you launch a business and are okay with slowly growing over time, then no. Growth hacking is not important.

SEO: A Trusted Champion

SEO is a tactic. Growth hacking is a strategy that may or may not include SEO as one of its tactics. One is not inherently better than the other. The right choice depends on your budget, time, and expectations.

SEO: Insights and Growth

SEO through methods such as influencer marketing can be a powerful tool. I used this for my website where I ran my business selling second-hand products. Influencer Auditor, an auditing tool, solved my legitimacy problem easily.

Growth Hacking: A New Game

In the red corner we have SEO, a tried and trusted solid champion that has stood the test of time. In the blue corner, the challenger: Growth Hacking, a relatively new field that includes many new tricks, theories, platforms, and techniques sometimes making it hard to define precisely.

SEO will get you intent-driven traffic from search engines. Growth hacking, on the other hand, will help you scale fast through unconventional channels and aggressive acquisition techniques.

The Long Run: Which One Wins?

The best strategy for you is to make an informed choice based on your budget, time, and expectations. Properly implemented SEO is not cheap and will take six to twelve months to see results in terms of movement and rankings. If you're lucky, there might be a bump in traffic and conversions sooner, but usually, it will take longer.

Growth hacking techniques are fast and cheap. This discipline was born to help smaller companies grow fast, especially startup companies that didn’t have access to a big budget but needed to scale fast to thousands of users.

Learning Growth Hacking

Learning how to do growth hacking yourself can be a head start, especially if your company is small. However, only if you find the right niche, platform, and technique, will you see dramatic speed increases in your initial acquisition goals. On the other hand, SEO can be universal if your product is already popular and people are searching for it.

The Perfect Match: SEO vs. SMM

Here’s another great match: SEO vs. SMM (Social Media Marketing). Which is more beneficial and influential?

Further Reading on Growth Hacking

For more information on growth hacking, check out 'Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising' by Ryan Holiday. Another great resource is 'Hacking Growth: How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success' by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown.

Conclusion

SEO and growth hacking serve different purposes and can be used at different stages of a business’s lifecycle. Understanding the differences and aligning them with your goals is key to success.