Search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) are two major strategies that webmasters use to boost their website’s visibility in the search engines, with the ultimate goal of increasing traffic and leads and boosting profits. However, these terms are often used interchangeably, which can be confusing for newbies. In this article, we’ll discuss the major differences between these two strategies and point out some common pitfalls to avoid when using either.
Keywords are the words or phrases someone enters into a search engine when looking for something. They can also be called search terms, searcher’s intent, or search strings. It is up to you to find out what your potential customers want to know about your product and put those words on your website so that when people do searches with those keywords, your website comes up in the results pages!
If you want your website to appear as the top result on a search engine, you need to engage in search engine marketing (SEM). This process can be expensive, but it’s the most effective way to ensure that potential customers see your website. SEM involves paying an organization like Google or Bing for ad space. These ads will then display when someone searches for keywords related to your business and/or services. Local SEO marketing includes using more specific keywords to your area so people searching in your city will find you first.
SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of improving the ranking of a website on search engines. The higher the ranking, the more likely people find the site. Keywords are an important part of both SEO and SEM. They are the words or phrases that people use when searching for information on a topic. Search engines consider keywords when determining which sites appear in their results pages. That’s why it’s important to know how to use keywords to help your business grow.
A good keyword is relevant to your business, has a high search volume, and low competition. Using a keyword research tool, you can find out what keywords are most relevant to your business. Once you have a list of potential keywords, you can use a tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner to see how many people are searching for those terms each month. Finally, you want to ensure there is not too much competition for the keyword, or you may have difficulty ranking for it.
The length of your keyword phrase should be based on what you are trying to rank for. If you try to rank for a short-tail keyword, you will want a shorter keyword phrase. If you try to rank for a long-tail keyword, you will want a longer keyword phrase. Keep in mind that the longer your keyword phrase is, the more difficult it will be to rank for.
There are a variety of places you can look for good keywords. One place is your Google AdWords account. You can view the keywords triggering your ads if you have an active campaign. Another place to look is your website analytics. You can see which keywords bring people to your site and look at trends over time. Finally, you can use a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer to find new keywords to target.
If you’re serious about marketing your business online, you need to know the difference between SEM and SEO keywords. While both are important, they serve different purposes. SEM is a more immediate and short-term solution that can positively impact search engine rankings; however, it’s only designed for advertising campaigns. SEO is a long-term investment that can lead to better search engine rankings in the future, but it takes time to see results from this strategy.
Main photo:geralt/pixabay.com
