WHAT IS SEO AND SEM? | The Marketing Basics.
SEO and SEM are very similar to each other in the regards that they both affect your performance online. However, many people are unclear or aware of the differences between the two.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a process of “crawling” sites to allow search engines to better locate, recommend and rank their content. SEO increases the content quality, improves the user experience, and tracks link correspondences.
SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, is a descriptor that uses paid search advertising. This is often seen as google ads, and is placed at the top of the search results page, or SRP. It leverages the frequent usage of keywords and their specific placements to categorize the importance and quality of ads to a specific targeted audience. SEM is most often measured by click-through rates and ensures that your marketing falls within a predetermined budget. This is accomplished through an auction-like electronic bidding process.
As stated before, SEO and SEM are similar in many different ways. They both rely on the usage of keywords and data from traffic flows. They go hand-in-hand because although they are each a stand-alone process, they compliment each other perfectly to drive the most qualified traffic for the lowest cost-per-acquisition.
SEO and SEM are only becoming more and more important as we move forward and navigate the digital marketplace. Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in websites, the common knowledge of website efficiencies and inner workings, as well as the increased integration of technologies into businesses everyday practices. Knowing how to use SEO and SEM will be crucial in the sales and services industries within the coming years, so learning about and understanding these tools now will prove to be beneficial in the future.
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