SEM VS SEO: Agency Pros Talking Shop

Digital marketing is a must if you want your business to succeed. After all, the vast majority of consumers are online, so if you want to reach them, having a strategic digital marketing plan is a smart way to do it. 

An effective digital marketing strategy includes multiple components, such as SEM (search engine marketing) and SEO (search engine optimization). We break these down for you below so you can better understand how to make the most of them.

SEM vs. SEO‌

Both SEM and SEO can help your business stand out against the competition when people perform online searches. 

By getting your website to land at the top of the first search engine results page, you can increase the odds of more people finding and visiting your site, viewing and purchasing your products while they’re on it or contacting you directly to request more information. ‌

What Is SEM?

When you go to your favorite search engine and type in keywords or phrases to perform a search, one of the things you’ll notice is the ads at the top of the results page. That’s SEM at work.

As a business, you can implement SEM by purchasing ads that will showcase your brand in search engine results. These are pay-per-click (PPC) ads, so you’ll only end up paying for an ad when someone clicks on it. And you can choose from different types of ads, such as product listings, text ads, and visual ads, depending on what your marketing goals are.   

Research keywords before launching an SEM campaign to ensure you’ll select those that your target audience uses when they search for businesses like yours. That way, you’ll be able to make the most of SEM’s benefits, which include honing in on consumers who are actively looking for the types of products or services your company has to offer. 

What Is SEO?

To understand SEO, you need to know how search engines rank websites based on keywords. Unlike SEM, which involves paying for your listing to appear in search results, SEO relies on different strategies to get your website to land in the free, organic results of a search. 

Put simply, search engines like Google use an algorithm to measure the quality of your website. Smart SEO strategies can help boost the odds that your site will stand out as one of the best. For example, by incorporating the right keywords and phrases in your content and tags, by linking to other sites, and by getting other websites to link to yours, your site may be viewed as more valuable. If your strategy is a success, your site will show up on the first page of search results. 

As is the case with SEM, researching keywords is necessary, but SEO also requires that you provide your audience with useful content. Being aware of what the algorithms are looking for will also help improve your strategy. So, you won’t be spending money on ads with SEO. Instead, you’ll be investing money in enhancing your website.  

An SEO Agency Can Help

Now that you know the main similarities and differences between SEM and SEO, it’s time to start harnessing their power to grow your business. If you need help, NeONBRAND is here for you. Contact us to learn about how we can help.