Although many people consider them to be one and the same, they’re definitely not; however, they’re sort of intertwined as two parts of the same marketing campaign. They’re equally important for effectively managing and enhancing your website.
What’s SEM?
Search engine marketing (SEM) is an umbrella term for anything that uses current search engine technology and marketing techniques to promote a website, increase traffic to the site and elevate its ROI. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a one component of SEM – a very important one.
SEM encompasses the myriad of ways in which websites can be promoted and given online visibility. These methods include:
• Paid inclusion
• Feed programs
• Pay-per-click ads
• Link popularity development
• Search engine submissions
• Directory submissions
• Reputation management/development
• Traditional print/media ads
• Search engine optimization
What is SEO?
SEO is the multi-layered process of shaping website content and code to be attractive to search engine spiders and human visitors alike. SEO strategists work to improve organic rankings in the search engines using a combination of balanced keyword integration, meta tags, link structure modification, backlink generation and high-quality optimized content. It is an invaluable component of SEM for the natural traffic it provides.
The relationship:
• SEM encourages search engines to spider your site — SEO increases your ranking
• SEM promotes visibility — SEO converts
• SEM drives traffic to your site — SEO qualifies and converts it to leads
• SEM delivers visitors — SEO draws them in
Tags: SEO vs SEM
