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