Business owners often hear they need to increase their marketing budget in the area of SEO or SEM. However, doing so fails to produce the desired results, as the owners quickly see. Both search engine optimization and search engine marketing functions improve a site’s search engine ranking while bringing more traffic to the owner’s website. However, they differ in how they achieve this goal.
These differences determine which method a company should use to obtain the desired results. The business owner must know how each method works and what results they may generate. With this information, the business owner can determine which method they should use.
Defining SEO and SEM
Every person must know what SEO and SEM mean when deciding which method to use. Search engine optimization refers to a process in which the business owner improves their site to boost its visibility in the search engine results. This ensures people find the site when they search for products or services the business offers through a search engine. A higher position in the search engine results means more people see the site and may pay it a visit. Search engine optimization serves as a long-term approach to generating leads and traffic to a site.
When talking about search engine marketing, a person refers to marketing with the help of ads purchased on the search engines. These ads drive website traffic and produce immediate results. Experts consider this a short-term strategy that can help a business generate interest rapidly.
Knowing the main distinction between the two marketing methods is helpful when deciding which to use. Nevertheless, people need more information before they can determine which method is right for their needs.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO requires the use of many techniques to bring organic traffic to a site by improving the site’s search engine results position. The techniques used fall into three broad categories. All need to be used for the best results.
Technical SEO refers to the background elements that impact the functioning of the site. This includes the site design, load time, mobile-friendliness, and more. Visitors want a secure site, as they don’t want their personal information shared. In addition, they want an outstanding user experience. Technical SEO addresses those areas and provides the foundation of the site.
On-page search engine optimization involves optimizing each page of a website. The webmaster focuses on including keywords the target audience uses when searching the web. They use several strategies to accomplish this goal. This includes meta titles and descriptions. audio and video, images, internal and external links, content in both short and long forms, and more. Search engines use on-page SEO to learn what the website offers and its purpose. This remains of great importance because when the search engine understands the site’s purpose and offerings, it moves the website up in the rankings.
Off-page SEO, in contrast, drives organic traffic to the site with the help of third-party channels. Social media pages and influencer blogs serve as examples of third-party channels. Webmasters must build links to these channels to direct people to their sites. Search engines view these links favorably when ranking a site, as they see them as a sign of trustworthiness.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing, on the other hand, rely on pay-per-click or cost-per-click ads to drive traffic to the website and increase the site’s visibility on search engines. Companies find SEM provides them with a way to target consumers based on the search engine queries they use.
Knowing a consumer’s interests and intents makes it easy to create strategies that speak directly to them. Companies use purchasing history and demographics to pinpoint those audiences looking for exactly what they offer.
What makes this method so effective is companies can use it when they need to boost the visibility of their website, products, or services. When the company runs a campaign, the ad appears at the top of the search engine results page. Which pages the ad appears on depends on several factors, including the keyword usage and keyword auction system used by Google and other search engines.
Business owners like having the ability to monitor the success of the ads while managing their budgets. They may choose to increase the budget for an ad that performs well and extend its duration. Underperforming ads require prompt action, and the company can make alterations to the ad or pull it completely and use the allocated funds elsewhere. A/B testing makes it easy to see which ads are working and which should be pulled.
Keyword Selection
Both methods use keywords to reach the desired audience and boost search rankings to bring more traffic to a site. Finding these keywords doesn’t have to be a challenge thanks to free tools available today. In fact, the best tool tends to be Google itself. A business owner can type in a few words and review the auto-suggestions and results to see what people search.
Another tool business owners might wish to use is the Google Ads Keyword Planner. This tool helps a person select the right terms and phrases to use in ads, and they may choose keywords by looking at their competitiveness. Broad search terms come with a high cost because many companies covet that ad spot.
Companies must monitor SEM campaigns to ensure they produce the desired results. They need to see if the right keywords and audiences were selected and make changes if the ad isn’t producing the desired results. Fortunately, the company can track ad campaigns, see what works and what doesn’t, and adjust the ads accordingly.
The Benefits of SEM and SEO
Business owners appreciate being able to track and monitor online campaigns. They can create reports and gather valuable information on the results of the campaigns. This includes the number of people who viewed the ad, clicked through to the site, or made contact with the company.
Business owners must understand they don’t have to choose between SEO and SEM. As a rule, successful companies often use a combination of the two. If help is needed in creating a digital marketing campaign that produces results, don’t hesitate to reach out for help from a third party. This is one area where businesses cannot afford to fall behind competitors.
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