You can run the most beautiful ad campaign, post the most brilliant content, and send the perfect email sequence.

But if your audience Googles you and finds... nothing relevant? Or worse—something that feels disconnected from everything else?

You’ve just lost trust in a split second.

Most brands miss this part.

Search isn’t an “extra”—it’s a core moment in your customer’s decision-making process.

In a truly connected omnichannel strategy, Google (both organic and paid) shouldn’t run on autopilot. It should be fully aligned with every other touchpoint—your content, brand voice, offers, and customer journey.

In this post, I’ll show you how to stop treating SEO and Google Ads like side projects—and start using them as strategic glue that holds your entire marketing ecosystem together.

Why SEM matters in omnichannel

When people talk about omnichannel, they often focus on email, social media, and automation. However, search engine marketing—which includes both SEO and paid search—gets left out of the conversation far too often.

That’s a miss.

Search is where your customers go to get clarity. They’ve seen your ad, read your content, or maybe heard your name in a podcast... and now they’re searching. They want to confirm what they saw, find more context, or take the next step.

If your SEM isn’t aligned with what they’ve already seen and felt from your brand, you create friction. That disconnection breaks trust.

SEO is trust in action

Search engine optimisation isn’t about chasing rankings—it’s about showing up with the right message when your audience is ready for it.

Here’s how I think about SEO in an omnichannel system: it’s not traffic for the sake of traffic. It’s alignment.

Your blog posts, lead magnets, and resource pages should reflect what you say in your emails, social posts, and ads—the same tone and value.

Map SEO content to your customer journey

• Awareness: “How-to” guides, problem-solving blog posts

• Consideration: Comparison pages, use cases, feature explanations

• Decision: Reviews, case studies, FAQs, product pages

If someone lands on a Google blog post and it sounds like a different brand than what they saw on LinkedIn, you’ve lost cohesion—and maybe the conversion.

When search gets left behind

One of my past clients—a service-based business—ran strong campaigns across LinkedIn and email. The messaging was great, the content was consistent, and the offers were solid.

But conversion rates were... underwhelming. So we did a journey audit. Here’s what we found:

• People were engaging with their LinkedIn posts

• Clicking through to the site

• Then later, Googling the brand or related terms

And what did they find?

• Old blog posts

• Generic search ads

• A homepage that said nothing about the offer

The search was utterly disconnected from the rest of the strategy.

We fixed it by:

• Updating blog content to reflect current messaging

• Syncing Google Ads headlines and descriptions with the live campaigns

• Optimising key pages for branded and high-intent keywords

• Creating a consistent message path from LinkedIn → Google → Website

Once everything was aligned? Time on site increased, bounce rate dropped, and conversion rates improved within weeks.

Small shifts. Big impact.

Paid search is more than bottom-of-funnel

Google Ads aren’t just for quick conversions. When used strategically, they:

• Support branded search to help you dominate your name

• Reinforce visibility after social or email engagement

• Test messaging before rolling it out across organic and email

• Connect curious clickers to the right offer, fast

But only if they’re synced with the rest of your campaign.

Running paid search ads without aligning them with your organic content, offers, or current social promotions? That’s like speaking five languages at once.

Search isn’t just a discovery tool—it’s a decision-making moment.

When someone types your name or offer into Google, they ask: Can I trust this brand? And your answer needs to be crystal clear.

That’s why your search strategy—both organic and paid—can’t exist in isolation. It has to reflect the same voice, value, and direction your audience sees across every other channel.

Search belongs inside your omnichannel strategy, not outside of it. When every touchpoint works together, you stop chasing attention and start building real connections.

And that’s where conversions really begin.

Final thoughts

Search is often the turning point in your customer’s journey. It’s where people go to explore, compare, and make decisions—often after seeing you somewhere else first.

That’s why your search strategy can’t live in isolation. It must support the same message, tone, and journey your audience experiences across every channel.

Search belongs inside your omnichannel strategy—not treated as something separate.

When every touchpoint is connected, your marketing becomes clearer, consistent, and trustworthy—and that’s what leads to real growth.

If your search presence feels disconnected or underused, it might be the missing link in your bigger strategy. It's worth taking a closer look.

Here’s how I integrate search into omnichannel

Search is not treated as a separate channel in my systems—it is built in from the start.

• I map SEO and paid search to specific stages of the customer journey so they support awareness, consideration, and conversion, not just the end sale.

• I ensure the messaging in search ads and content matches what’s already being shared in email, social media, and on-site, so it always feels like one brand.

• I optimise blogs and landing pages with long-term visibility in mind, but adapt based on campaign needs and the audience's response.

• I use search queries and branded keyword data to uncover what people are really looking for, and I use that insight to inform content and positioning across channels.

• I prioritise helpful, human-first messaging so that whether someone finds you through a post or a search result, they get a clear and consistent experience.

If you’re building an omnichannel system and search hasn’t yet been part of the conversation, this is your sign to include it.

Audit what shows up when people search for you. Align your messaging. Connect the dots.

Because search doesn’t just support your strategy—it strengthens it.

Search belongs inside your omnichannel strategy. Not outside of it.