Google Ads or Facebook Ads: Which One First?

If people already search for what you sell, start with Google. If they don't know your thing exists, start with Meta. That one distinction settles most of it, and the rest of this post is the exceptions.

You probably don't have budget for both properly. Splitting a small budget across two platforms usually means neither gets enough data to work.

The actual difference

Google catches demand. Someone types "emergency plumber Halifax" and you appear. They already know what they want. Your job is to be there and be credible.

Meta creates demand. Nobody opens Instagram looking for a pelvic floor physiotherapist. But show the right person the right message and some of them realise they've needed one for two years. Your job is to interrupt well.

Neither is better. They do different work, and which one you need depends entirely on whether people are already looking.

Start with Google if

People search for your thing by name. Plumbers, dentists, lawyers, movers, roofers, accountants. Anything urgent or anything people research before buying.

Your service is expensive and considered. High intent matters more than reach when the sale is big.

You're local and competing on being findable. Someone searching "SEO company Halifax" is much closer to buying than someone scrolling.

You have a small budget. Google is usually more forgiving at low spend, because you're paying for people who already want the thing.

The tell: if you can imagine the exact phrase someone would type, Google is your platform.

Start with Meta if

People don't know your category exists. New products, unfamiliar services, anything where the customer doesn't have a word for their problem yet.

Your thing is visual or emotional. Fitness, food, events, photography, anything where seeing it does the selling.

You know exactly who your buyer is but not what they'd search. Meta targeting is built for that.

You're selling something with a strong hook. A free class, a launch, a limited event. Meta rewards a reason to stop scrolling.

You need volume of leads more than quality. Meta usually produces more, cheaper, and less qualified. That's a fine trade if your follow-up is good.

What each actually costs

Google. You pay per click, and the price depends on competition. In Halifax, trades and legal terms run high. Niche services run lower. You'll know within a couple of weeks whether the maths works, because cost per click is visible immediately.

Meta. You pay for impressions, so cost per result depends on how good your creative is. Bad creative is expensive. Good creative is remarkably cheap. Two ads with the same budget and audience can differ five times over on cost per lead.

That's the real difference in risk. On Google the cost is largely set by your market. On Meta it's largely set by your work.

We took one home renovation client from over $100 a lead down to $12 on Meta. The budget didn't change. The creative and the targeting did.

The mistake almost everyone makes

Running both on a small budget.

Say you have $1,000 a month in ad spend. Split evenly, each platform gets $500. On Google that might buy 150 clicks in a competitive market. On Meta it might buy a few thousand impressions across two ad sets.

Neither has enough volume to learn anything. You spend three months and end up with two sets of numbers too small to act on.

Put the whole thing on one platform, learn what works, then add the second when you have something to scale.

When you actually need both

When the sale takes a long time. Meta introduces you, Google catches them when they finally search. Common in professional services.

When you're retargeting. Google brings people to your site, Meta follows them afterwards. This is the cheapest use of Meta there is and it works at almost any budget.

When Google is capped. Some markets are small enough that you exhaust the searches. If you're capturing all the demand and want more, you have to create some.

How to decide in five minutes

Open Google Keyword Planner and look up the phrase you think people search for your service. If it shows meaningful volume in your area, start with Google. If it shows almost nothing, that's your answer too: nobody's looking, so you need Meta to go and find them.

Then check your own site analytics. If you already get organic traffic from search, demand exists and Google will amplify it. If your traffic is mostly direct and social, Meta is where your people already are.

What matters more than the choice

Whether your offer converts.

We've seen both platforms fail for the same reason: traffic arrives, lands on a page that doesn't answer the question, and leaves. Then the platform gets blamed.

Before you spend anything meaningful, make sure the page the ad points at says what the thing is, what it costs or how to find out, and what happens next. If it doesn't, fix that first. It's cheaper than buying traffic to a page that can't hold it. That is part of what we do before anything goes live.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use Google Ads or Facebook Ads?

Use Google if people already search for what you sell, like plumbers, lawyers or movers. Use Meta if they do not know your category exists, or if your service is visual and needs to be seen to be understood. On a small budget, pick one and do it properly rather than splitting.

Which is cheaper, Google Ads or Facebook Ads?

Facebook usually has a lower cost per click, but the leads are colder. Google costs more per click and converts better because intent is higher. The right comparison is cost per booked customer, not cost per click, and that varies more by your offer than by platform.

Can I run both at the same time?

Yes, and it works well once each has enough budget to produce real data. On a small total spend, splitting usually means neither learns anything. The exception is retargeting on Meta, which works at almost any budget because the audience is already warm.

How much should I spend to test a platform properly?

Our own minimums are $1,200 a month in Google Ads spend, $1,000 a month for Meta lead generation, or $500 a month if all you want is visibility. Below those levels there is not enough volume to separate what is working from chance. Give it at least three months before drawing conclusions.

Why are my Facebook ads not working?

Most often it is the creative or the offer, not the targeting. Meta cost per result is driven heavily by whether the ad stops the scroll and whether the landing page delivers what the ad promised. Two ads with identical budget and audience can differ five times over on cost per lead.