Indonesia 
English 
In an era where people rely heavily on search engine, business should be able to acknowledge and take advantage of marketing opportunity resulted from that phenomenon. It’s kind of hard to imagine people living in this age without using the help of Google, and so, business should understand the right strategy that it can implement to make it beneficial.
Now, more and more players in the industry have come to realize the importance of search optimization, but some are still in the dark about the differences between SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). Even though they’re almost identical in abbreviation, they’re quite different. Here’s what you need to know about SEO and SEM.
What are they?
Both SEO and SEM are part of search marketing which is, according to Wordstream, “a tactic used to gain online presence and traffic via paid and unpaid strategies on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo”.
SEO strategy optimizes content to appear higher in search result through organic search, and it is an unpaid practice. On the other hand, SEM employs the combination of SEO and paid strategies, such as pay-per-click (PPC) ads, in order to drive more website traffic.
How long do they give result?
In general, SEO usually takes longer to give result; it can take months before a brand starts ranking on search engines. Meanwhile, SEM gives a far more instant result – as soon as you launch your ads.
However, the result from SEO practice usually stays longer while paid ads will immediately disappear once the campaign is over.
How do they appear on search engines?
The most recognizable difference is that, as part of SEM, paid ads will have the “Ad” icon next to it on the search results. In addition, paid ads may include extensions, like contact number, on search results.
Which is better?
It is hard to decide which one is better as it entirely depends on your brand and your goals. You’re going to have to conduct deep research in order to decide the most suitable practice for your campaign.
And that’s what you need to know about SEO and SEM. They might be similar in name, but practically they are different. Like the verdict explained, there really is no exact answer as to which one of them is better; it all very depends on your campaign and what it’s trying to achieve.
References:
