Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as “natural” or “organic” results) rather than direct traffic or paid traffic. Unpaid traffic may originate from different kinds of searches, including image search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. As an internet marketing strategy, SEO service considers how search engines work, the computer-programmed algorithms that dictate search engine behavior, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, adding content, and modifying HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic. By May 2015, mobile search had surpassed desktop search. In 2015, it was reported that Google is developing and promoting mobile search as a key feature within future products. In response, many brands are beginning to take a different approach to their internet marketing strategies.
Definition of SEO
A key part of SEO is showing the relevance of the page in search engines. To do this, a good understanding of the target audience and the keywords or terms they will use to find the site is necessary. Keywords are terms or phrases that are associated with your content. Using keywords relevant to the topic in page headers, title, and URL is crucial. However, it’s important not to abuse keywords. Keyword spamming is a practice that has resulted in severe penalties from search engines. It refers to putting the same keyword in every single tag or part of the page. Instead, highlighting the focused keywords in areas mentioned above and spreading them throughout the content is the best method. Keyword research is an important technique used to find synonyms and variations of the main keywords to give the page more relevance and diversity. Another aspect of relevance is how recent or how old the content is. This essentially has to do with information about Google “crawlers”. Crawlers are basically how Google looks at and connects information on the web. These crawlers are looking to find fresh content and keep updated links. This is why links die over time and lead to nothing. This is considered a broken link and is a negative in SEO, putting up a link that is found to be stale.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is “the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results” (Moz). Quality of traffic is measured by the types of visitors and the potential for them to convert into leads or customers. However, to attract quality visitors, your site needs to be clear and direct. A great way to assess whether your SEO work is paying off is to look at what individuals are searching for to find your site. If it’s a relevant search that results in a positive action they take on your site, such as a purchase or submitting a form, you will know the traffic quality is good. Quantity of traffic is determined by how many visitors are coming to your site, something every business can measure easily. Finally, increasing traffic is a crucial benefit, one that has a snowball effect. The more traffic you have, the more it will continue to increase. This is due to the fact that certain keywords are searched more at certain times of the year, based on the products or information. For example, “best Easter chocolate” will be searched more on Google between January-March. SEO rankings have a snowball effect since really popular search terms can put your page in top results and leave it there for weeks.
Definition of SEM
SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, is a subset of search engine marketing strategies whose ultimate goal is to gain visibility and traffic on various search engines. This is done through a type of sponsored advertising. Although this can be an effective strategy, it can be very costly and requires a lot of bid-based purchasing. The way the system works is by having the auction go off every time a single keyword is entered. If one’s bid is the highest, then their ads will be the ones to show up first, and this is an effective way for a lot of businesses to gain traffic and increase revenue. Unfortunately, this can be very costly and can cause a company to lose money if the ads do not end up being effective. All around though, this is a very effective strategy if it will end up paying for itself in the long run.
Key Differences between SEO and SEM
A major key difference between SEO and SEM is the process of building traffic to your website. SEO is the process of improving your website’s ranking in search engine listings with the primary goal of increasing organic (free) traffic to your site. This is done through a combination of tactics, the most basic of which is to make sure your website gets indexed in the search engines. Once indexed, your website will start to show up in search results when certain keywords are entered. The keywords you want your site to show up for need to be made into the title and content of your website. This is known as on-site SEO. There is a large amount of consideration for off-site SEO that needs to be taken. This involves getting other websites to display a link to your site. The keyword links are the best. A good way to start marketing your website is by using a pay-per-click marketing company such as Google AdWords. What this is going to do is allow you to bid on specific keywords that, when searched in Google, will display your ad. You will only pay for this ad if the surfer clicks on it. This is a highly effective yet costly way to advertise. Same methods can be used in services such as MIVA or Yahoo Search Marketing, but they are not a replacement for SEO.
Organic vs. Paid Search Results
The major difference between SEO and SEM is the difference between organic and paid search results. As the name of the framework suggests, setting up an SEO campaign, you are in the direction of creating natural search results to attract and increase traffic towards your website. You will do this through on-site and off-site activities with no fee to the actual search engines. These involve things such as link building, meta-tag optimization, and creating an effective site map for user and search engine usability. All of which will increase your natural rank. SEO’s primary focus is to move you further up the search engine results pages for keywords related to your website. A higher ranking results in a better CTR (Click Through Rate) with more traffic to your site. If utilized correctly, this can have a positive result on your business with potentially more customers and sales. However, SEO takes time, it is not a quick fix. It is generally considered an ongoing activity with no resolution, as algorithm changes can affect rank. Usually, it takes around 3-6 months to start seeing some effects and anything up to a year’s time to achieve a good rank for your website. In regards to SEM and comparing it to SEO, the most popular and effective way is through paid search results. In a nutshell, paid search is about bidding to have ads listed at the top and right of the ‘organic’ search results. This is seen on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Ads are placed through bidding on keywords, with initial and maintenance costs dependent on the competitiveness of the keyword. Ads are charged using the method of PPC (Pay-Per-Click) meaning you are only charged if someone actually clicks on your ad. Pricing can vary depending on the keyword and search engine. An advantage for SEM is that it provides quick and easily measured results. This is beneficial for website owners who may want to see if traffic coming to their site is converting to sales or leads. During times when the budget may be tight, a business can turn SEM off at any time resulting in an instant pause of advertising with no extra costs. This is a completely different result from pausing or stopping SEO, which may have a slow decay in traffic to your site. And SEO results can still be seen in the long term, whereas turning off your PPC campaign will instantly stop all traffic from that source.
Cost Structure
SEM is a very direct method of marketing a product using the sponsored listings or PPC (pay per click). This method involves setting a specific budget for a campaign, and paying only when the ad is clicked by a potential customer. This is a very measurable way of advertising, because you only pay for what you get, and in some cases it is possible to determine whether a click has led to a sale of product. This being said, it is also very easy to blow through a large marketing budget if not managed correctly. With the increase in popularity of the SEM method, the competition for top ad spots has also increased the bid price for keywords. This can make it tough for small businesses or companies with a tight advertising budget to compete in the SEM market.
It doesn’t come without downsides however, the amount of money which must first be invested into SEO is often quite substantial, and the results can take a very long time to be seen. An effective SEO campaign can take anywhere from 6-12 months to really take full effect, a time span which has many companies questioning whether they should invest in SEO. Any company looking to pursue the SEO method should really be committed and understand that the results in the end will be very much worth the wait. Now depending on how competitive your industry is or your product business is in, SEO.
The cost structure is a very important aspect to consider because it can significantly affect a company’s advertising budget. SEO is a long term strategy which offers traffic at a consistent flow without the fear of having to increase the amount of money being paid per click. This is often a very desirable effect for companies looking to market their products or services. Considering SEO does not require a payment for clicks, it is a very cost effective method that can have long term effects on a company’s market share. It can almost be viewed as investing in prime real estate on the Google map, an investment that can last a very long time because of its effectiveness, and will continue to be a great asset in the future.
Time Frame for Results
With PPC, it is easy to spend a great deal of money, and many companies do. It can be easy to get caught up in a bidding war over a particular keyword and end up spending far more than your potential return. It’s also very easy to spend a lot of money on a campaign as there are no set budgets. Because the ads provide immediate results, it is easy to find yourself in a situation where you have not.
The main drawback with PPC is that it can be costly. It is an auction-based system, in which the more you pay per click or per 1000 impressions, the higher your ad will be displayed. Price is determined by the competitiveness of the keyword. With top rankings getting…
SEO takes time. Because it’s a long-term investment, it takes a while to see results. It could be 6-12 months before you see results. However, once you have good rankings, it’s difficult to be beat. On the other hand, with PPC the results are immediate. This can be invaluable if you have a new site that you want to drive traffic to. In the situation where the keywords are highly competitive, and it’s difficult to obtain good rankings, a PPC campaign is a viable short-term solution.
Benefits and Limitations of SEO
Another benefit of SEO is that it is cost effective. Even in the case of hiring an SEO consultant, the money poured into it is still small in comparison to the potential revenue that can be earned if their methods are successful. Once the website has achieved a good ranking there is no reason why the methods used cannot be maintained over a long period of time. If successful this can be equivalent to any form of advertising, making the return on investment much greater.
SEO on a website can be a very tedious task, however if done right is essential. If the website’s focus is clear and the keywords are optimized to the best possible effect then there is no reason why the original business goals cannot be met. Whether the aim is to increase website sales or increase the number of people inquiring about a service, the call to action will be effectively achieved with well optimized keywords. This in turn will make the website more effective and therefore the way the website has measured its success will have been improved.
SEO is aimed at achieving a high ranking in search engines in order to increase the website’s visibility. It is a long process and takes time to achieve results, therefore there are a number of both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages can be vast if done well.
Benefits of SEO
The primary benefit of SEO is that it is a long-term strategy. It can take several months to adequately optimize a website and begin seeing results. But, the results that a website receives from search engine optimization are highly profitable. The traffic that is generated from SEO is more likely to be in the conversion stage than other forms of traffic, because the user was actively seeking the information, product, or service. Another benefit of SEO is that it is a relatively cost efficient in the long term. Search engine algorithms change often and, in the case that they change in a negative manner for certain websites, it is a major benefit to have a service that is diversely spread across various search engines. PPC advertising has a reward system that is solely based on click-throughs, and a bidding war can become very costly for companies. The power of internet pulls can also be a benefit to SEO, because making changes to a website to comply with current SEO standards can increase a website’s quality to the average internet user. The set of changes that are made to optimize a website may make the website more user friendly, and easier to navigate. A set of changes might involve reorganizing the website’s architecture and page layout, adding links to service/product information, and clearing out outdated and/or less relevant information. These changes could have a residual benefit to sales even if search engine traffic was temporarily lost due to undesirable ranking.
Limitations of SEO
Money While SEO is relatively cheap in comparison to other forms of online advertising, the cost can be extremely high when using an SEO company. As mentioned in the benefits section, achieving the ranking can be a lengthy process. This does not go down well with most people as more money is being spent and there are still no results. For some, the price at which an SEO company charges is outweighed by the value of their lost time, resulting in an even greater cost.
Time consuming The production of results with search engine optimization is time specific. To achieve this, there is a fairly long waiting period to be indexed. This can vary between a week and a year, even with correct site submission. It can take as long to attain a high ranking on Google, depending on the competitiveness of the keyword. This is caused by the sandbox, a Google function that affects the ranking of new websites in their first year. For some, it can take a substantial time to get out of the sandbox. This can be extremely frustrating.
Benefits and Limitations of SEM
Targeting often involves seeking revenue or more sales qualified leads, and there it delivers a better return on investment. More targeting often leads to more effective marketing, and spending money on more effective marketing is good….as long as you know your targeting effectively. For example, a company may be seeking to target its marketing to only Connecticut residents. They can do this more effectively with SEM, by setting geographic parameters in an AdWords campaign followed by only ads on the network that have that statement in the ads text, or often only showing ads and receiving clicks from searchers who are located near a specific area. With more effective marketing, the money a business makes is spent more wisely, leading to a better financial position in the future, and each marketing push becomes a step towards that company’s goals. Another benefit of SEM comes from ad distribution. Getting ads in front of people is an important task in itself, but there are methods of doing so that are more effective than others. Given most internet users know and are fairly familiar with search engines and how they work, being at the top of the results page is an ideal place to be, and getting there with SEM is a simple task. With the use of paid placement networks and AdWords, a marketer can have their ads above the results, on the same page as the results, or in a specific position in search results, and will pay money only when users click their ads. This is far more effective than display ads and impression-based methods, as searchers are often qualified leads and prospects who are looking for the product and have already chosen to come to the search engine to seek it out.
Benefits of SEM
Can provide a much more specific path to purchase compared to SEO. This is because you can target keywords and immediately place bids to have your ad appear at the top of the search page. You can target very specific consumer intent with ads. Only want to target and sell to 18-35 year old athletic females who like yoga? Because with SEM you can do that. With SEO, you can’t really place a time or intent to what types of consumers will click your link, and it will be much harder to track if your specific landing page is receiving the targeted traffic. SEM is a great strategy to use in the short term and for specific promotions and sales as you can see immediate results and it is very easy to track ROI. AdWords provides a wealth of data and metrics compared to organic search results, and with Google Analytics, you can now get comprehensive data on your site’s performance. SEM data can provide very useful information on consumer behavior and testing certain variables so that you can implement changes and improvements into your site. This data will be especially useful for new websites as it would normally take a lot of time to gather the same quality and quantity of data by using and testing different SEO strategies. High flexibility for testing new things. SEM does not have a long-term commitment compared to SEO. Organic search results can often take 3-6 months to see any significant changes, and it can take years to rank on the first page for certain keywords. This means that it is very high risk if you decide to make changes and test new strategies with your SEO, and you must be prepared to face the consequences if it backfires. Step into AdWords and make a new ad with a different title and description? It’s very quick and easy to see whether it improves CTR and conversion rate. Just delete the campaign if it is unsuccessful.
Limitations of SEM
The major issue with this method is the unpredictability of the price of a click. With search engines, a prominent position through SEO efforts can take a lot of time and work. With paid advertising, the moment you turn the money off the tap, so to speak, your advertising stops. You have to constantly feed money into the mouth of the PPC engine to maintain your position or visibility. A sudden or unexpected change in the algorithm can result in the loss of all search engine traffic. This is not the case with a stop in PPC advertising, but such a sudden change can result in the loss of a great deal of money or the inability to advertise a product at all. An example of this has been the verdict of the case of Louis Vuitton vs. Google. This ruling is the end result of a process spanning several years. As a result of this and other lawsuits, it is likely that the ability to advertise counterfeit goods through PPC will be restricted.