Objective
This article topic is designed to provide a general identification of both SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) as through my personal experience, there is much confusion from both clients but more so, industry “specialists” ultimately causing unsustainable business models/ lead generation strategy/ overall business strategy. It's important to understand these topics as they play key roles in your company’s organization.
Goals
Identify & Understand SEO vs. SEM. What they look like. How they are structured and work. How you should implement a SEO & SEM strategy for your desired goals.
SEO
(Search Engine Optimization)
This term you are probably tired of hearing about is ultimately to be thought of as a long-
term brand building strategy campaign and there is NO end date to this. This is an on-going, continually changing process. SEO is critical because search engines are the bridges between a consumer and a business. This topics only goal is to drive your business/brand to the first result on any and all search platforms be it from google to yahoo to bing and anything in-between!
SEM
(Search Engine Marketing)
This term is NOT to be confused with SEO as this is its own topic in its entirety. This is also a different topic than PPC or (Pay-Per-Click) but the two are closely related. Think of PPC when you’re browsing the web and seeing advertisements for the thing you just got finished searching for… THIS is what SEM is! When you click on the advertisement it will take you to either some website or a dedicated webpage or also known as a landing page. SEM & PPC have been around as early as the 90’s and with the introduction of Google Ad words in the 2000’s, today this is a requirement in a company’s marketing strategy.
So what is PPC and why does it matter? PPC is a paid position advertisement that drives immediate traffic, immediate results, typically a one-time setup but most importantly… it’s PAID meaning someone is paying for that Ad to show up where it is. PPC when used tactfully with SEO content can provide to be the most effective marketing strategy and how all marketing ventures should be pursued.
Intent Based vs Impulse Base:
(Google vs. Facebook )
Intent based leads, visitors, impressions, people etc. are to be thought of further along the sales cycle, closer to the buying stage. Of course this is what all companies are looking to do, but for every company, market, industry… there’s no “one-size-fits-all” outline or plan. But this is what a competent marketing company can do. Think of focusing on a SEO campaign to establish content and once adequate content is created, launch using SEM.
Impulse based leads, visitors, impressions, people … ok you get the idea.. this classification is meant for the immediate, scroll stopping, eye catching thing. Often presented on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube and many others… this should tell you a little bit more about the clientele on these platforms and if this matches your ideal customer. Think of focusing on the success from your SEM platforms and carry over into other paid social media platforms.
The key lies in understanding each aspect of the customer behavior and making the most out of it. Give both of them their due importance and channel your efforts into how you can convert these behaviors into sales. This is where you would want to incorporate KPI tracking/reporting among other business intelligence metrics.
Conclusion:
To summarize the above, SEM is a combination of SEO content and PPC advertisements and when combined, this will yield the most effective marketing campaign. A successful marketing campaign to lead generation campaign cannot have one without the other and they will need to work together to achieve maximum value or ROI (Return on Investment). It’s important that before and PPC advertisement money is spent, your SEO content strategy is outlined, proofed and ready to go live because if paid advertisements are run with your client to go nowhere, this is money down the drain. From experience, I’ve seen hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted by empty marketing companies who do not fully understand this concept, and as I write this blog entry, I am witnessing one currently and ultimately is what prompted me to write about this topic. So please, if you are a business owner looking for a marketing strategy, give this another read and you can always setup a free consultation to review your current plan or to help get you started on a new one!
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