We get this question all the time: what’s the difference between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM)? So we put together this post to explain the difference between these two and also define them along the way.
Many people use the terms search engine optimization and search engine marketing interchangeably, when in reality there are some differentiating factors that set them apart from each other. Search engine optimization (SEO) falls underneath the broad umbrella of search engine marketing (SEM) and both are a means for site owners to drive traffic to their websites by utilizing search engines. To give a visual, SEO results are those typically displayed along the left of the screen in regular sized text and are not paid advertisements. SEM ads, often labeled “sponsored links,” appear on the right side of the screen in smaller text. Search engine marketing could be considered a manipulation of sorts because it involves paid ads, while search engine optimization is a more natural way of driving traffic to a website with keyword placement. It is important to have an understanding of the fundamental differences between the two terms to understand why each is important in building a successful and profitable website.
Search engine optimization is the more organic way to optimize hits from search results by the placement of key words and other content within the inherent HTML of the site itself. Traffic is driven to a website by the results of electronic spiders, or robots, which count keywords and compute them with an algorithm to decide the placement of a site in its search results. The higher the scores computed by the spiders, the better the listings in the search engine results page. The spiders also count links pointing to a site from another website, as well as taking into account updated content when determining ranking. The distinct advantage of SEO is that it is a free service, i.e. you do not need to pay the various search engines to do SEO, that increases brand recognition. The disadvantage is that in highly competitive markets, it’s harder for a site to differentiate itself from its competitors, and therefore gain recognition and high rankings by the search engine spiders. Overall, this cheaper, long-term approach helps the site owner increase traffic by building a quality website with good content and a nice layout that ultimately translates to sales.
Search engine marketing is a broad term that is the “instant gratification” answer to getting a website highly viewable on search engine results pages as a result of the payment of a fee. Because the site owner builds the ads from scratch and to his specifications, he can decide where he wants his visitors to be taken when they click the link or advertisement. The owner even decides how much he’s willing to pay for good ad placement and some of these ad spots are very competitively priced. As discussed above, control is a huge issue in the world of website optimization, and the site owner has it with SEM because he is buying his search results. The distinct advantage of SEM is that it provides almost immediate results; just as quickly as the ad can be created, paid for, and uploaded, the site owner is likely to see hits. The disadvantage is that it’s costly. SEM is often referred to as pay per click (PPC) because site owners pay each time someone clicks their links.
Search engine optimization is absolutely vital to successful search engine marketing; yet SEO in most cases — and especially for new ecommerce sites–is just the first step to creating a successful online presence.
