Search Engine Optimization Vs Search Engine Marketing

How many webmasters and website owners today confuse search engine marketing with search engine optimization? SEM or search engine marketing is not SEO or search engine optimization – just to make things clear. Search engine optimization is a process of optimizing your website while search engine marketing is composed of site promotion process which includes SEO.

In short, search engine optimization is part of search engine marketing but not at all the same as search engine marketing. This is because search engine marketing covers a lot of other site promotion processes aside from search engine optimization. To further stress the line between search engine marketing and search engine optimization, consider these comparison.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Differentiated From Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

• Definition



Search Engine Optimization (SEO)	Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search engine optimization is a web marketing process that manipulates the structure and the content of a particular website to make it more relevant and navigable in the search engine’s eyes. Search engine optimization makes a website rank well on the search engines.	Search engine marketing is composed of many web marketing processes that aim to increase a particular website’s visibility on the search engines. Search engine marketing attempts to increase targeted site visitors, as well.



• Process



Search Engine Optimization (SEO)	Search Engine Marketing
Search engine optimization prepares a website for the search engine spiders. It creates clean HTML codes and eliminates errors on the web pages.	Search engine marketing prepares a website through search engine optimization.
Search engine optimization links all the web pages together. It makes sure a website has a sitemap to show the overall structure of the website.	Search engine marketing generates relevant and quality links pointing to a particular website to make that website appear important in the eyes of the search engines.
Search engine optimization includes keyword selection and site structure. In search engine optimization, the web pages are optimized using the most targeted keywords and keyword phrases.	Search engine marketing includes pay per click advertising and banner exchanges. These are search engine marketing techniques that guarantee higher site listing and better site traffic.
Search engine optimization promotes your products, services, web pages.	Search engine marketing promotes your website on the search engines.

Search engine optimization and search engine marketing both help websites gain higher site ranking, search engine visibility and site traffic. It’s just that search engine optimization is mainly a part of search engine marketing and search engine marketing still represents the whole package.

Search engine optimization and search engine marketing are both important for your webste's success. Need SEO and SEM help? Please see our Web Marketing Services or contact our Web Marketing Specialists.