Search Optimization, An Introduction
Search optimization is an powerful strategy for the marketing to enhance online presence of ones business. SEO and SEM is mostly known for getting bulk traffic to a business website as well as attract specific audience attention. The major drawback for this strategy is, people don’t even know what’s the exact strategy they need to use first and how to differentiate SEO vs SEM.
The tactics may be relatable, but the strategies are opposite. So if you have no idea what is the difference between search engine optimization and search engine marketing? You won’t be able to choose which strategy is more effective for your business to improve the visibility in search engines.
In this post we will give you a coherent mastering of definition and value of each topic. Let’s talk about the puzzles that almost every business owner is thinking all the time especially when one pitched for SEO or SEM services:
- What is search optimization and marketing?
- What is difference between SEO and SEM?
- Which one is the right choice for a business; SEO or SEM?
If you are totally not sure about what is SEO and SEM, i suggest to look at What is SEO? and What is SEM first? It will allow you to envision how these work and what are the strategies?
What is Search Optimization and Marketing?
Before you plan out a strategy for search optimization/marketing first you have to understand the phraseology of optimization and marketing.
- Optimization: It’s a organic approach of increasing the visibility of a website in SERP. SERP means (Search Engine Result pages)
- Marketing: An internet marketing is a form which includes paid promotions for increasing the visibility of your brand in Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) for example Google Adsence, Facebook Ad Campaigns or tools like that.
Difference between SEO and SEM?
Search engine optimization and search engine marketing both help your brand to appear on top in search result, drive more traffic towards your website, engage your potential customers. Both are similar to one another but at the same time techniques, strategies, goals and trends are different. Let’s drew your attention and see how it differs:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Search Results: It has featured snippets which appears as organic results.
- Cost: You don’t have to pay for it unless you would like to use a premium plugin, extension or third party services that supports your load of work.
- Visibility: Shown to everyone once you’re done with Onsite SEO.
- Results: It takes considerable time and efforts to build up your audience vis-a-vis search rank of your business and connected website.
- Good for Analytics: Not much effective but you can still sort of limited results within Google Analytics Dashboard.
- Click Through Rate: Higher but as i said it can take considerable time to increase traffic.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Search Results: It shows ad extensions and includes ‘Ad’ designation right in the start of a business title.
- Cost: This should be a paid promotion through different campaign channels.
- Visibility: Shown to targeted people as notified by the campaign channel to Google crawler.
- Results: You will see a surge in your website audience / traffic within 24 hours of commencing a campaign.
- Good for testing: You can exactly see which demographic and audience is looking at your brand, business or product. This allows businesses to plan out future promotions in the same area.
- Click Through Rate: CTR seems to be average in paid promotions.
Which is more better for a business? SEO or SEM?
Both are good in their own way but some approaches are different, So let’s talk about SEO first.
SEO for business?
- What is the competition in your industry like? There are lot of organic content gaps to fill.
- What is the average cost per click in your industry? The cost per click is very high.
- How well do you know your market segments? It has long term value and demand.
SEM for business?
- What is the competition in your industry like? There could be a huge competition for your target keyword(s).
- What is the average cost per click in your industry? The cost per click could be within a business budget to decide as low as or maximum one can invest in business marketing.
- How well do you know your market segments? Startups and small businesses mostly seems to be unaware about the targeted goals, demographic and audience so this could be one of the thing that can exactly define a set of audience interested in your business, product and/or services.
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