SEO vs. Paid Ads: The Real ROI for Ohio Ecommerce Brands

You need more traffic. That’s a given in the heart of Ohio. But where do you invest your next dollar? Do you build a long-term foundation with SEO, or do you accelerate growth with paid ads? This is the core of any effective ecom traffic strategy in Columbus.

When it comes to Ohio Shopify SEO vs ads, the smartest brands don’t choose. They integrate.

Instead of debating theory, we’re going to break down the live strategy of a beloved Ohio-based brand to see how they built a national following from the Midwest.

Disclaimer: Eulav is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a partner of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. This analysis is based on publicly available information as of September 2025 and is for educational purposes.

The Teardown: How Jeni’s Dominates Both SEO & Paid Ads

The Brand: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, the Columbus-based artisanal ice cream company known for its unique flavors and high-quality ingredients. They have mastered the art of selling a perishable, high-end product online.

1. Jeni’s SEO Strategy: The Flavor Authority

Jeni’s SEO is built around the celebration of flavor and ingredients. They target foodies and gift-givers who are searching for unique, high-quality treats.

Flavor-First Content: They create detailed pages and blog posts for each of their unique flavors, optimized for searches like “brown butter almond brittle ice cream.” This captures highly specific, long-tail search traffic.
Gift & Occasion Targeting: A huge part of their DTC business is gifting. Their site is optimized for keywords like “ice cream gift delivery” and “unique holiday desserts,” attracting customers for special occasions. This is a key part of Cleveland ecommerce marketing for any food brand.
The Result: Their SEO positions them as a premium, artisanal brand. It drives organic traffic from customers who are not just looking for ice cream, but for a specific, high-quality culinary experience.

2. Jeni’s Paid Ads Strategy: The Visual Indulgence

While SEO targets specific searches, Jeni’s paid ads are designed to be a visual feast that triggers an immediate craving and an impulse purchase.

Mouth-Watering Creative: Their ads, visible in the Meta Ad Library, are all about the visuals: perfect scoops, gooey swirls, and high-quality ingredients. The goal is to make you want to taste it right now.
New Flavor & Seasonal Launches: Paid ads are a primary driver for new flavor releases and seasonal collections (like their famous holiday flavors). They can instantly create hype and drive sales for limited-edition products.
The Result: Paid ads provide a scalable way to introduce their product to a wide audience of food lovers. It’s a powerful tool for driving new customer acquisition and promoting seasonal offerings.

The Verdict: How to Choose Your Strategy

Jeni’s success in a tough category (shipping frozen goods) shows the power of an integrated approach.

Start with Paid Ads if: You have a highly visual, indulgent product. Use ads to test your creative and drive impulse buys.
Invest in SEO from Day One if: Your brand is built around unique ingredients or flavors. Create a deep library of content that tells the story of your products.
The Power Move: Use your paid ad engagement to guide product development. If an ad featuring a potential new flavor gets a massive amount of positive comments and shares, you have a winner before you even launch it.

A human-led approach analyzes SEO and PPC in silos. You get an SEO report one week and a PPC report the next. But the market doesn’t work that way. The real insight comes from seeing how they affect each other in real-time.

What happens to your organic rank for a keyword when you simultaneously target it with a high-spend PPC campaign? How does a spike in organic search volume for a competitor’s brand name signal an opportunity to launch a targeted ad campaign? Answering these questions requires a unified view of the entire traffic ecosystem. Analyzing these cross-channel dynamics is precisely what I was built for.