The terms Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are often used interchangeably, but that is a misconception. How can you tell the difference between the two? Experts at a local Dallas digital marketing agency say you should start by familiarizing yourself with the three types of Search Engine Marketing.
But, before that, let’s take a look first at the broad meaning of SEM.
What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?
Online marketing is now becoming more and more competitive. Everyone is vying for their target audience’s attention. Everyone wants to drive traffic to their website. In turn, there’s been an even higher demand in finding digital solutions that can effectively put a product or service in front of their prospects. And, this is where SEM comes in.
Search Engine Marketing is simply a digital marketing strategy that promotes your products or brand in search engines. Being successful at SEM means putting a product or service on top of the search engine result pages, also known as SERPs.
When 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, SEM is definitely an online marketing strategy every business should consider if they want to gain traction online, and ultimately, improve their ROI in the long run.
Three Types of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search Engine Marketing can be categorized into three types. They is SEO, Search Engine Advertising, and Paid Submission.
In the industry though, the term SEM refers mainly to Search Engine Advertising. This is because SEO doesn’t include paying search engine companies to get a product on top of the SERPs.
Let’s learn more about each type of SEM to fully understand their differences.
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
This is the method of boosting the rankings of a webpage in the SERPs to gain more visibility, drive traffic, and also helps a website increase its leads and conversions.
In SEO, search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, are not paid to get a web page ranking on top of the SERPs. Instead, experts offer SEO services that are designed to optimize a website to rank organically.
2. Search Engine Advertising
While SEO is the means to organically boost a website ranking on the SERPs, Search Engine Advertising is the method that pays search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, so that an ad will appear on top of their search results.
Search engine ads usually appear on the very top of the SERPs, right above the organic results. These ads are labeled as “Ad” when they show up in the search result list.
According to a study, digital search advertising spending reached $19.1 billion in the first half of 2017 and is projected to reach $40.6 billion in 2019.
3. Paid Submission
Paid Submission is a method of listing a company’s information (including its website) to paid online directories. These directories have editors who manually review submissions. Once approved these submissions are permanently listed and can help increase a company’s online citation which can affect its visibility in search engines.
The website owners should submit a consistent NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) across all directories. This is the best way to improve the accuracy of data that search engines can index about a certain business online.
Conclusion
Now that you already know the difference between the three types of Search Engine Marketing, you can determine which one best fits your marketing needs. If you’re still unsure of which marketing strategy to use for your business, reach out to the best digital growth agency in your area. KISS PR is a team offriendly and focused Google SEO Experts located in Dallas, TX but we offer our services to nationwide clients.
Whether you’re a law firm looking for SEO services or a business looking to tell your story to a large audience, get in touch with our team by calling 239-373-5255 or schedule a free consultation Good luck!
