All That You Need to Know About SEO and SEM

Asking 20 different Search Marketers today to give a clear explanation of SEO will give you 20 different answers. To put it simply, SEO or Search Engine Optimisation means the creation of a website (or even an updating of a website), so as to get the site to rank higher in the organic search results, and thus drive more quality traffic to the site. This process is done through either on-page procedures – which involve using of relevant content, keywords, link structure, etc, or even off-page procedures which involve link building. A web development company can help you take care of SEO as well.

SEO is actually an evolving process and one that changes continuously. SEO is like a school of thought on its own and isn’t something that is done in a jiffy. It is something that is attained to perfection through a series of small adjustments. Individually these small adjustments may not mean much, but when combined, can leave a positive mark on the website by giving it a better ranking in the organic search results. SEO always requires the essentials of time, education as well as resources.

A necessary knowledge to have in context to SEO and SEM

Do not ever confuse the terms Search Engine Optimisation or SEO with Search Engine Marketing or SEM. This is because SEM is the broader term and SEO as well as Paid Search Advertising comes under SEM.

SEM – This is actually a form of marketing which helps you promote your website in the search results of search engines through both non-paid as well as paid methods. The non-paid or natural method includes the concept and process of SEO whereas the paid methods include paid placement, contextual advertising; among others. The term SEM is also to refer to persons who perform SEM, called the Search Engine Marketers.

SEO – This is the branch of SEM that deals only with the search rankings that are achieved by natural or non-paid means. The SEO process again, helps in driving quality traffic to the site by improving the site’s visibility in search engine results. The SEO process is often a time consuming effort and require a continuous effort for some time. Like SEM for Search Engine Marketers, SEO is also referred to people who are Search Engine Optimisers. SEO can be the most cost-effective method in SEM if used properly.

Paid Search Advertising – This is also one of the methods employed under SEM. Popularly known as Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising, this method is used to sponsor one’s website in search results. When a user types in a specific keyword, this sponsored website comes as the sponsored results. Each time an user clicks on this sponsored result, a fee is charged. The Click Through Rate (CTR) and the quality score too determines the fee. Google makes huge amounts of money by employing this method. In fact, Google earns around $5 Billion every quarter through this paid search advertising revenue.