SEO and SEM are actually two sides of the same coin, but they include very different actions and involve different aspects of marketing. Sometimes the two terms are used together to refer to a similar group of activities, which can be confusing for unfamiliar people.
So, what’s the difference between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM)? How do they relate and work together? Any digital marketing professional must firmly grasp these two terms and understand their importance in the field of marketing. Let’s explore the role of SEO and SEM in today’s digital marketing.
I. What is SEO and how does it work?
SEO is an important part of your digital marketing strategy and some knowledge is needed no matter what area of digital marketing you specialize in.
NetMarketShare claims that from 2017, Google accounted for more than 79% of search traffic globally, while other major search engines lagged behind at 7% or less per tool. So the main focus when we talk about search engines in the SEO context is Google, but we still need to remember that other tools like Bing, Baidu, and Yahoo are still working (but hardly).
Internet Live Stats claims that there are more than 66,000 searches per second on Google every day. (Note that this is the number taken at the time of writing – if you click on the link, you will likely find another number, as the data from this source is collected in real time.) That’s a lot of activity for any given business. to compete and that’s why SEO is such an important (but complex) digital marketing area to know.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) refers to the process in which search engines “gather information” of content to see how effective it will be to attract traffic. Search engines will evaluate some things in a website (such as keywords, tags, and link titles) and rank it for its ability to attract paid traffic based on many different factors.
Things that the search information collectors are looking for include:
Quality content: Having great quality content will send a message to search engines that your website and business are providing legitimate goods or services. Part of how they judge you is through link building and keywords.
User experience: Is your website designed for an easy user experience? Is it fast and easy to navigate? Can users achieve their ultimate goals (e.g., purchases) easily?
Link templates: Are you linking backwards to authoritative sites? Where do your incoming links come from?
Anyone can learn the basics of SEO and incorporate it into their sales, marketing, and digital content strategies. And when you learn how to do well, that will definitely bring in more traffic. But understanding the details and techniques takes a bit of time and technical knowledge — for the most part, you should consider hiring an SEO professional if you’re looking to make your site bring conversions.
You should also be aware that it takes a bit of time for Google to recognize and reward your site – if your site is a new brand, it probably won’t get noticed by Google for a long time.
II. What is SEM and how does it work?
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a set of descriptions that combines different types of paid search ads. This type of ad is like a Google ad and often appears at the top of the page list. Often, this has to do with the location and usage of keywords and that’s one of the reasons why doing this well may require some additional knowledge and strategy.
Here are some examples of SEM-based advertising activities:
- Targeted (paid) ad campaigns.
- Write copies using very selective keywords.
- Make sure that the advertising activities are within the allocated budget.
- Apply key performance metrics such as click-through rate (CTR) and cost per click (CPC) for future advertising activities.
There’s something called a poorly finished SEM, but when done well, it takes you to the top of the rankings. This involves spending a little time designing your ads so they’re well targeted.
SEM is great for brand recognition because it means you’ll be at the top of the list every time someone searches. It’s also a great way to bring targeted traffic to your site. And because it involves paid ads, it’s easy to understand your ROI directly — you’re using paid ads and will be able to track traffic on those ads and then create campaigns based on this information.
The drawback of SEM is that it requires some additional special knowledge and tools (such as Google AdSense). If you’re not proficient in the field, you’ll probably want to hire someone with significant expertise in web marketing and advertising campaigns to handle this end and make it worthy of you.
III. How is SEM different from SEO?
When we talk about the differences between SEO and SEM, we’re really just talking about different approaches to advertising.
SEO is sometimes used as an umbrella term that includes SEM, but since SEM refers to paid advertising, they are actually separate. SEM is about getting traffic through paid advertising and SEO is about collecting, tracking, and analyzing unpaid traffic patterns.
IV. How does SEO and SEM complement?
Both SEO and SEM rely heavily on keywords to drive traffic to business websites and websites. Although the marketing techniques used for each type are different, they all focus on traffic streams and how these techniques relate to marketing activities. People will use search engines to search for something they’re looking for, and they’ll be able to find it with non-paid results (SEO) or with paid results (SEM).
Most people search online before buying anything. So having a strong presence in search is vital, and using a combination of strategies of the two can increase your visibility in the long run.
SEO is for non-paid traffic – so it’s a no-payer or free list, and SEM is for targeted ads that you pay to create traffic. They can complement each other but only when the site itself is SEO-friendly first, does SEM have a higher chance of success.
SEO is the foundation for good SEM, and when you set up each piece of content properly, you’ll have a better chance of getting high-quality traffic and improved conversion rates. When you have an SEO-friendly website and sponsored ads are properly targeted using the right keywords, you’ll have a better chance of appearing at the top of paid searches. But you have to have your SEO for Google to see you as a trustworthy website.
If your site is on the newer side, you can prioritize your PPC campaign first. It may take some time for SEO rankings to be established, but don’t ignore your SEO in the process.
V. SEO and SEM: Future Direction
SEO and SEM will continue to change as major search engines constantly change their parameters for rankings. For this reason, it is difficult to predict what will happen but here are some possible directions.
UX (user experience) will continue to become more important for SEO. This is the current trend and a logical trend when Google wants to reward the most user-friendly sites.
Google’s accelerated mobile device (AMP) project will be even more popular. AMP is a collaboration between developers and other industry experts to create a huge open source library that gives users more opportunities to create mobile-friendly websites quickly and smoothly.
This is an area where we will see the death of low-ranking slow-loading pages. Amp usage has led to a huge increase in mobile search volume and traffic from major publications such as the Washington Post and Slate.
AI will become more and more involved in SEO and other search activities, especially as the Internet of Things becomes increasingly prominent. This will change the nature of searches but allow us to create more targeted ads for SEM. Things will become more data-focused, it will be easier to create targeted, personalized campaigns. But because of this, users will also be increasingly concerned about privacy.
Anyone aiming for a career in digital marketing should not only have a clear understanding of how SEO and SEM work in today’s digital climate, but also learn how both will change as we become more dependent on technology. Understanding how each digital marketer engages in digital marketing campaigns will be especially important in the digital market in the coming years.
Best regards,
Ola City Global
