Many business owners ask themselves: what would help my business the most - SEO or SEM?

If you’re new to online optimization and marketing, SEO stands for search engine optimization, and SEM stands for search engine management. Both methods have benefits and drawbacks. However, depending on your business, one option may help your online presence more than the other.

Ultimately, it depends on what you’re looking for and what goals you have for your business. It can also depend on the market and your potential client base. To break things down in a straightforward way, here’s a comparison of SEO and SEM and how they could benefit your business.

What is SEO?

SEO utilizes an organic approach towards improving your search engine results. Instead of paying to have your business appear on the first page of search results, you use several methods to naturally gravitate potential clients towards your site. These include keywords, on-page optimization, improving the appearance and function of the website, and off-page link building. This may seem fairly straightforward, but researching for high-performing keywords and effective website performance takes time. It also requires a fair amount of trial and error to ensure the site continues to have optimal performance and appears high up on the search engine results page (SERP.) SEO is great if you have an established website that needs a little bit of an update or if you have an established client base and want to expand your reach. But SEO may not necessarily cover all your bases. If you offer a niche service or product or if you have a lot of competition, you might want to consider SEM.

What is SEM?

SEM takes more of a direct approach to where your website appears on a SERP. It mainly focuses on setting up ads and doing continued optimization of those ads. For example, if you utilized Google Ads to optimize your business’s website, you would pay for your website to appear at the top of a search results page. A few social media marketing tactics work in tandem with SEM, such as ads on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. This is a great approach for businesses with the budget to keep their website at the top of related SERPs. However, utilizing this approach alone can be very expensive and may not be effective for a long-term solution.

Combining the two

In truth, one of the most effective ways to promote your business and enhance your online marketing is by using both SEO and SEM in tandem. The SEO helps with a more grassroots approach towards your website. Over time, it gradually gains higher traction with winning keywords and optimal website performance. The SEM ensures your site appears at the top of SERPs when you need it most. There are several other benefits of combining the two, and a powerful way of implementing this is by working with a professional analytics consulting firm.

If you want to get the most out of your budget and your client base, an analytics consulting firm can review your existing website’s performance and recommend ways to improve. They can also offer new ways to approach online marketing through either SEO, SEM or both. And here at Watermelon Analytics, we work with our clients to ensure they take steps towards their online marketing goals.

If you’re curious about implementing SEO or SEM for your businesses’ website, contact us today! We’re here to help.