Legal Internet Marketing - SEO - Web Design

In the world of internet marketing, it can oftentimes become difficult to decipher what exactly things mean. You have tools like SEO, SEM, url, http, and the list goes on and on. But what exactly is the difference between SEO and SEM? For one, SEO stands for search engine optimization while SEM stands for search engine marketing. Sounds like they are one and the same, right? Wrong.

SEO is a part of SEM. It is a tool that you can use in order to improve your SEM, basically. Confused yet? Let’s break it down. Search engine optimization is the process by which a website is modified in order to appeal to a search engine. It involves using specialized key terms and phrases, meta tags, content, graphics and other tools that will ensure that your site will rank high across a search engine query result for a particular term that your product or service is relevant to.

The big deal regarding SEO is that if you don’t rank high across a search, how will your potential clients ever discover your website? Think about it. When you search for something on the web, let’s say you are looking for a pizza place nearby, how many times do you scroll through page after page of a Google or Yahoo result to end up with your ultimate choice? Most people take a look at the first few results and figure that those are the best ones, so they make their selection from there. The whole point of SEO is to get your site to be among the first, if not the first, in a result page so that your target audience will see your site. This, in turn, will bring you business and increase in popularity.

Now, SEO deals with how efficient a website will be pertaining to how a search engine will index it and rank it. SEM, on the other hand, is used to drive traffic to your website by promoting awareness. SEM strategies include link building, Pay Per Click advertising (PPC), and other useful tools that will increase your website’s visibility. SEM is how you market yourself online, basically, and SEO is the way you build your foundation.

By using both SEO and SEM tools to improve your website, you will find that in time, your site will appear at the top of a search engine result for your product and service.