Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are two of the most popular methods used to enhance and optimize the visibility of websites in Search Engine Results Page (SERPs).
Most businesses really want to announce their presence on the internet especially through the creation of websites. Although creating a website is a step in the right direction, its another thing for it to be available to users to see when they search for your services.
Both SEM and SEO are purposefully used to drive traffic to websites but they operate differently in achieving their targets. Traffic normally refers to the number of users who visit a particular website.
It will be very useful to understand the differences between SEO and SEM in other to aid you decide which one is best for your website to increase traffic.
How SEO Operates
SEO involves the process of enhancing a website to rank higher in search engine results pages such as Google and Bing with the purpose of growing the organic (unpaid) traffic to the site.
This is accomplished through numerous techniques, such as keyword research and optimization, on-page optimization, technical SEO, and link building. SEO focuses on improving the general quality and significance of a website to search engines, so that it can rank higher in the SERPs for appropriate keywords.
Keywords are the most popular ways of achieving higher ranking in SERPs. It involves finding out the most relevant and popular words or phrases that people normally use when using search engines to look for information or services related to a particular topic.
It is pretty simple to use keywords to rank higher in search results. Suppose you own a bakery that specialize in gluten-free pastries. You can then optimize your website or social media posts by including the keyword “gluten-free” in your web pages meta titles, posts and descriptions. You can also create a hashtag on your social media posts using this keyword.
This will give you a higher chance of ranking your website on SERPs so that people see your website first when they search for gluten-free foods.
How SEM is Used
SEM, on the other hand, is the act of paying for advertisement on search engines to push traffic to your website. This can be mostly achieved through the use of paid search advertising, such as Google Ads, which allows businesses to bid on keywords and have their ads appear in the sponsored section of the SERPs.
SEM also contains other forms of paid search advertising, such as display advertising, video advertising, and social media advertising. These are the banners you mostly see on most websites.
Differences between SEO and SEM
| SEO | SEM |
| SEO is a long-term approach that emphasizes on improving the ranking of a website on search engines through organic (non-paid) methods.It includes optimizing the content and structure of a website to make it more appealing to search engines and users. | SEM is a temporary strategy that includes using paid advertisement to enhance a website’s visibility on search engines. It involves generating and inserting ads on search engine results pages, or other websites that are relevant to the target audience. |
| SEO can assist a website rank higher in search results, which can lead to more users visiting the website and increasing possible customers. | SEM can assist a website rank higher in search results, but it entails a financial plan and budget for the advertising drives. |
| SEO is a economical way to improve a website’s visibility, as it does not require any fee or payment to search engines. | SEM is a quick way to increase traffic to your website, but it may not be as cheap as SEO in the end. |
SEO vs SEM: Which is Better?
If you are looking for a final verdict on both marketing strategies, I am sorry to burst your bubbles because what might work for the goose, may not work for the gander.
If you are new with very low income and want to achieve your online presence slow and steadily, SEO will be your much preferred option. On the other hand, users with enough funds can easily use SEM if they want to achieve traffic quickly.
In other words, what you want to achieve with your website will determine the type of search engine marketing a particular web owner will choose. The best approach for websites will depend on the owner’s exact plans and income.
