Many of us think that Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or paid search advertising and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are the same things.
But are they the same?
They are not.
SEM is basically a kind of internet marketing.
Here, you promote a website by increasing its visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs), primarily through search or paid advertising.
SEO, on the other hand, is the optimization of pages through organic and unpaid methods, through content and promotions on social networks.
But we will talk about the difference, in detail, later.
Let’s find out what SEM is first!
It is the procedure for getting traffic and visibility from search engines, through paid and unpaid efforts.
Power and improve search engine reach so you get more customers, at the right time and place.
Search engine marketing covers:
A. SEO – This helps you get traffic through free or unpaid listings. It works on website content and site architecture, and improves SERP rankings to drive pay-per-click (PPC) listings.
B. SEM: For this you have to buy traffic through paid search listings.
SEM is also called:
A. Paid search ads
B. Paid advertising
C. PPC (pay per click)
Although Google Ads is the best known and most widely used paid search tool, it will help your internet marketing generate even more if you use Bing or Yahoo as well.
SEO and SEM: which is better?
Coming back to the differences, the key difference between the two is that SEO is simply a component of SEM. Besides SEO, SEM also includes many other search marketing strategies, such as PPC and Social Media Marketing (SMM).
While SEO is increasing the number of website visitors, by getting the site to get high results in search engines, SEM is internet marketing that increases the visibility of a site through organic results and advertising. from search engines.
An additional key difference between the two: with SEO you will have to be patient and wait for the results; With PPC, you can expect instant results.
Don’t use the terms SEO and SEM interchangeably.
The reason: although they work side by side, they are everything but the same term.
SEO or SEM: Which Marketing Tactic Is Better?
According to some of those in the know, if we compare the two, organic SEO has an advantage.
However, which one performs better may depend on your overall digital marketing goals.
SEM cannot thrive without organic SEO.
Still, PPC (a component of SEM) may make more sense, vis-à-vis SEO in many specific cases.
For example, in case you are starting a site for the first time and want to get high visibility at the same time, start a PPC campaign. It will take less time vis-à-vis SEO.
Still, it wouldn’t be a good idea to ONLY focus on PPC and ignore SEO entirely.
Guaranteed organic SEO can take longer to produce results. But it will eventually cost less, even if you can establish search credibility that you may not be able to get with PPC.
If your websites rank high in the organic results for your target keywords, you’ll get free traffic 24/7, industry recognition, and enjoy all the benefits of SEO.
Plus, with more organic search appearances, you’ll enjoy the option to focus your SEM efforts on other keywords to expand your reach.
Effective SEO will make your site fast and easy to use as well.
What further tilts the pendulum towards SEO is that Google follows a system known as the Quality Score.
If Google finds that people click and then leave because of a poor experience, you will have to pay more for each click.
In closing, in case you want to drive traffic quickly, start with search engine marketing, but work on your SEO simultaneously.
Build a long-lasting and guaranteed online business with effective SEO!
Don’t just rely on paid traffic!
