There was once a time when SEO had a fast and large payoff. Now despite the promises of business hungry SEO companies, the payoff can be years away, short lived and is less than what is use to be. Google has changed its page layouts continuously to always improve Ad clicks for Google's revenue. So facing facts, paid advertising needs to be mastered to consistently attract new clients online.
Google's paid ads are at the top of the page. Fact - less than 5% of new web pages rank organically (free) on page 1 within a year. Even then they are below Googles Ads and map listings. You can no longer see free listings without scrolling. And it's only going to get worse. So mastering PAID Ads is a must.