Monday, October 12, 2009

SEO vs SEM: What Is It And Why Is It Important to Know?

By Justin Harrison

SEO and SEM are both used almost interchangable, they commonly are bandied by webmasters. Is there really a difference? If there is a difference, what is it?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing. So you see, they are different. To understand better, SEO is anything you do to your page to make it more search engine friendly. SEM is anything you do to get higher ranks in search engines, such as, search engine optimization, requesting back links, and submitting your URL to search engines.

It?s important to know the difference between the two terms; make sure you ask for all information if your unsure before going and spending money on a SEO or SEM package. For example, a company offers you a package, if you don?t ask and get all the information, you might be buying into a package that merely is the company submitting your website URL to a few search engines, something you can easily do yourself.

Information that would be good to gain would be what they plan on doing to increase traffic to your website. So they are submitting your URL to search engines? Which ones? Have them give you a list of those search engines. What about the use of keywords? Ask about keyword optimization of the website. Ask about META and ALT tags.

Whether it's called SEO or SEM, the precise names don't matter so much as the services offered and particular actions companies will take. Since SEM is so broad, it can range to anything from a comprehensive and detailed package of multiple services to a mere bare bones effort not worth buying. You need to find companies that know what they're doing and have developed a history for good business practices and treating customers fairly. With a little effort put into researching your options, you can be sure to get the best online marketing for your money.

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