SEO and SEM, are two basic tools that you should consider and include in your marketing and advertising strategy, if you want to enhance and optimize your web positioning.
However, these terms generate many doubts and are often confused, so today we are going to explain what each one is, its differences and its advantages.
SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) are a series of techniques and strategies to improve your search engine positioning. For this, we must take into account the algorithm of Google, the main search engine by far.
What we intend to achieve with SEO is to appear among the first search results, the higher we are, the more chance we have of being seen.
The question that everyone asks is: Can I do it without paying? That is precisely what differentiates SEO and SEM.
SEO techniques do not require a payment to search engines, but is based on the natural positioning of our page, according to the content we generate. You have to study Google’s algorithm and know what rewards and what doesn’t. For example, the use of meta tags, links, keywords or a specific web architecture will help us greatly to scale positions in search results.
It is of vital importance that all the content we generate is original and of quality, otherwise Google could penalize us or eliminate us from the search results directly. If you carry out the SEO strategies correctly, you will see results in the medium – long term.
SEM
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is the payment alternative to SEO. This is the advertising that appears in the search engines, in different positions depending on the investment you have made.
The payment of the SEM is based on the payment per click, but nothing assures us of success, even if we are among the first positions. This is because many people distrust or prefer content that is not explicitly advertising, and rely on the natural positioning of other pages on Google.
If you use SEM techniques properly, you can get qualified and segmented traffic visits at your will, which is a great advantage. Although it requires less work than SEO, this does not mean that it is simple, and you will need to turn to an expert to guide you.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEO AND SEM
In many cases, SEO and SEM tools are used together. But it is necessary to know what differentiates them to be able to adapt as well as possible to each one, since they work independently.
The most prominent difference is the payment, while in SEO you pay for the work involved in generating all the content, in SEM you pay for the use of keywords and for the position you want to occupy in the search results.
There is also a big difference in the content we generate, being SEO quality content, and in SEM simply ads.
The results we get in SEO are medium – long term, while in SEM, we get almost immediate results.
The CRT (click rate) also varies, being in SEO increasingly low as we move away from the first search results, while in SEM it is very high.
As for the competition, while in SEM we can observe a continuous dance of positions, as brands or companies change their investments, in SEO there are no major variations.
SEO: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Advantage:
• You work your brand image
• Attract valuable customers
• Users appreciate that you are among the top positions in Google
• You create your own content
Disadvantages:
• You are conditioned by the Google algorithm
• You get a medium – long term response
• Low CTR
• You can’t choose who sees you
SEM: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Advantage:
• You get short term response
• Very easy to update and adapt to changes
• high CTR
• Immediate visibility of campaigns
Disadvantages:
• Some users do not click because they know it is an ad
• If another company pays more than you, it will appear above you
• If you stop investing, your ad disappears
• You will need help from an expert