So, how do SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) vary from one another? What do you do with them? Let’s look at how both terms are utilized to boost brand awareness.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The practice of optimizing material so that it can be found through a search engine’s organic results is known as SEO. To choose which pages to rank for queries, Google and other search engines use hundreds of parameters. SEO is a collection of strategies that help a company improve its search rankings. Three pillars can be seen in SEO strategies:

• On-page SEO
• Off-page SEO
• Technical SEO

On-page SEO

On-page SEO is to optimize the webpage in such a way that I will help the search engines to understand the contents. A few examples of on-page SEO are using short URLs, using title tags and meta descriptions, using alt tags on images on the webpage, writing easy-to-read content, including keywords in the content, and more.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO deals with the process of offline optimization. This includes building authoritative links on other high-ranking websites. This is a strategy through which we can build and improve the trustworthiness of the webpage. When search engines like Google notice that users trust the content on a specific page, the page will be ranked higher in the search results. Setting backlinks, brand mentions by high-authority sites, and earning positive reviews are a part of off-page SEO tactics.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the type of SEO, whose focus is to improve the technical structure of a website. It focuses on site speed, website crawling, data security, index, and mobile-friendliness among others.

SEM(Search Engine Marketing)

Search Engine Marketing is a strategy using paid tactics to gain visibility on the search engines. This strategy is also known as PPC (Pay Per Click). To help the websites rank organically, SEM uses PPC advertising platforms like Google ads and Bing ads to use the available ad formats to reach your target audience. It involves everything from setting up and optimizing paid ads to manage the account to increasing conversions and returns. SEM begins a campaign with comprehensive keyword research and competitor insights (which can be done with PPC advertising tools) to create targeted campaigns that place their products and services in front of the target audience.

HOW DO THESE TACTICS WORK?

In 2017, Google grabbed more than 79% of search traffic globally, with the other main search engines lagging behind at 7% or less each, as claimed by NetMarketShare. Therefore, the main focus when we talk about search engines in the context of SEO is Google, but other search engines like Bing, Baidu, and Yahoo are still on the run. Another data from Internet live stats say that over 66000 searches per second on Google each day.

It may take weeks and months to see the results when the strategy is about SEO. One of the advantages of SEM is that we can see immediate results, unlike SEO. We can drive clicks and conversions with the help of SEM in a short period of time. The ads that are displayed can be controlled including ad content and the target audience. Both SEO and SEM are part of one strategy that is aiding businesses to drive more traffic to the website.

So now we know everything about SEO and SEM. But what are the key differences? Let’s see the difference between the two.

Pay for the clicks or impressions

Your website can be ranked well due to organic efforts like backlinking, optimization,, etc. This is in the case of SEO. Whereas in SEM, the advertiser is required to pay every time a user clicks on the ad or for every thousand impressions depending on the ad campaign. SEO is free and SEO is paid.

Immediate result driving

When an SEM paid campaign is live, it immediately appears in the search results once approved. Whereas, in SEO, it may take several weeks or months to show results unless you do not have any competition. Not having any competition is very rare as there are hundreds of companies who are competing with each other to rank on the first page of Google.

Cumulative results

An SEO strategy consists of weeks and months of work on backlinking and finding the techniques that work best for the organization. The efforts that are put into building an SEO strategy can reap benefits over some time. Whereas, in the case of SEM, when the ad campaign is over, and the ads are turned off, we will lose visibility.

Easy to test

Under search engine marketing, the need to revise your ad copy, choose the new audience to be targeted is higher. Due to this, SEM always requires testing; Changes are to be made on the landing pages for each of the different campaigns. Testing does not take a lot of time, since most of the data is available and results are given to us quickly. In SEO, testing is not possible, unlike Sem. The algorithm takes time to consider the changes made, crawl the pages, recognize the backlinks, etc. Therefore the SEO strategy is a more time-consuming process than that of SEM tactics.

Okay, the differentiation is done, what makes them similar to each other? Here are some confusing similarities between SEO and SEM.

Improve the visibility

Both the tactics help in enhancing the visibility of the website, and both methods will help your site show in the SERPs through the use of targeting and optimizing for keywords.

Quality traffic

SEO and SEM help in driving a higher amount of quality traffic for your site. Both encourage users to click through to your site. Only the difference is that one is paid and the other one is organic click.

Gain understanding

Both SEO and SEM help in gaining a deep understanding of your audience. Businesses need to have a good understanding of the audience’s needs and style for both strategies to be successful.

Use of keyword research

In digital marketing, businesses use keyword research to discover and target relevant keyword research to understand the market and stand out in the competition.

Testing and optimization

Both the tactics require testing and optimization as well as continuous monitoring and tweaking to be successful on a long-term basis, which will deliver a solid ROI.

There is no particular formula or answer when comparing SEM and SEO together. Some businesses choose to focus on SEO and some on SEM. But the right decision would be to combine both approaches. All the decisions depend on the uniqueness of the business and its goals. Digital marketers should have a good grasp of both tactics in today’s digital atmosphere. A keen understanding of both aspects can help the business to grow further.

Now you know about both the similarity and the differences between SEM and SEO, which will help you in deciding the strategy suiting your business. If you want to know more about both the tactics, our team can assist you in the same.