Optimization or Marketing: SEO vs. SEM

Optimization or Marketing: SEO vs. SEM

Two of the most popular buzz-words these days when it comes to online marketing strategies are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). While some people use these terms interchangeably, they are not the same thing. This article will give you a better look into what these terms mean and exactly how they are actually deployed in a company's marketing efforts.

In brief, Search Engine Marketing is a promotion technique to increase a website or product's visibility across any online channel. Search engine optimization is the process of increasing visibility of a website or product visibility on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). While this may seem like the same thing the main difference to keep in mind is that SEM can include all elements of SEO, but expands to other avenues of online marketing as well. We'll discuss these items further in the individual sections for SEO and SEM.

SEO

Since SEO is more narrow than SEM, we'll discuss what SEM is and the techniques involved in an SEO marketing campaign and then expand that to SEM.

At it's core, SEO is focused on getting more visitors to your website or product page through search engines such as Bing and Google. Though this can expand to the search engines of other sites such as Ebay or Amazon as well.

When approaching SEO, there are two main approaches to increasing page visits: On-page SEO and Off-page SEO.

On-page SEO includes any website content that is actually on your webpage or product page. While each engine includes its own algorithm for what results are presented first some key items which help prioritize your page are:

-Phrase and keyword matches to exact search terms

-Title and heading keywords

-Frequency and quality of content updates

-Social Media integration and links

Off-page SEO includes anything off your page which might direct to the page including:

-Links from other high-traffic pages to your site

-Social media links to your site

-Directory listings to your site

-Business or site reviews (i.e. Google Reviews and Yelp!)

There are many other on and off page SEO strategies, what works best for each website depends on the type of business or website which is being optimized. Physicians and legal professionals will take a very different approach to their individual SEO than a business promoting a product. An online marketing consultant can help you better gauge what approaches will work best for you.

SEM

SEM includes all of the items mentioned in the SEO section but expands on them with other "paid" options.

SEO is generally viewed as the "free" way to promote your website. It is also a slower process, involving building the optimization over time.

SEM is a way of super-charging the SEO and directing traffic to your website or product page much faster by paying for prioritization. This includes paying for clicks (PPC) or promoted search listings in search engines and social media marketing (SMM).

Many marketers will argue that SEO is the better approach in overall marketing. The advantage that paid options in SEM offer is the ability to finely target consumers but also set limits or a budget on what you pay. It should be noted, however, that paid options vary greatly depending on search terms and platforms. PPC for terms for a pet groomer for example, will be much cheaper than the PPC for a legal professional.

In either case, the average business owner can benefit greatly by consulting with an online marketing professional to find out what the most cost-effective approaches for building your online presence.