The Difference Between SEO and SEM

River Avenue Digital: This Is the Difference Between SEO and SEM

Did you know that the SEO industry has now peaked in being an over $70B industry? And while you may be inquiring about shifting more of your marketing spend to SEO, it’s important to understand exactly what it is. 

But let’s face it. If you’re not familiar with marketing jargon, you can easily confuse SEO and SEM. But once you fully understand both, you will be able to implement a strategy where you can see a huge difference in your website traffic. 

It is extremely important to understand the difference between SEO and SEM. Here’s your guide on everything you need to know. 

What is SEO?

​If you want to learn the difference between SEO and SEM, it’s important to learn the definition of SEO first.  Also known as Search Engine Optimization, SEO refers to the organic strategies used to bring traffic to your website. Agencies utilize both Off-page and On-page elements in order to generate traffic. Here are some examples.

On-Page Elements

  • URLs with targetted keywords
  • Effective Meta Data
  • Optimized Page Speed
  • Social Sharing within the content

Off-Page Elements

  • Quality inbound links
  • Traffic from social bookmarking sites
  • Social Media sharing

As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into making sure your website reaches your target audience. If you want to be sure that your digital marketing efforts aren’t going down the drain, feel free to ask about our digital start kit

What is SEM?

The major difference between SEO and SEM is that SEO produces organic results while SEM produces paid results. With SEM marketing, companies will pay search engine sites such as Google to display advertisements on prime parts of the search engine page.

Contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of benefits that come from SEM advertising. Also known as pay-per-click ads (or PPC), this kind of advertising allows your ads to show up next to organic listings. 

In addition, you are able to target the ideal demographic for your product. While SEO is geared towards bringing back regular clients, SEM will help generate new customers that are interested in your product and are on the market to buy. 

Here are some examples of strategies that will help your SEM marketing thrive:

  • Ad Groups 
  • Ad Campaigns
  • Writing Ad Copies
  • Setting an ad budget

​Be sure to contact a professional if you’re looking to successfully generate traffic through SEM strategies.

Learn the Difference Between SEO and SEM and More
Whether you want to learn the difference between SEO and SEM or are simply looking to improve your marketing efforts, we’re here to help. We know how difficult it can be to find a reliable marketing agency to help take your business to the next level.

With over 25 years of collective experience, we’re certain we can help meet your business needs. 

If you need help revamping your current marketing strategy, we’d love to help. Feel free to Contact Us and a member of our team will be more than happy to point you in the right direction. 

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Sal
Graci

Digital Marketing Manager

Walkout Song: Piano Man – Billy Joel

Bio: Sal Graci is an experienced and enthusiastic marketing professional with a broad range of skills. He has more than 10 years of experience designing, developing, and implementing a variety of marketing campaigns and projects. Sal has a proven track record of helping companies grow and achieve their goals through his own agency and private companies.

Education: Sal graduated from St. Joseph’s University in 2004 with an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology. He specializes in search engine optimization, PPC, and the overall design and development of marketing strategies. He also has extensive experience with a variety of marketing automation tools like Hubspot, Active Campaign, and SendInBlue.

Community: Believing in staying active within the community, Sal performs musically for a variety of charity events including fundraisers for CHOP. He also donates and works with various food banks throughout the Philadelphia area.

In his free time… Sal enjoys playing with his band Good Night Graci and recording/writing music. He also has a love for sports and is a regular host on a bi-monthly podcast called Enough Said.