When we Google online, we are often hit by a wave of search results. The top few will be ads, followed by the list of organic results, and then eh, maybe a mixture of both.
So how do people get their articles and websites to higher rankings of search results? Well, this is done by SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). We will explore more about the differences between the 2 strategies.
1. Main Goals
Firstly, search engine optimisation’s goal is to optimise the ranking in search engines, increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your website. To do so, we need to use popular organic keywords.
On the other hand, search engine marketing requires paying fees to increase your visibility in search engines more quickly.
2. Price
Secondly, there is difference in the price to pay for these two strategies. For SEO, it is free. Compared to SEO, SEM is more expensive. There are different ways to pay for an advertisement in search engine. Notably, one of the more popular methods is Pay Per Click (PPC).
3. Type of Strategy
Thirdly, SEO is a longer term strategy compared to SEM. With SEO, the leads generated have a 14.6% close rate, which is almost 14 times the closing rate of outbound leads! This helps in building credibility through organic searches.
As you can expect, SEM is a short term marketing strategy.
Research has shown that SEM accounts for the biggest share of online advertising budgets. Then again, SEM is able to quickly reach many people, building brand awareness and instant visibility. To demonstrate, 30% of startups use SEO for marketing while only 12% use PPC ads, which is part of SEM.
In short, SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that lets you build organic credibility, while SEM provides instant search results based on the advertising campaign.
For our full article on SEO and SEM, check it out here!
If you want to know us better, check us out and SMMILE!
