Quick Guide On SEO And SEM: Which One Is Ideal For Business?

  • By Emily Henry
  • 13-10-2021
  • SEO
seo

SEO and SEM are always talked about in businesses, including B2B (business-to-business) ones. When it comes to online marketing, SEO and SEM are there to make things happen! That means that if you’re looking to take your business’s website (or online business, if solely online) to the top of results pages, then SEO and SEM can get you there.

However, the two entities have their own ways of taking websites to the top of search engine results. Though, the major question here is: Which is ideal for businesses? SEO or SEM?

Today, we’ll cover what the two entities are, how they’re different from each other, what each can do for your business (should you choose them), and which one is ultimately your best bet. Read on, marketers!

SEO And SEM: At First Glance
“SEO and SEM are two entities in their own right,” says Kelly Johnson, a tech journalist at Bigassignments and UKWritings. “SEO stands for search engine optimization, while SEM stands for search engine marketing. Both are responsible for making sure that your website is ranked high on the Internet, and that you gain more traffic because of that.”

The Difference?
SEO and SEM are different from each other in the following ways:
• SEO strives to give you organic results; whereas, SEM is about getting you fast results, once you pay to be on top.
• SEO has you using keywords to get on top, while SEM doesn’t care which keywords you use. AND,
This next point is obvious by now…
• SEO is free to implement, while SEM requires you to pay to use.

Now, we’ll delve into two different scenarios:

What If You Use SEO For Business?
In the event that you use SEO for your business, you’ll initially reap the benefit that it’s free to implement in virtually any marketing strategy. With SEO, you’re essentially using keywords and optimizing your content to where your business will be more viewable to people online. In other words, SEO makes it to where you can rank organically without the need to spend a penny to get such great results. While this method won’t have you see fast results like SEM, SEO is a safer option, seeing that search engines like Google are cracking down to prioritize legitimate sites and to push irrelevant content down the search results page.

What If You Use SEM For Business?
SEM, on the other hand, is about giving you the desired results fast. Essentially, you pay to place ads and other advertising on the Internet. You can also pay to ensure that your ad campaigns stay for as long as you want. This method is ideal for businesses looking to share big news to their customers in a limited time period (i.e. promotions, special offers, etc.). Plus, this method has you target specific audiences when you set up your ad campaigns.

The only downsides are that this method has you paying to get noticed, and that you might upset search engines by trying to force yourself to the top of search pages. So, it’s best to play it safe when considering SEM.

Short Links In SEO And SEM
“Essentially, link shortening is the process of turning long URLs into shorter ones,” says Oscar Chandler, a business writer at Assignment Writers and Revieweal. “Shorter links are cleaner, and you can share them seamlessly on your social media, email, and other methods of marketing. Plus, you can rest assured that shorter links don’t hurt your SEO, but rather enhance it for better results. As for SEM, you can create short branded links with link shorteners like Bitly and Rebrandly, and manage said links on those platforms.”

Wrap Up: Which Is Better?
So, now that we’ve explored both SEO and SEM – their pros and cons, specifically – it’s time to answer the ultimate question: Which is ideal for business?

Well, that all depends on your business.

Say your business was working with a limited budget; then, SEM (a paid option) wouldn’t suffice, unless you’re using it for a day or two.

Or, say your business has a lot of advertising money to spend and want to reach out to the masses, then SEO would only give you partial results.

However, many companies have found ways to incorporate both SEO and SEM into their marketing strategies. The ultimate goal, in that case, is to experiment with both, and gain as much traction online as possible.

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Author

Emily Henry

Emily Henry is a writer and editor for Write my essay and Cheap Essay. She is also a contributing writer for Write My Paper. As a business development manager, she helps companies improve their business practices. As a content writer, she writes articles about business management, coding, and computer science.

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