If you’re a mortgage broker, there are two ways to get leads online:

1. Grow them
2. Buy them

Both work.

But they feel very different over time.

And the easiest way to understand the difference is this:

SEO is like gardening.
Facebook ads and Google ads are like going to the supermarket.

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SEO = planting a garden

When you invest in SEO, you’re doing work today that you won’t fully benefit from until a few months from now.

You’re planting:

• service pages (refinance, first home buyers, investment loans)
• helpful answers to questions (“offset vs redraw”, “how much deposit do I need?”)
• location pages and trust signals (reviews, case studies, credentials)
• internal links and structure so Google understands your site

In the beginning, it can feel slow.

You water the soil.
You pull weeds.
You improve the garden bed.

And for a while… nothing seems to grow.

But if you’ve done the right job — and you keep showing up consistently — you start to see it:

• a few impressions
• a few clicks
• a few inquiries

Then, the real shift happens:

You’re no longer relying on one “plant.”
You’ve got a whole garden producing.

And the best part?

Once those roots are deep, the garden keeps producing with less effort than the startup phase.

You still maintain it.
You still prune.
You still fertilise.

But you’re no longer starting from scratch.

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Ads = buying fruit at the supermarket

Facebook and Google ads are the supermarket.

You can walk in and get fruit today.

Need leads this week? Ads can do that.

But here’s the trade-off:

• It’s more expensive over time
• The moment you stop paying, the “fruit” stops coming
• You’re renting attention, not building an asset

And just like supermarket produce…

It’s convenient.
But it’s not always the best long-term foundation.

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Why organic SEO leads often convert better

Here’s what we consistently see with mortgage brokers:

Organic leads are different.

Because in organic search, people aren’t “killing time.”

They’re researching.

They’re asking:

• “Is refinancing worth it?”
• “What can I borrow on my income?”
• “Fixed vs variable — what’s better right now?”
• “Do I need 20% deposit?”

When they find you during that research phase, two important things happen:

1) You become the broker they remember

You weren’t an interruption.

You were the answer.

So when they submit an enquiry, your brand is already front-of-mind.

2) They show up warmer

They’ve read. Compared. Considered.

They don’t feel “sold.”

They feel helped.

That’s why, more and more, our clients choose to build organic search as the foundation — not just because it’s cost-effective over time, but because the intent is stronger.

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What about Google Ads?

Google Ads can still be powerful for brokers — especially to cover gaps while the “garden” grows.

But it has its own challenges:

• competition pushes costs up
• you’re often bidding against banks, aggregators, and big broker brands
• you can still attract price-shoppers who click multiple ads in a row

It’s a useful lever.

It’s just not the same as owning the organic real estate.

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The best approach is often both (in the right order)

Think of it like this:

• Ads help you eat today
• SEO helps you eat every season

Ads can create immediate pipeline.

SEO builds the long-term engine.

And once the SEO garden is established, you get options:

• reduce ad dependency
• lower cost per lead over time
• keep leads flowing even when budgets tighten

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The bottom line

If you want quick leads, go to the supermarket.

If you want a lead engine you own, plant the garden.

Because the brokers who win long term aren’t the ones who just buy fruit every week…

They’re the ones with orchards.

And they’re harvesting year after year.