The Hidden Power Of SEO In Boosting Paid Ad Performance

Forbes

2 days ago

Mykola Lukashuk, CEO at Marketing Link, is a B2B SEO, analytics, and ads consultant.
Search engine optimization (SEO) and paid ads are often managed independently—split across teams, timelines and key performance indicators (KPIs). But this siloed approach can limit performance. Without SEO, you overpay for clicks that go to poorly optimized pages. Without ads, your SEO has no short-term acceleration. When these channels work together—from metadata to landing speed to tag health—you can unlock measurable gains in visibility, quality score and conversion.
Why Technical SEO Matters More Than You Think
Page speed is no longer just a user experience (UX) metric—it's a revenue factor. Google's Core Web Vitals assess performance under 3G-like conditions, which still impact how your site is ranked and how your ads perform. For advertisers, that's not just a poor experience—it's lost budget.
Every bounce is a click you paid for but didn't convert. Optimizing for page load time doesn't just boost your SEO; it protects your return on ad spend (ROAS) on platforms like Meta and Google Ads.
The Role Of OG Metadata In Meta Advertising
Open Graph (OG) metadata determines how your content appears when shared on Meta platforms like Facebook or Messenger, and that makes it directly relevant for ad performance.
If your OG tags aren't configured properly, here's what might go wrong:
• The wrong text, description or image shows up (such as a mismatched product or your site's logo).
• Instead of linking to the right page, the preview shows your homepage.
Meta caches OG data. Even after updating a page's title or image, the preview might not refresh unless you force a re-scrape using the Facebook Sharing Debugger. If OG metadata is missing, Meta might generate a random preview by scanning the page. That preview could be irrelevant: a blank image, a low-quality logo or an outdated banner.
Well-structured OG tags give you control over how your brand is displayed in ad previews. This directly affects click-through rate (CTR), perceived trust and performance of ad formats like dynamic product ads and story placements.
How SEO Supports Google Ads And Microsoft Ads
Google Ads uses the Quality Score metric to assess the relevance of your ads. It's based on three core components:
• Keyword: Does it match the user's search query?
• Ad Copy: Does the ad include the keyword?
• Landing Page: Does the content on the page match the ad and keyword?
When all three are aligned, your ad receives a Quality Score between 1 and 10. The higher the score, the lower your cost-per-click and the better your ad position.
For example, if someone searches for 'custom kitchen remodel,' and that exact phrase appears in your ad headline, Google considers it relevant. Then it looks at your landing page. If the page only mentions 'kitchens' but not 'remodel' or 'custom,' the Quality Score drops.
You can check your Quality Score in Google Ads by revealing the hidden columns. There, you'll see how Google rates your landing page:
• Poor
• Average
• Good
• Excellent
A similar Quality Score is used in Microsoft (Bing) Ads, also based on a 1 to 10 scale. Their rating labels include:
• Underperforming
• Competitive
• Very competitive
Even if your business focuses purely on ads—not SEO—it's still worth updating your landing pages with clear, relevant text. This helps both Google and Microsoft understand what your page is about and improves ad performance.
You can't stuff 50 to 60 keyword variations into a single page. Focus on the primary ones.
For example:
• If your keyword is 'custom kitchen remodel,' mention it three to five times on the page.
• Include it in the title or meta description, if possible.
• Use it in H2 or H3 headings.
Review your ad costs—and consider whether improving your page copy could boost your return. Even small changes, like adding a short, keyword-rich description, can improve your Quality Score.
Just don't try to cheat the system by dumping a comma-separated list of keywords. Google Ads and Microsoft Ads can detect this tactic—and may penalize your account for keyword stuffing.
Google scans your website in detail, and poor meta tag implementation can create issues in both SEO and Google Ads.
What could go wrong:
• Missing Details: Shipping info, return policy and warranty terms are examples of missing details. Google may block your ads if this information is missing from your site.
• New Products Added Without Optimized Meta Tags: If you upload 1,000 new items with generic or missing titles and descriptions, Google might not even bother crawling them.
• Duplicate Meta Tags: If your title and description tags are not unique, it can hurt indexing speed and reduce the chances of your products being eligible for ads.
Here's what usually happens when a store adds new products: Google picks them up in the feed, shows them in Merchant Center, indexes the product images and then makes them eligible for ads. But if the meta tags are weak, duplicated or incomplete, I've found that this process can get delayed by up to three months.
If your business invests only in paid ads and ignores SEO basics, you may start asking:
• Why did we add this product, but it's not showing up in ads?
• Why isn't Google processing our site?
One simple solution: Run a basic SEO optimization cycle for a few months. Focus on improving meta tags, making titles and descriptions unique and speeding up indexing. Even a minimal SEO package from your ad agency can help close this gap and prevent delays in ad campaigns.
Meta tags directly impact how fast Google indexes your products; whether they're eligible for shopping and Performance Max (PMax) ads; and the overall performance of your ad campaigns.
Conclusion
SEO isn't just about organic rankings—it's a multiplier for your entire digital strategy. From faster page loads to stronger metadata and more relevant landing pages, search fundamentals directly influence how your ads are scored, served and clicked.
If your paid campaigns are hitting performance ceilings, the fix may not be in your ad account, but your website. Aligning SEO with your ad infrastructure helps you spend smarter, convert faster and compete stronger across platforms.
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