SEM vs. SEO: What’s the Difference and Which is Right for My Company?

Search optimization is an important marketing strategy for brands hoping to attract attention, drive website traffic, and grow their business. However, search optimization can be a challenging strategy to manage if you don’t know how to compare SEM vs. SEO.

The tactics may sound the same, but the search optimization approaches are two very different strategies. If you use the terms SEM and SEO interchangeably and don’t know the differences between the two, a clear and effective strategy to improve your search visibility won’t be able to communicate.

This post will provide you with a clear understanding of each definition and importance.The following questions will be answered:

  • Understanding search marketing?
  • What is SEM?
  • What does SEO mean?
  • What’s the difference from SEM to SEO?
  • Which one for my company is better?

You will also find basics and strategies for SEO and SEM that will help you improve your search visibility and performance.

What is Search Marketing?

You need to understand the terminology for this type of marketing before you can create a strategic search optimization strategy. So let’s start from the top. Search marketing refers to any tactics that help a brand gain attention by appearing on the results pages of the search engine (SERPs). It includes efforts to increase rankings and visibility of searches so you can drive more traffic to a website or webpage.

In search marketing, there are two major categories:

  • SEM – which uses PAID strategies to appear in search
  • SEO –  which uses ORGANIC strategies to appear in search

The main difference between SEM and SEO is SEM being a paid strategy and SEO being an organic strategy.

The definitions related to search marketing have evolved, like most things in the search industry. Some marketers may see SEM as a paragliding term that includes both paid and organic strategies. But we recommend breaking the terms into these distinct categories to make your marketing plan clear. Since these terms can be interchangeable and mean different things to different marketers, the terminology should always be clarified before working with search partners. To ensure that you approach the strategy with the same understanding, discuss the definitions with your marketing partners.

 

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