The Difference Between SEO and SEM

Do you really understand the difference between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

Here’s a “simple” explanation of what can be a difficult area to understand.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the process of improving a web site’s placement in the free listings of the search engines like Google, Yahoo!, MSN/Bing etc. These free listings are also known as “organic” listings.

SEO involves:

• On-Site Optimization
  Making changes to the HTML code on the pages of your web site to:
  
  • Improve the relevance of certain key words/phrases on each page
    - both in the content and meta tags of a page, and within the links on your site to that page.
    
  • Fix any problems which may stop the page being indexed by the search engines
    - looking at your site navigation structure and wording of links.
• Off-Site Optimization
  Getting back-links from other relevant sites, preferably using key words (or “anchor text”) in the links themselves - e.g., links from directories, through article marketing, or even paid links on relevant sites.

The key to successful, long-term results with SEO is doing things within the guidelines suggested by the major search engines. Using the good, ”white-hat” tactics, you’ll also be less worried about the latest Google “slap” (where Google changes the way it looks at things to improve their results).

Sneaky tactics (”black-hat”) almost always (eventually) result in penalties being applied by the search engines - i.e., your rank may be reduced, or more likely, your site may be totally removed.

Black hat tactics include (but are not limited to):

• Link farms (groups of web sites that link to one another in their hundreds)
  
• Keyword stuffing (hiding lots of text/keywords on a page to influence search engines) or
  
• Page cloaking (showing different pages to search engine and human visitors)

So if anyone suggests doing this to your site… heed the words of Elmer Fudd and “Be very, very careful”

Even though “white-hat” tactics are easy to implement, most people still overlook the basics of SEO. So if you make small changes to your pages, it can result in a huge improvement to your overall position in the organic search engine results.

So right from the start, make sure

• Your initial web design allows for good SEO (Yes! Web designers MUST be concerned about this as well as “design”), and
  
• You get into the habit of doing the job properly with each new page you create.

More Information on SEO:

• A Short Introduction To SEO
  
• Free SEO Tools including Simple Submission, Keyword Density, Competitor Analysis and Position Check

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM aims to create additional traffic to websites by increasing their visibility on the search engine result pages (SERPs).

This is where things can get confusing… because SEM can include tactics to improve your results in the ”organic” listings, as well as other tactics which cost money to implement.

To avoid confusion, it’s probably best to leave any discussion of “free or “organic” traffic to come under the realm of SEO.

And think of SEM or Search Engine Marketing as those marketing practices that COST MONEY to generate the traffic - i.e.,

• Buying placement in search listings (paid inclusion)
  - where your paid listing appears before the free ones,
  and/or
  
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising (i.e. Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing)
  - where the advertisements appear alongside normal search results, or on relevant pages on other sites.

Companies offering Search Engine Marketing services usually perform a range of BOTH SEO and SEM activities including:

• Optimization projects on client web sites,
  
• Managing paid listings at search engines,
  
• Submitting client sites to directories,
  
• Developing online marketing strategies for clients.

Now, you CAN do all this yourself if you have the time and the knowledge. If you choose to do that, you simply MUST become very familiar with PPC programs before you start. If you don’t, your expenses can be potentially quite large from making newbie mistakes with such basic things as the wrong keyword selections!

If you don’t have the time to D-I-Y, and want to use a Search Engine Marketing firm, it also doesn’t hurt to better understand what happens before engaging someone.

That knowledge will help you choose a reputable SEM company over the less desirable ones in this industry!

My Recommended SEM Companies

• I Need Hits have been on the ‘net almost as long as I have (since 1996) and have established an excellent reputation for providing a range of quality Search Engine Marketing services.