You’ve worked hard on your listing.
Your title is optimized.
Your bullets are sharp.
You rank on page one for your most important keywords.
So now the question is:
Do you really need to keep spending on ads?
Let’s unpack the truth behind SEO, PPC, and what Amazon really rewards in 2025.
🔍 SEO vs. PPC on Amazon: What’s the Difference?
Amazon SEO = Organic ranking driven by keyword relevance, click-through rate, and conversion.
Amazon PPC (Pay-Per-Click) = Paid placement to drive visibility on specific keywords or placements.
They both live in the same ecosystem — but they serve different purposes.
💡 Why Ads Are Still Necessary (Even with Great SEO)
✅ 1. Ads Protect Your Position
Once you rank organically, the top 3–4 spots above you are still paid ads.
If you don’t advertise, your competitors will — and you’ll get pushed down the page.
Even if you’re in position #1 organically, you might not be visible above the fold.
✅ 2. Ads Reinforce Organic Rank
Amazon’s A10 algorithm rewards clicks and conversions.
If you stop ads cold, you may lose:
- Click momentum
- Conversion data
- Market share on key terms
Over time, this can hurt your rank — even if your SEO is solid.
✅ 3. Ads Let You Own More Real Estate
When you run Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display alongside organic rank, you:
- Dominate the search page
- Crowd out competitors
- Increase brand trust and shopper intent
More visibility = more chances to convert.
✅ 4. Ads Support Launches and Seasonal Spikes
Even if you rank well for core terms, you may need:
- Support for new variations or bundles
- Targeting on seasonal keywords
- Boosts during Q4 or Prime Day events
Organic SEO alone can’t pivot quickly — ads can.
🧠 When You Might Reduce or Pause Ads
There are a few exceptions where pulling back ad spend makes sense:
- Low-competition keywords where you dominate organically
- Branded keywords (if you’re not being targeted by competitors)
- Products with long-term review and conversion dominance
- After scaling to external channels with diversified traffic
Even then — it’s smarter to test reductions slowly, not shut off all campaigns at once.
📊 SEO + Ads = Best Strategy for 2025
Here’s what smart brands are doing:
| Strategy | Result |
|---|---|
| Rank organically via SEO | Free traffic & trust |
| Reinforce with PPC ads | More impressions & conversions |
| Use Sponsored Brands | Drive traffic to Storefront |
| Retarget with Display ads | Increase lifetime value |
| Refresh SEO every 3 months | Stay relevant and indexed |
📈 Real Example
A supplement brand ranked on page one for “magnesium gummies.”
They paused ads after hitting #2 organically.
30 days later:
- Impressions dropped by 42%
- CTR fell
- Their rank dropped to #7
- Competitor ads filled the top of the page
They reinstated ads → regained rank within 10 days.
✅ Final Recommendation
If you’ve built strong SEO, don’t kill your momentum by shutting off ads.
Instead:
✅ Reduce bids gradually
✅ A/B test high-performing keywords
✅ Use PPC to support weak listings or new launches
✅ Own more of the page with a blended SEO + PPC strategy