Seo vs. Sem: Which One Is Right for Your Business?

SEO and SEM are two terms commonly used in the digital marketing space , but what do they mean? Is there really a difference between them? And if so, which one should your business be focusing on? In this article, we’ll break down the differences between search engine optimization and search engine marketing so you can decide which one makes the most sense for your company’s digital efforts going forward.

What is SEO?

SEO

The best way to describe SEO is as a set of guidelines that you need to follow in order to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPS). SEO is about helping the search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo understand what your website is all about so that when someone searches for something you offer, your site will be shown at the top of the SERP. You can also think of it as an art form, because different websites will require different approaches depending on how old they are, how many backlinks they have and how much content they offer. 

In other words, SEO cannot be standardized and done only one way. A good SEO practitioner needs to know every trick in the book and some new ones too. SEOs often talk about keywords, page titles, meta descriptions and even social media optimization. It’s a complicated business but if you’ve found someone who knows what they’re doing then this investment can pay off handsomely over time.

What is SEM?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing (SEM) is an umbrella term that includes search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, and paid advertising on search engines like Google and Bing. SEM uses online advertising to increase traffic to a website by making it more visible in the organic or natural search results on a search engine's page. SEM can be used with SEO to boost organic rankings, but SEM alone can't guarantee higher rankings. 

If your goal is visibility in organic search results, then SEO is your best bet, but if you are looking for increased conversions and leads from your marketing efforts then SEM may be the better option for you . SEM encompasses many different forms of digital advertising and targeting, so there is a wide range of options when it comes to deciding how SEM will fit into your budget and business goals.

Which One Is Right for Your Business?

If you want to know the difference between SEO and SEM, this is the post for you. SEO is an acronym that stands for Search Engine Optimization, while SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing, and they are two very different things. If your goal is to rank higher in search engine results pages and bring in more traffic, then SEO is what you should be after. On the other hand, if you are looking to increase your visibility on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter or even YouTube, then SEM might be a better fit for your needs. SEM is also great for growing brand awareness and generating leads through Google AdWords. 

What's the Difference Between SEO and SEM?:

 SEO focuses on increasing organic rankings of specific pages of websites. SEM focuses on increasing visibility through paid ads in searches and other social platforms. SEM includes paid advertising such as sponsored posts, display ads, video ads, text links etc., whereas SEO includes activities to improve website performance by achieving high rankings organically in SERPs through content strategy optimization (SEO), link building (SEO), competitor analysis (SEO) etc. SEO has three main goals which include SEO ranking, SEO lead generation and SEO ROI. SEM has four main goals which include SEM ranking, SEM lead generation and SEM ROI.

The Difference Between SEO and SEM

There are many people who think that SEO and SEM are the same, but they're not. While SEO typically focuses on getting traffic to your website, SEM is concerned with converting that traffic into a sale. The difference between SEO and SEM lies in their end goals - SEO seeks to maximize online visibility by maximizing the number of visitors; SEM seeks to convert those visitors into customers by optimizing conversion rates through paid advertising campaigns (i.e., PPC). 

In order to get a clear picture of which service you need most, consider how your business currently functions. Do you have a large web presence already? Do you have more traffic than conversions? If so, it might be time to invest in SEO services like social media marketing or link building. On the other hand, if you're new to e-commerce and don't yet have an established customer base, SEM services may be more appropriate because they can help drive visitors straight to your product pages. 

SEM tactics will also let you know what keywords are drawing the most traffic to your site, as well as what content is resonating best with readers. SEO does offer some of these insights as well, but SEM will offer much more hands-on assistance when it comes to driving direct sales from organic search results. 

As always, before starting any digital marketing campaign there's plenty of research involved!