Search engines have powerful abilities to grow your business. You’ve probably used Google or Bing already today. There’s incredible value in growing your search engine presence. But businesses can grow their search engine traffic in a variety of ways.
Today, we’ll break down the two major types of strategies for search engines. We’re an Iowa digital marketing agency and we know the similarities and differences and ultimately what will work best for your business.
Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) might seem like similar strategies to grow your online presence. They both have the same goal of bringing in more traffic from search engine users that are likely to purchase your products and services.
But SEO and SEM have differences that will help guide your marketing strategy and help you make a better choice for your business.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization describes the process of improving your website to naturally raise search engine rankings. The Google search algorithm ranks websites in organic results on a variety of factors related to user experience, content and quality.
Improve SEO ranking factors and your website will rise in the search results page. For example, content quality, technical errors and website structure are all website ranking factors. SEO experts understand the ins and outs of the algorithm and will work to improve your website. If you’re wondering if your website has any technical errors you can view our free website auditor.
Regular keyword reports, website audits and content updates keep your SEO improving as your business grows. SEO provides long-term value for your business because competitors cannot easily outrank your valuable content. Plus, customers appreciate genuine content that provides answers to their queries. In fact, SEO leads have a 15% close rate (Ahrefs).
With the right content in place, there’s no limit to the amount of traffic your business will gain through SEO. Your business can create more pages and more content to target more keywords. SEO results bring in valuable traffic without the need to pay for advertising placements.
SEO, however, can take time to provide results. It takes time for search engines in index and rank content. After SEO improvements have been made your website rankings will increase slowly and steadily.
What is SEM?
Search engine marketing (SEM) is a marketing strategy that involves paying for an increased presence in search engine results.
Search engine marketing is labeled as sponsored content. Google search ads and shopping ads fall into the category of search engine marketing. Search engine marketing is a reliable form of digital advertising.
SEM is able to give your business guaranteed results. Unlike SEO, a search engine marketing strategy gets your business to the top of search results fast. While SEO is time consuming, SEM is a form of pay-per-click advertising. Your business pays the search engine for top placements in search results.
If your business is looking for fast results and guaranteed impact, then search engine marketing is a great marketing strategy for your business.
Google Ads is the most popular search engine marketing platform. Google Ads offers complex options for targeting and tracking. SEM platforms make it easy for advertisers to view the results of their efforts, segment their audiences and determine what works best. SEM offers some of the highest return-on-investment in the digital advertising industry.
Both SEO and SEM can make your business successful in the digital space. Schedule a consultation with our Iowa digital marketing experts and decide which is best for your business. Our experts can also grow your online presence with website design services.
