What’s the difference between search engine optimisation and search engine marketing?
If you’ve been looking at how to increase your website’s visibility and rankings in the search engines then you’ve probably come across the terms ‘search engine optimisation’ and ‘search engine marketing’ quite a bit. They sound more or less the same, but are they the same?
Rather confusingly, the answer depends on who you’re talking to at the time. Some people do use the two phrases interchangeably. Other search professionals however define search engine optimisation (SEO) as on-page optimisation such as keyword-rich content creation, and search engine marketing as paid for inclusions in the search engine results pages, such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
For the purposes of clarity we’ll assume that the latter is true, but generally there is no widespread agreement on usage of the terms.
Search engine optimisation
SEO is all about making your website more attractive to the search engines so that your content will rank higher in search results and thus get more hits. There are many different ways of doing this, such as including relevant keywords in your content and building up an assortment of high quality links to your site.
Each SEO agency has a slightly different way of currying favour with the search engines for their client’s websites. Generally however, successful SEO not only focuses on tweaking a website to benefit from the ever-changing search engine algorithms, but also by making it more useful to users and ensuring that it is of a high enough standard to keep the human visitors coming back for more.
Search engine marketing
In terms of PPC ads and other paid-for inclusions, search engine marketing is a much more direct and immediate strategy for increasing traffic. But it’s not simply a case of handing over the cash to the search engines to get more visits to your website. Search engine marketing is simply a way of getting your message out; it’s up to you (or your SEO agency) to make sure that message is not just heard, but acted on.
So then, does your website need both SEO and search engine marketing? In short, it couldn’t hurt. Many SEO agencies specialise in both, and can be enlisted to undertake one, the other, or both as part of a multi-pronged campaign. Website promotion is a competitive business, and the two practices are mutually complementary, with each doing its part to bring people to your site. Which is of course what it’s really all about.
Contact our SEO London Agency where one of the team will be more than happy to assist you with any queries.