Getting your site to appear at the top of a Google search isn’t an overnight process. No, search engine marketing isn’t as simple as slapping a bunch of keywords onto your site or paying a “body business” to get your site to the top of search results. So, what does that leave you? You get a different kind of optimization, the kind that gives you a better chance of being noticed.
On-Page Optimization is a brand new term in the world of SEO. You can search online for all details of what it entails, but essentially, it’s about optimizing your site code so it appears higher in a search result. On-Page Optimization consists of adding relevant code to your site and updating it regularly.
The big thing about On-Page Optimization is that it’s a continuous process. You must maintain a regular update frequency, so don’t expect instant gratification in terms of search engine ranking. This said, you also don’t want to be one of those that come and go on search engines. You want to remain consistent. This is the core of the process.
On the flip side, Off-Page Optimization is a bigger part of SEO, and is all about generating links that lead to your site. This can be achieved by creating content like blogs or articles. You can also generate links by linking to your site in social media, forums, and other areas. This type of optimization will be an ongoing process, requiring time and patience to ensure satisfactory results.
Now that you have a basic understanding of SEO, you may ask “What is the difference between SEO and SEM?”. I have come across multiple posts on the internet explaining the difference. In case you missed it, here it is: the difference is mainly in the use of keywords. You have probably seen all those posts that explain why you should not click paid links, how SEO is different from SEM, how links are similar to sales, or how SEO differs from Pay-for-Link advertising. The thing is, these posts are a disservice to the community in that they make the profession look bad.
What all those posts lack is the simplicity of SEO and SEM, which are simply “results” and “traffic”. It’s not the techniques that drive results, but the results that drive the techniques. No matter how much you love the SEM aspect of it, results drive actions. My point is, SEM and SEO are the basics of getting results.
Now, it’s time to look at getting results. Let’s say you built a great website paired with great content. You also have a ton of generated links to your site. However, the traffic to your site is very low. It’s not very profitable, then, because you are driving no sales to your site.
In contrast, let’s say you look at the tactics out there that charge you for traffic – now, that’s going to drive high CPC (cost per click). It’s easy to say that you won’t be paying a lot of money to get traffic, but this will inevitably lead to low business driven to your site, thus will not be profitable. Enter SEM.
SEM is the lowest form of SEO. It’s simply for optimizing your site for the search engines for the specific keywords or key phrases. This is the equivalent of doing your title tag and meta tags justice; it just tells search engines what your site is about. It’s simple and fast. It will drive your target traffic to your site, without worrying about paying for it.
All I’m trying to say is if you aren’t getting any results, or at least not enough of them, with the other tactics I listed, perhaps it’s time to look at SEM. Now, I am not saying that it’s a better tactic than others, but the results it can give you is unparalleled. If you care about your site and the results it can give you, consider SEM.