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Search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimisation (SEO) often get confused even though they are quite different. It is important that every online business has a clear strategy for both in their digital marketing plan in order to maximise reach. By this, we are talking about both organic and paid reach.
SEM is where a business pays to enter what is essentially an auction for their ad to be shown in a specific placement on a search engine. Depending on how successful that bid is determines whether or not their ad is displayed or not. Factors which influence the position are not based on the amount of the bid alone, but also competition from other advertisers, your Ad Rank (relevance of your ad), your budget and account settings, and user behaviour.
Search engine optimisation involves the tagging of keywords within your content which increase the chance of your website appearing higher up in search engine rankings. The main difference with SEM is that It is a free way for any online business to reach more potential customers. However, it requires a lot of work in terms of developing and writing quality content on your site and optimising key sections of your CMS (Content Management System). It can take search engines between 60-90 days to begin ranking your content so SEO requires a lot of persistence as well as patience.
Nowadays SEM, SEO and being active on social media have become the three integral parts of a company’s digital marketing strategy to increase sales, brand awareness, and build trust amongst billions of internet users.
Is your business being active on these three fundamentals of digital marketing?
Contact us to find out how we can help.
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