What Is the Difference Between SEO and SEM?

When it comes to digital marketing, SEO and SEM are two terms that dominate the entire space. They’re relatively easy to understand, but they can get really complicated really quickly.

The other thing — what’s the difference between SEO and SEM?

We’re to explain and help you understand it all. Read on to learn everything you need to know.

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is technically a marketing method, but you’re not necessarily paying for optimization (unless you work with a company to optimize your content).

SEO results tend to be organic and come from steps taken to create content or websites optimized for the sole purpose of ranking high in search engines. There are a lot of things you can do to rank high in search engines, like focus on specific keywords or even taking the necessary steps to create a noteworthy website.

SEO isn’t hard to grasp, nor is it hard to replicate, but it can be difficult to rank on the first page of Google, which is where SEM can help a bit.

What Is SEM?

SEM stands for search engine marketing. This term encompasses any tactic used to help brands or businesses achieve higher search engine rankings and increased visibility.

It’s meant to help drive more traffic to your website or a specific page. It’s also meant to ensure your top-ranking spot on any search engine.

SEM can arguably encompass SEO, but today, it’s usually used to refer to pay-per-click (PPC) or cost-per-click (CPC) advertising. With PPC and CPC, you’re doing exactly what the title entails — paying for each click your website receives as a direct result of an advertisement.

The Difference Between SEO and SEM

The biggest difference between these two is the fact that one comes from organic search results (SEO) and the other comes from paying to be in that number one spot on Google (SEM).

While one isn’t particularly “better” than the other, it’s been proven that users are more likely to click on organic search results than a paid advertisement. Paying, however, ensures your spot among the leaders on Google’s first page.

That’s important in today’s tech-driven world where companies are all competing for mere seconds of someone’s time. It’s also easy for people to tell who put time and effort into their content, and who simply put something together and then paid for their spot on the leaderboard.

That’s why it’s important to ensure any marketing plan puts both these methods to use in tandem. Produce high-quality content, but then take the necessary steps to ensure it’s seen.

What to Focus On

When you’re deciding between these two methods, it’s best to take it on a case-by-case scenario. It all depends on your business, its status on search engine pages, and even how much growth you’re looking to gain over a certain period of time. The difference between SEO and SEM shouldn’t decide the entire result of your decision, though.

Luckily, you don’t have to decide alone. Contact us today to get the help you need in making a decision that’s best for your company.