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Originally Posted On: https://www.kindnessconsulting.ca/post/what-is-the-difference-between-seo-and-sem-this-is-everything-to-know

It’s no secret that people all over the world rely on search engines to gather information.

Google conducts 70,000 search queries each second. That equals over 5.8 billion searches each day.Business owners and marketers have recognized the advertising opportunities search engines create. Strategies like SEO and SEM target consumers through search engine results and send them to a business’s website.

But what is the difference between SEO and SEM? While these acronyms sound similar, they are two different digital strategies. Let’s explore.

What Is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, increases the number of visitors to your website. When done right, SEO can also boost the quality of your website visitors.While SEO is a digital marketing tactic, it gains website visitors through organic search results. In other words, SEO is not paid advertising. SEO strategies improve search engine ranking. The higher your website ranks in a Google search, the greater the amount of website traffic.

The first step is creating an SEO-friendly website. Creating an SEO-friendly website includes incorporating specific keywords, creating content with high readability scores, and utilizing anchor text for linking internally as well as to reputable external sites.

There is a lot that goes into building a successful SEO campaign. Mastering SEO takes time and patience. Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms and making updates, making SEO is an ever-changing field.

What Is SEM?

Search Engine Marketing, also known as SEM, advertises a business online through paid ads on search engine results pages (SERPs). Essentially, a company pays to have its website appear at the top of a search result.SEM comes in a variety of formats. One of the most popular formats is pay-per-click (PPC). For PPC ads, businesses are charged when a user takes action. The action is usually clicking on the ad and visiting the website. However, PPC can also refer to pay-per-call, where charges occur when visitors call the company through the ad.

SEM involves comprehensive keyword research. When you create an SEM campaign, you (the business) are bidding are certain keywords. It’s essential to pick the right keywords to ensure your ads are being shown to the correct demographic.Creating a high-yielding SEM campaign can be challenging, which is why SEM experts are available to help.

What Is the Difference Between SEO and SEM?

SEO and SEM may only have one difference in letters, but they are separate digital marketing components. In short, SEO uses organic search strategies to raise the quality and quantity of website visitors. SEM uses paid search strategies to increase website traffic and produce a high ROI.SEO takes time, and web traffic doesn’t surge instantly. SEM, on the other hand, is faster.

When you pay to push your website to the first page of Google, you see results immediately. But while SEO takes longer, it tends to yield a higher click-through rate than SEM.

To remember the differences between SEO and SEM, think of push and pull marketing.SEM is push-marketing. A company pays to push advertisements at users. SEM leads to higher impressions, better brand awareness, and increases website visitors. On average, businesses make $3 in revenue per every $1.60 spent through Google Ads.

SEO is pull-marketing. It involves creating engaging content, building links, and using keywords to pull a target demographic to a website. SEO yields successful numbers, which is why 64% of marketers actively invest in it.

What is Search Experience Marketing?

Not to be confused with traditional SEM (paid ads), Search Experience Marketing encompasses all the preparation work involved in getting both an SEO and SEM campaign off the ground.

This work includes researching topics and determining which media (webpages, videos, images and text) is best suited to generate results on a marketing campaign. This is called marketing collateral, it’s meant to match a companies brand and communicate the core messaging in a cohesive way. We develop a collection of material that is based upon questions and queries potential customers are searching for, based on unique data gathered from each business.

Then we create a media distribution calendar to properly roll out these new pieces as part of targeted campaigns, helping to make everyone’s job easier. Our Media Managers help companies identify and prioritize media development and keep projects within budget.

Schedule Your Free Digital Marketing Consultation

Now that you understand the difference between SEO and SEM, let’s get to work! Developing a successful SEO or SEM campaign can be tricky, but not if you have a team of professionals at your service.

The team at Kindness Consulting is here to help you use the internet to your advantage. Book a free consultation, and we’ll help you develop a digital campaign that blows the competition away.