Most marketing arguments in Egypt are framed as Google versus Facebook, which is the wrong frame. The two platforms buy different things. Social buys attention from people who were not thinking about you. Search buys people who are already typing what you sell. Once you see it that way the choice usually makes itself.
The demand test
Ask one question: does anyone wake up and search for this? A dentist, a car service centre, a plumber, a lawyer, a specific spare part, a university programme — yes, people search for these by name. A new snack brand, a lifestyle accessory, a service nobody knows exists — no, and no amount of bidding creates a search that is not happening.
Where demand exists, search is the cheapest customer you will ever buy, because you are not persuading anyone to want the thing. Where it does not, social is the only option, and the job becomes creating the want before asking for the sale.
| Your situation | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| People search for your category by name | Search | You intercept intent that already exists |
| Nobody knows the product exists | Social | Demand has to be created before it can be captured |
| Urgent or emergency service | Search | Nobody scrolls looking for an emergency plumber |
| Impulse or visual product | Social | The want is created by seeing it |
| High-ticket, long decision | Both | Social for awareness, search to catch the final comparison |
What a click costs
There is no single number, because every keyword is its own auction. What we can show is a real one: in the Kashati retail search campaign in the Gulf, a click cost 0.52 EGP across 2,380 clicks — well below typical social benchmarks, because high-intent search terms in a less crowded auction are cheap. Competitive commercial keywords in Cairo behave very differently. Every published figure with its volume is on the benchmarks page.
The more useful question than cost per click is cost per customer. A 0.52 EGP click that converts at 5% buys a customer for about 10 EGP. A 3 EGP click that converts at 20% buys one for 15. The cheaper click is not automatically the better buy.
The campaign types that actually matter
- Search. Text ads on keywords. This is the part that makes money for most businesses and should be built first.
- Performance Max. Automated across Google's inventory. Powerful with a product feed and real conversion data; a money pit without them.
- YouTube. Closer to social than to search — it buys attention, not intent.
- Display. Cheap impressions, almost always disappointing as a first campaign. Useful for retargeting people who already visited.
A common and expensive mistake is letting an account default into Display and Performance Max before search has proven the economics. Start where the intent is, learn what a customer costs, then widen.
Keywords: the three buckets
- Intent to buy now — "dentist in maadi", "book", "price", "near me". Small volume, highest value. Start here.
- Comparison — "best", "vs", "reviews". Mid funnel; worth bidding on once the first bucket is profitable.
- Research — "how to", "what is". Expensive to buy and better served by content that ranks for free.
Equally important is the negative keyword list. In Egypt the most common budget leak we find in audits is paying for the words "free", "salary", "jobs" and "course" inside commercial campaigns. Review the search terms report weekly for the first month and the account gets measurably cheaper.
The landing page rule
Search traffic is the least forgiving traffic you can buy. Someone typed exactly what they wanted; if the page they land on is slow, generic, or makes them hunt for a price or a phone number, the money is gone. Three rules cover most of it: the page must answer the exact query in its first screen, it must load fast on a mid-range phone on mobile data, and the action must be visible without scrolling.
Sending every campaign to the homepage is the classic version of this mistake. If you advertise a service, send people to that service's page. If you do not have one, build it before you spend — the page is cheaper than the wasted clicks. Our service pages and what they cover are listed under services.
Splitting budget between search and social
A practical starting split for a business with existing demand: put the first portion of budget into search until it either proves profitable or proves there is not enough search volume, then move the rest into social for reach. For a business creating demand, invert it — social builds the awareness that later shows up as branded searches, which are the cheapest clicks you will ever buy.
Watch for that second effect, because it is the clearest proof that the whole system is working: when social is doing its job, searches for your brand name rise, and those convert far better than anything else in the account.
Management is 10,000–18,000 EGP a month in our published pricing, separate from the budget you pay Google. If you want to know whether search demand exists in your category before committing anything, tell us what you sell and we will check the volume first — sometimes the honest answer is that search is not your channel.
Quick answers.
01Google Ads or Facebook ads in Egypt?
Search works when people already look for what you sell — a dentist, a plumber, a specific product. Social works when demand must be created. Most businesses need both, with search first if the demand already exists.
02What does a Google click cost in Egypt?
It depends entirely on the keyword. In our Kashati search campaign in the Gulf a click cost 0.52 EGP across 2,380 clicks — high-intent search can run well below social benchmarks, while competitive commercial keywords cost far more.
03Do I need a website for Google Ads?
Yes, and a fast one. Search sends people who are ready; a slow or vague page wastes exactly the traffic you paid most for. Call-only campaigns are the one partial exception.
04How long before Google Ads work?
A first read in two to three weeks. Unlike SEO, the intent already exists — you are solving a bidding and landing-page problem, not an authority problem.
05Should I bid on my own brand name?
Usually yes if competitors bid on it, because the click is cheap and losing your own name is expensive. If nobody is bidding against you, the budget is better spent elsewhere.
