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SEO (search engine optimisation) is the process of optimising a website to rank higher on search engines through organic content, while SEM (search engine marketing) encompasses a brand’s collective activities to promote its website through search engines. This includes paid advertising like PPC (pay-per-click).

While SEO is a subsection of SEM, SEO focuses on earning organic traffic, while SEM typically refers to paid advertising. SEO may take longer to be effective but is cheaper than PPC advertising, while SEM allows brands to garner traffic efficiently rather than wait for a difference in site traffic.

Understanding the Difference between SEO and SEM

What are the Differences Between SEO and SEM? A Complete Guide

Boosting your brand’s online visibility is crucial to promote engagement and drive traffic to your website. SEO and SEM are two essential concepts that can make or break your digital marketing efforts. While the two concepts share similarities, knowing the difference between them and how to maximise their potential is vital to growing your business.

But what are the main factors differentiating SEO and SEM, and what do companies need to know before implementing these strategies? If you’re looking for answers, worry no more. This article will delve into the primary differences between SEO and SEM and show how they can improve your online visibility. Let’s get started!

What is SEO?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a strategy brands use to drive organic traffic to their websites with the goal of increasing the site’s rankings on search engines like Google. SEO can significantly boost a brand’s visibility by optimising a site’s content and structure, along with on-page elements like meta tags, anchor text, and titles. There are three primary types of SEO to consider as you devise a strategy, explained below.

Type One: On-Page SEO

The first type of SEO encompasses optimising a site’s on-page content for search engines. On-page SEO focuses on a site’s content, keywords, and page structure to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Some elements that brands use to optimise their on-page content include the following:

Title tags
Meta descriptions
Header tags
Image alt text

Type Two: Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO optimises a brand’s website by improving the site’s visibility through link building, directory listings, and social media engagement. Off-page SEO drives traffic to your site and gives it authority in search engine algorithms, meaning your site will rank higher in SERPs. Off-page SEO techniques can be better understood through the following breakdown:

Link building: link building involves getting other sites to link to your website, boosting your popularity and authority.
Directory listings: these listings involve the process of submitting your site’s information to online directories, making it easier for your audience to discover your content.
Social media engagement: social media engagement boosts your visibility by sharing content across social media platforms relevant to your target audience.

Type Three: Technical SEO

Technical SEO optimise your website through technical practices to improve the visibility and crawl ability of your content. Technical practices involve improving your site’s structure and navigation abilities and optimising code and your site’s architecture.

Some examples of effective technical SEO include the following:

Keyword research
Unique and relevant article titles and descriptions
Fixing broken links and 404 errors

Understanding the Difference Between SEO

What is SEM?

Now that you understand SEO, it’s time to consider SEM as another vital technique to boost your brand’s visibility. Search engine marketing (SEM) is a broad category encompassing a brand’s collective activities to promote its website through search engines.

SEM includes various forms of online advertising, including paid search, pay-per-click ads (PPC), and SEO. SEO is one of the primary SEM strategies companies use to optimise their content. SEM often includes paid advertisements that appear first on SERPs, allowing brands to rank high for customers ready to purchase their products or services.

How SEO and SEM Earn Traffic

The main difference to consider between SEO and SEM is how each tactic optimises content to generate site traffic. SEO boosts a site’s visibility through organic content. Rather than paying for content to appear as a SERP ad, SEO focuses on earning organic traffic.

SEM typically refers to paid advertising, though SEO falls under the SEM umbrella. SEM involves paying for advertising through search engines, such as Google AdWords or Bing Ads. Most SEM strategies prioritise paid advertisements, such as PPC marketing.

The Timeline

SEO ranks higher in SERPs through organic strategies–however, it typically takes much longer to be effective than PPC advertising. Brands must wait around 3-6 months before seeing significant site traffic results.

While SEO is much cheaper than PPC advertising, SEM strategies like pay-per-click ads allow you to garner traffic efficiently rather than wait for a difference in site traffic.

Guaranteed Success

SEO and SEM also differ in the likelihood of success. Because PPC advertising places your ad at the top of search engine results, you are more or less guaranteed to see an increase in your website traffic. With SEO, you must carefully conduct thorough research to ensure that your content will rank high enough for your target audience to discover you.

Though ranking on the second or third page might not sound too bad, this ranking can cause a significant lack of traffic to your website. Only .63% of internet searchers click on results from the second page of Google’s search results, while the number one result on the first page has an estimated click-through rate (CTR) of 27.6%.

Features

SEO is only a part of SEM, meaning that while the two share similar qualities, SEM expands beyond SEO to encompass numerous features that SEO does not. SEM, specifically PPC advertising, has unique features that separate it from other marketing strategies and require a different approach to succeed.

Below is a breakdown of some elements of SEM that are not present or as relevant in SEO:

Bidding: PPC ads involve bidding. The bidding process occurs when you bid on a keyword relevant to your site. When users search for the keyword you bid on, your site advertisement will appear according to how you bid. Therefore, if a competitor bids higher than you on a keyword, they will rank above you; if you are the highest bidder, you’ll appear first. When users click on your link from your PPC ad, you pay the amount you bid on the keyword, known as your cost per click.
Quality Score: Google Ads are measured by a quality score, a diagnostic tool that gives you an understanding of how your ad quality compares to your competitors. Quality score with Google Ads is measured from 1-10. A higher score means that your ad is more relevant to someone searching for the keyword you’re bidding on than other advertisements. With PPC advertising, a high-quality score offers a discount on each site click.
Copy: While writing compelling copy is essential for all your marketing efforts, effective ad copy is crucial for PPC marketing because it can lower costs. High-quality ad copy will boost your site’s CTR, contributing to a higher quality score and a lower cost per click.

How SEO and SEM Work Together

Despite their differences, SEO and SEM work together in many helpful ways, making incorporating both into your overall marketing strategy essential. A benefit of SEO and SEM is that you don’t have to decide on one or the other–not only is SEO integral to SEM, but SEO can work well when combined with PPC advertising.

But what similarities and features allow SEO and SEM to work together seamlessly? Below are some of the major points to consider.

SEO and SEM require careful keyword research and usage to drive traffic to your website. While SEO uses organic keywords, PPC requires you to bid on effective keywords relevant to your brand.
Both SEO and SEM prioritise traffic flows to your website. While the approaches can differ, SEO and SEM have the same goal.
Combining SEO and SEM can boost your site visibility more in the long term than if you choose one strategy over the other.
SEO is an essential part of effective SEM. High-quality SEO boosts your chances of a proactive PPC strategy that converts clicks into customers. Your website must be SEO-friendly before incorporating PPC, as high-quality SEO determines your credibility to Google’s algorithm.
Using SEO and SEM together opens the possibility of ranking first organically in SERPs and having your ads show up first on Google, maximising the potential that your content will reach its target audience and your site will gain significant traffic.

Maximising Your Site’s Engagement With WTBI

SEO and SEM are two crucial elements of an effective digital marketing strategy. While the two are different in some ways, marketers can use them together to create an effective marketing campaign that is virtually guaranteed to generate site traffic.

Boosting your site’s engagement doesn’t have to be a solo job. Digital services agencies like Wot’s the Big Idea offer essential marketing and site development services to ensure your content is optimised for the right audience. With Wot’s the Big Idea, your brand can see its site traffic increase significantly, giving you a steady revenue stream and preparing your brand for a successful financial future.