SEO and SEM: Summary of key differences
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 9:41 am
When we plan the online strategy that a business should follow, we usually incorporate two channels that are quite mature in the sector: SEO and SEM . These are the two areas of search engine marketing, and it is worth differentiating them. Both are nourished by one of the actions that has become part of the daily life of most people with access to the Internet: Internet searches.
Although they share a space, the search engine results pages or SERPs, and a common objective, directing traffic to our websites, there are fundamental differences between these two areas of online marketing, both when it comes to working on them, and in the results they provide.
Let's see what the main differences are between SEO and SEM . But first, we will define what the acronyms that represent each channel mean.
What is SEM?
From the acronym Search Engine Marketing, SEM or search engine marketing in its literal translation, has come to define mainly paid advertising in search engines . For example, through text ads on the Google Adwords platform.
Although the concept theoretically encompasses other channels such as SEO (under the umbrella implied by the term Marketing), its use has been restricted solely to advertising. And sometimes it is used to cover other advertising turkey telegram data options, such as Display or video ads.
For the purposes of this article, we will refer to SEM in relation to ads that are present in the SERPs themselves.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization or SEO is the set of tactics and techniques that aim to make web content occupy the top positions among the organic or natural results of search engine results pages . Or in other words, trying to be the first on Google without depending on advertising. In order to be able to analyze the competition, choose the most suitable keywords and create the most successful strategies, numerous SEO tools are used that provide a wide range of possibilities.
Although the SEO concept increasingly covers more areas and actions within online marketing, we could divide its scope into two large areas:
On-Page SEO : optimization carried out on our own website, both at a technical and content level.
Off-Page SEO : those actions and elements outside of our portal, from link building to mentions in the media and social networks, among many others.
Once we have defined the meaning of each of them, we will summarize some of the main differences between SEO and SEM.
Cost
One of the biggest myths about SEO is that it is free. Given the comparison with SEM, in which we require a direct monetary investment in advertising, the lack of a cost in this sense within SEO has led to it being associated with the concept of free.
But what about the investment in time? Or the economic resources allocated to tools, promotions to generate external links or even paying an agency to manage search engine optimization for us? SEO is not free .
The main difference between SEM and SEO in this area is that, while the former requires an investment to buy advertising space in search engines, the latter distributes the monetary and resource investment in actions to achieve better organic positions . And this without taking into account that to carry out a SEM campaign we may also have to include costs such as the creation of a landing page.
Although they share a space, the search engine results pages or SERPs, and a common objective, directing traffic to our websites, there are fundamental differences between these two areas of online marketing, both when it comes to working on them, and in the results they provide.
Let's see what the main differences are between SEO and SEM . But first, we will define what the acronyms that represent each channel mean.
What is SEM?
From the acronym Search Engine Marketing, SEM or search engine marketing in its literal translation, has come to define mainly paid advertising in search engines . For example, through text ads on the Google Adwords platform.
Although the concept theoretically encompasses other channels such as SEO (under the umbrella implied by the term Marketing), its use has been restricted solely to advertising. And sometimes it is used to cover other advertising turkey telegram data options, such as Display or video ads.
For the purposes of this article, we will refer to SEM in relation to ads that are present in the SERPs themselves.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization or SEO is the set of tactics and techniques that aim to make web content occupy the top positions among the organic or natural results of search engine results pages . Or in other words, trying to be the first on Google without depending on advertising. In order to be able to analyze the competition, choose the most suitable keywords and create the most successful strategies, numerous SEO tools are used that provide a wide range of possibilities.
Although the SEO concept increasingly covers more areas and actions within online marketing, we could divide its scope into two large areas:
On-Page SEO : optimization carried out on our own website, both at a technical and content level.
Off-Page SEO : those actions and elements outside of our portal, from link building to mentions in the media and social networks, among many others.
Once we have defined the meaning of each of them, we will summarize some of the main differences between SEO and SEM.
Cost
One of the biggest myths about SEO is that it is free. Given the comparison with SEM, in which we require a direct monetary investment in advertising, the lack of a cost in this sense within SEO has led to it being associated with the concept of free.
But what about the investment in time? Or the economic resources allocated to tools, promotions to generate external links or even paying an agency to manage search engine optimization for us? SEO is not free .
The main difference between SEM and SEO in this area is that, while the former requires an investment to buy advertising space in search engines, the latter distributes the monetary and resource investment in actions to achieve better organic positions . And this without taking into account that to carry out a SEM campaign we may also have to include costs such as the creation of a landing page.