Search Engine Optimization vs. Search Engine Marketing

There are many strategies that play a part in driving traffic from Search Engines to a successful website. These can be distilled into two main categories, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).  The main difference between the categories can be defined as cost.  SEO is free and has to do with optimizing your site, while SEM can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.  In either case the goal is the same, the desire is to drive more, higher quality traffic to your site.  SEO and SEM initiatives both achieve this goal in their own way.  Sometimes they may even compete against each other to achieve the same results.

In this “race”, Search Engine Optimization can be thought of as the “tortoise”, slow and steady will win the race, long term.  Updating and maintaining content is always first and foremost, and something that must continue to be sure your website is strong in comparison to your competitors.  Maintenance of the site’s code is another way to “win” this race.  Staying on top of things like Meta tags, Href, Javascript and the like will keep your site “friendly” to Search Engine Spiders, and help raise your organic (or FREE) ratings within the Search engines.  Linking to (and from) websites that are within your industry is another way to make sure that when your site is indexed, it is viewed as having valuable content.  Linking to other websites shows the Search Engines you’re your site is helping to propagate valuable traffic on the Web.  The reason that SEO can be thought of as the tortoise is because the Search Engines periodically change the algorithms used for placement on the Search Engines.

Unlike the tortoise described above, SEM can drive traffic nearly immediately.  This “hare” can drive traffic to your site from a variety of avenues, but most notably from the Search Marketing arm of the major Search Engines.   All major Search Engines have “sponsored links” based on keywords/phrases that Web-users type into the Engines.  Companies pay these Search Engines to compete for the top three sponsored links.  This is where it can be expensive, but if you do not plan to be in the top three, then only about 10% of the people who view the sponsored links will see your ad (depending where its listed in the bottom fourth thru tenth space).  Many Search Engines also have a Content Network where your keywords/phrases can appear, at a somewhat lesser price in many cases.  The Content Networks propagate your keywords to sites where the content is similar to your industry.  This is a great way to produce quality traffic.  Other types of SEM include Link Exchanging and Directory submissions.  Link Exchanging is slightly different Linking when you look to utilize a service that charges to provide quality links to Websites.  There are many good Link Exchange programs, though you must be wary of falling into a Link Farm and having your site inadvertently Black-listed.  Directory submissions can actually fall into either SEO or the SEM category, since some are free (IE DMOZ) and others charge a small fee (MSN Small Business for example).  Directories also allow you to target specific locations for you advertising, thereby increasing the quality of the traffic that you are driving.

By “racing” SEO and SEM strategies with each other, you gain the benefits of both types of strategies.  In the short term, you can drive CPC traffic on Search Engines and within their Content Networks.  Over the long term, your content and overall page set-up, layout, and coding will bring your sites to the top of the Search Engines.  In any case, utilizing both types of strategies allows you and your business to “win the race.”