SEO and SEM – What's the Difference?

SEO and SEM are inextricably linked – or should be, in any good campaign.So what is the difference?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is really just one part of  SEM, or Search Engine Marketing. Search Engine Optimization generally referrs to the practice of optimizing your site with  keywords to make you more visible to search engines and users.  Some of the more common keyword based SEO tactics include:

Keyword optimizing each webpage

Using keyword in titles, subtitles and subheadings

Using keywords in domain names and urls

Using keywords in meta tags, and in alt tags to tag images

SEO also includes good linking practices:

Linking to relevant sites

Securing backlinks from relevant sites

Securing backlinks from .gov or .edu sites

Building other sites or blogs and creating a network of links

Creating a solid internal link structure

Search Engine Marketing involves the more sales oriented promotion of your site to search engines. This includes:

Using SEO to make your site appear as relevant as possible

Using article marketing to increase link power and give you added results

Using video marketing to capture the image search market

Using social networks to build brand recognition

Advertising using paid ads, PPC and other avenues to drive extra traffic to your site

The primary goal is to generate high quality, relevant content on both your site and other sites with back links that point back to you.Google and the other search engines use the factor of how many back links you have from original quality content to determine how relevant you should be in Google’s results and page rankings.

Spamming services or link sites should not be used to buildback links. Black hat actions like these cause  Google to penalize you and possibly even black list your site. Keep it all white hat, and use proven tactics to improve your rankings and conversions!