Search Beef

If you had £100k to spend on search today, is SEO the smarter long-term bet over PPC? SEO consultant Hannah Bryce says yes. Maddie Lightening, Head of Paid Media at Hallam, says no.

Hannah's case: "PPC rents traffic while SEO builds it." SEO is the mortgage, building equity that keeps paying after the budget runs out. Maddie's case: speed to revenue, precise targeting and the ability to pivot overnight beat waiting for rankings, and PPC is the best research tool SEO has.

Along the way: is SEO ever really free, what AI Overviews and core updates mean for your SEO investment, PMax as "a toddler loose with your money", whether "fail fast" works in B2B, and whether either of them changed their mind.

Search Beef is a video debate podcast for search marketers who disagree. Two practitioners, one question, no winner. New episode every Wednesday, hosted by Joss Froggatt.

00:00 Cold open

00:19 Welcome to Search Beef

01:40 £100k: SEO or PPC? Meet the guests

04:59 Hannah's case: SEO is a mortgage

07:12 Maddie's case: speed, precision, pivots

09:53 Mortgage vs rent: is SEO really free?

13:25 What if AI Overviews wipe you out?

18:43 Is paid the faster way into AI answers?

21:40 Can PPC data build long-term value?

24:30 When a business goes all-in on paid

27:58 How fast can SEO pivot?

28:57 PMax: a toddler with your money

32:47 Does fail fast work in B2B?

35:34 Why this debate is different now

38:14 The verdict

40:05 Where to find Hannah and Maddie

THE GUESTSHannah Bryce, SEO Consultant (16 years in SEO, e-commerce specialist)LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-bryce-99848144/ · Website: https://hannahbryce.com/Maddie Lightening, Head of Paid Media at Hallam (10 years in paid media)LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-lightening/ · Hallam: https://hallam.agency/

WATCH AND FOLLOW

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMUaEHDA7Ml1TTTSyZ-ANmgLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/search-beef/Website: https://searchbeef.com/

Next week: Is broad match actually good now?

Search marketers disagree all the time. But usually in private.

Search Beef puts that disagreement on the record.

Each episode takes one topic about SEO, PPC or anything else in search.

Two experts who see it differently get 90 seconds each to make their case, with no interruptions. Then comes the beef: a proper debate on that one topic.

It’s not about who wins. You hear both sides and get at least 1 more perspective than you had before.

Season 1: 6 episodes, no ads, and a lineup of the best search marketing minds I dared to ask.

Episode 1 lands late October / early November. Follow the show so you don’t miss it.

Hosted by Joss Froggatt.
Same search. Different agenda.