SEO Vs. SEM: The Differences
Before we dive nose first into the differences between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and SearchEngine Marketing (SEM), let us first take a sweeping look at them both to understand them better.
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETINGis an umbrella term that involves techniques, strategies, processes, models and theoretical structures that are employed to gather organic as well as paid visibility and an increased traffic on your website.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is an integral part of Search Engine Marketing that only comprises of strategies and techniques that are involved in increasing the organic accessibility of the website. It does not include the paid visibility tactics at all.
SEO And SEM: Key Differences
1. Goal/ Objective
Even though they are closely inter-related and often confused with each other, SEM and SEO have clear objective differences. On one hand, SEO is applied to gain organic rankings of the website, SEM includes the paid ones as well. Pay Per Click (PPC) and Cost Per Click (CPC) are both models that are included in SEM, along with the organic rankings conferred by SEO.
2. Investments
The initial investment you have to worry about in SEO is only of hiring an expert, who will then bring all strategies and tools to rank your page number one, with them. In SEM, you have to take into account the initial bid you are putting up for your paid ads. In simpler words, you have an additional charge of the ads that you put up on host websites, in addition to bringing in the online marketing expert.
3. Time Involvement
The best and most convenient bit about SEM is that it is instant and produces results that you can see within a few hours. SEO, on the other hand, is a labouring and extensive task that gives results in a few months or so. SEM includes PPC models and paid traffic, which makes it easier for your website to soar to the heights and make your business look like it’s getting somewhere. But be warned, as soon as the paid traffic wanes off, you can crash back to zero pretty quickly. Always pair SEM with SEO.
4. Results
Understandably, the results for SEM are a lot quicker to access than SEO because of its paid models. It does not invalidate the SEO results, though. With SEO, you can be assured of gradual but constant results that are 100% organic and will not jump down drastically. That being said, SEM includes SEO practices and if you get the chance, SEM will take care of both your short-term as well as long-term performance goals.
5. Long-lasting Option
Hands down, SEO will present you the results that will last you for months until you improve upon your website more and garner more traffic. It requires a lot of effort like top-class graphics, optimized content, targeted keywords and technical tools and analytics to ensure your website ranks on the top of the Google Search Results Page. SEM is a less-effort based practice that will give you the increased influx of traffic, regardless of the quality of your website.
In a nutshell, SEM comprises of SEO and paid practices (CPC and PPC) to enhance website’s visibility and attract more traffic, which can lead to more sales and better conversion rates. An experienced SEO Company, like Kinex Media, will provide you these services, and much more, with a little investment in online marketing.