A DETAILED GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEO AND SEM

You might have come across the terms SEO and SEM several times, but you have no idea what they are and how they work. Both SEO and SEM are the most important parts of online advertising and have changed the way businesses advertise themselves. As a leading Digital Marketing Agency in Mumbai, we explain what and how these two search engine services work.

 

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

Search engine optimization, or commonly known as SEO, is a process to improve the positioning and visibility of your website in the search results when people search for something related to your business in the search engines like Google, Bing, etc. If the visibility and positioning of your website are better in search results, then it will bring more traffic or prospective consumers. The strategy for SEO has to be changed regularly as what worked today will not be effective in the future.

 

 

What is SEM (Search Engine Marketing)?

Search engine marketing or SEM improves the visibility of websites in search results through paid marketing strategies. Businesses use SEM strategies to position their websites in the search results when the search is relevant to their business. A company that uses SEM to boost traffic on the website is supposed to pay when someone clicks on their website. As these ads are in every search result, it is easy for the searchers to distinguish them by showing an ad at the top websites.

 

Importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

1. SEO increases the visibility and positioning of your website in the organic search results.

2. If properly optimized, it will drive maximum traffic to your website.

3. It brings the targeted audience to your website.

4. Being visible on the first page of search results builds faith in consumers.

5. As your website is visited often by users, making it appear at the top of organic search results is crucial.

6. When SEO is used strategically and is fully optimized, the website experiences a boost in sales, elevating its growth.

 

Importance of SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

1. Search engine marketing or SEM increases awareness of a brand from search ads.

2. SEM increases the traffic to your website as it increases the visibility of the website.

3. Even if people do not click on your ad, they will notice the name of your business as it is visible in them, which will register the business name in their minds.

4. The aim is not just to bring traffic to the website but to bring the appropriate or correct audience who are genuinely interested in your business which SEM ensures.

5. SEM works the best for all types of businesses, whether it is big or small.

6. Even though you have to pay for the services when planned smartly and strategically, they can double your profits and boost your business.

7. It is a great way to go big for small-scale businesses because it improves the positioning and visibility of your business website.

8. As people require quick services or fast answers to their queries, they click the first result on the page, and with SEM strategies, your website will be at the top of the search results, bringing users to your website.

9. You do not need huge budgets to plan your SEM strategies, but a small budget will work just as long as it is well-planned. You can choose the reach of your website, such as the location, demographic, etc.

 

Types of Keywords used in SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

 

 

1. Short tail Keyword

Short-tailed keywords are like mentioned short keywords that include one or two words in them. This kind of keyword can cover a large number of search volumes as the keywords are not specific and are difficult for the consumers to find the results that are relevant to them.

2. Long-tail Keyword

Long-tailed keywords are the opposite of short-tailed ones. They are longer than them and are more specific. Long-tailed keywords do not have more competition than short-tailed keywords because the intention of the keyword is clear, and the users can easily find the results without any problem.

3. Long-term Evergreen Keyword

The sole purpose of this kind of keyword is to make the content consumable to the users for long periods. The results stay evergreen and relevant with slight changes and now and then. The Long-term evergreen keyword is there in content that is supposed to be educational or informative.

4. Short-term Fresh Keyword

This kind of keyword is present when a specific topic or news is fresh and currently in trend across the globe. For instance, the famous Netflix original show Squid Game was trending worldwide, making people search for it on the internet. So, the keyword including the phrase Squid Game can only finish when it is hot and trending. And as each trend dies down after a while, the keywords also work for a shorter term

5. Product Defining Keyword

It includes keywords that describe the products in a specific way. That means that the consumer will look and search for certain products and wants a detailed description of them. For example, if a user is looking for a leather jacket, they will type ‘black leather jacket’ or ‘black leather jacket’, which gives you a distinct idea of what they need.

6. Customer Defining Keyword

When keywords describe a specific set of audience or the customer, it comes under customer-defining keywords. Keywords like laptops for students or running shoes for men are some examples to understand it better. This type of keyword is necessary to attract the targeted audience to your business as you might have the exact thing they need.

7. LSI Keyword

LSI keyword or Latent Semantic Indexing keyword is a keyword that is related to your keyword. LSI keywords are like branches of the same tree and are a great way to target many keywords under the same subject.

8. Geo-targeting Keyword

SEO keywords give you the control of attracting an audience from a specific locality with its geo-targeting keywords. It is a good way for small-scale businesses to aim for their target customers that need goods or services in a particular area or location. So if you are a plumber on Carter Road, then targeting keywords will work for you.

9. Intent targeting keyword

There are three categories in intent targeting keywords, they are-

1. Commercial intent- The user searches intending to take a specific action like to buy, sign up, etc. So targeting keywords that include discounts, coupons, and others would be beneficial.
2. Information intent- The user here searches only to gain information about a specific topic. When you search for words like how to, benefits of, ways to, and more used.
3. Navigational intent- This is when the user searches about a particular business or a brand. It is good news that the user already knows about you and wants to know more, so all you have to do is provide the exact thing they need.
4. Transactional intent – The user might want to buy a product and conduct thorough research and comparison of various available options. The words include in these keywords are reviews of, top 5, best, and so on.

10. Competitor keyword

The keywords that your competitors are using to drive traffic to their website are known as competitor keywords. As a top SEO Company in Mumbai, we understand that it’s important to know which keywords your competitors are using which will give you a glimpse into the success rates of their website and will introduce you to lots of keywords that you can use for your business.

 

Types of Keywords used in SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

1. Broad match keywords

Broad match keywords are the keywords that target different variations of the same word. The words might vary in singular or plural forms, phrases that are similar or have the same meaning, or anything related to the keyword. It allows the search engine to show your website when searching for the keywords.

2. Phrase match keywords

Phrase match keyword is an option where the search engine matches your ads with the exact keywords or the phrases included in your keywords. For example, if your keywords are laptops for students, your ad might appear in searches like best laptops for students, latest laptops for students, or affordable laptops for students.

3. Exact match keywords

Exact match keywords make your ads visible when searching for different variations of keywords. The variations include incorrect spellings, singular or plural forms, synonyms, etc. For instance, it does not matter if the user searches for gaming laptops or laptops for gaming as the meaning of both the phrases is the same.

4. Negative keywords

It is a type of keyword that would not appear on the search results. Negative keywords forbid the ads to show when searching for them. To understand it better, here is an example, if the negative keyword is gaming laptops, your ads will not appear every time someone searches for gaming laptops.

 

How much does it cost for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services?

 

 

SEO is a free service and will not cost you anything if you handle your business website on your own. However, working on the website and maintaining it is not a piece of cake as it needs to be run with meticulous planning and tactics to be successful. Also, you may need to pay for third-party tools to ease the manual effort in the SEO process. If you are going to opt for professional help to boost your SEO game, it will come at a price. In India, if you are seeking the help of an SEO for SEO services, they will charge you more than INR 100,000. The prices will vary based on specific services, type of business, and other related factors.

How much does it cost for SEM (Search Engine Marketing) services?

SEM services are the best way to advertise your business in the online realm as it is visible at the top of the search results, and when used properly, will bring a considerable boost in sales. Usually, the small businesses use pay-per-click or PPC advertising for SEM, and like SEO services, the agencies may charge upward of INR 3,00,000 for a year for a good campaign. The charges will be different for different businesses and different SEM strategies.

 

Pros and Cons of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Pros of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

1. SEO is free of cost. Yes, you do not have to pay anything to place your website on SERP (Search engine results page). If you are a small business, there are free tools by Google for SEO services.
2. Proper implementation of SEO improves visibility and position in the organic search results.
3. A well-optimized SEO service will be easy to use on a mobile phone without any delay.
4. If the website is visible to people, then it will lead the targeted traffic to the website.
5. SEO is a blessing for small businesses to extend their reach on the internet.
6. It is a great way to give your business sales a boost.
7. The correct use of SEO benefits not only a business but customers as well.

Cons of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

1. Constant fluctuations. The strategies need to be adapted constantly as what worked yesterday will not work today.
2. The SEO results will take a lot of time to show results. While it may be impossible to tell the exact time SEO results will show, it takes approximately 4 to 6months to see some results.
3.  Because of the tough competition in online business, the results for your SEO efforts will delay.
4. No matter how hard you work to ensure that your SEO strategies work, there is no guarantee that they will ever work.

 

Pros and Cons of SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

Pros of SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

1. SEM introduces your website to a whole lot of people.
2. With pay per click or PPC, when someone clicks on the website, you will be charged.
3. It is by far the quickest way to reach the top of the search results.
4. As SEM increases awareness of your website, it will result in quicker outcomes.
5. SEM lets you have control of the process and keeps you updated about who clicked on your website, their location, and such related things.
6. As you know the demographic watching your ads and their location, you can target your ads towards a particular group of audience and can make it visible in a specific area to get better results.

Cons of SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

1. To use SEM services, you have to pay a price that can be heavy on the budget.
2. It requires thorough research and careful planning and needs all your attention.
3. Most people nowadays use ad blockers which can block your ads.
4. As mentioned earlier, the competition is pretty hard when it comes to online marketing.