SEO & SEM in 2018

While there isn’t much difference between SEO and SEM, it’s important to note that they are two very different sides of your online marketing strategy. However, that doesn’t stop advertisers from using these two terms interchangeably, and that can be a real source of confusion for online marketing newbies.

The good news is that we’re here to explain these terms to you so that you can better understand and use them to your advantage.

What is SEO?

SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization, and digital marketers use it every day to boost the visibility of their sites on major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Why should you boost your site’s search engine rankings and visibility? For the simple reason that internet users are constantly using these search engines to look for service providers, and you want your company to be at the top of the list whenever someone searches for keywords that are relevant to your business.

How Does It Work?

Basically, search engines go through relevant websites to find the most SEO friendly ones. They’ll analyze each website they come across for things like tags, keywords, meta titles etc. Other important factors that search engines look for are whether or not your site has a seamless user-experience, the quality of the content you post, as well as inbound links and backlinks.

If all of this sounds a bit like gibberish to you, don’t worry. A lot of business owners feel the same way. That’s why it’s always a good idea to hire an SEO expert or take an online course to help you learn the ins and outs of SEO optimization.

What is SEM?

SEM refers to Search Engine Marketing and it’s a blanket term that’s used to describe a number of paid search advertising methods. To give you an idea of what using SEM looks like, go to any website and notice the paid ad banners, or search for a product or service and look at the top three websites that show up. Chances are that those businesses paid to have their site show up first because they know that will increase their chances of getting quality traffic.

How Does It Work?

SEM advertising is done through tasks such as writing keyword-rich content, doing paid ad campaigns that are targeted at a particular demographic, and using key performance indicators (like cost per click or click-through rates) to plan your advertising budget and strategy in advance.

You can use SEM to build authority as a brand, which is what makes it worth investing in for your business. Plus, there are so many benefits to using SEM, from attracting the right audience to simplifying the process of monitoring traffic so that you can create highly effective and impactful ad campaigns that actually convert. It’s really worth the investment.

Conclusion

Simply put, SEM is about attracting traffic through paid ads while SEO helps site owners get organic traffic.  If you need help with either – get in touch!