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- URLs and users need to be BFFs
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- A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words: How Alt Tags Can Help When a Picture Can't
- Making Content and Design Work in Harmony
- Web Design Shouldn't Be Rushed
- The Relationship Between Web Design and SEO
- Quality over Quantity
- Tweeting for success
- How to Engage Your Audience and Retain their Attention
- Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Website
- Ahoy Anchor Text
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- Looking for an E-Commerce Web Design Agency in Leicester? Look no further!
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- The need for effective E-commerce Platforms
- The flexibility of Magento 2 for Creating Mobile Apps
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- Magento 2 Perks for a winning E-commerce solution
- Magento 2 offers amazing Online stores
- Magento creates the best web customisations
- Improving Website SEO using Magento 2
- How to use Maegento 2 to create the best shopping websites
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- How to create an engaging E-commerce website with Magento 2
- Creating Beautiful Stores with Magento 2
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- 4 E-commerce stores that have successfully migrated to Magento 2.0
- How to Manage High E-commerce Traffic with Magento 2
- How a transition to Magento 2 can help you rank better on Google
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- Scalability Gains with Magento 2 - A Myth or Reality?
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- Magento 2 Extensions that Make Your Payment Process More Efficient
- Magento 2 Offers Improved Performance - What the Hype is All About?
- Magento 2 vs. Magento 1- Understanding the Differences
- Magento 2 vs. WooCommerce - Which One is a Smarter Choice?
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- 5 Reasons Why You Should Update Your Ecommerce Website
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- Avoid Making The 10 Biggest Facebook Marketing Blunders!
- How To Use Twitter For Businesses
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18 March 2016
SEO Search Engine Optimisation
SEO vs SEM
A frequent question we receive from our clients is what is the difference between SEO and SEM?
Search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) can be a confusing concept to grasp. You have most probably heard of both but not sure what the difference is.
There is a difference between both terms and it is important to understand what it is. Especially when determining how to allocate marketing funds and key business resources. Although, they have very similar roles, they share one goal: to bring users to your site.
To sum it up, SEO is a component of SEM. That doesn’t say a lot does it? Ok, so let’s look at this in more detail.
What is SEO?
SEO involves making your website as attractive and user-friendly as possible and is aimed at increasing your websites visibility in search engines such as Google.
As Google would say search engine optimisation is ‘the process of maximising the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.’
SEO is what makes a website ‘search engine friendly.’ It is strictly unpaid, only related to ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ search results and is different to Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising.
On-Site and Off-Site SEO
SEO is made up of two main pillars:
On-Site SEO
This is anything that you do with your website to optimize it for search engines.
- Tags and Meta Tags (Meta descriptions, alt tags, titles, etc.)
- Web content – quality and uniqueness
- Optimized page load speed
- Domain name
- Anchor texts
- Well formatted URL’s
- Internal linking
Off-Site SEO
This is the process of getting votes from other websites for the purpose of increasing your website’s trust for the intention of search engines.
- Link building to attract and obtain quality back links
- Reputation management
- Social media engagement
With Google’s every changing algorithm, the practice of link building has also changed. It is no longer just about how many links direct back to your site. The quality and authority of the sites you are linked from also contributes to determine if your site is credible or not.
What is SEM?
Search Engine Marketing is usually referred to short text advertisements, which generally appear at the top or down the right hand side of search engine results (which Google has now removed). You can read about ‘Saying Goodbye to Google’s Right Hand Side’ here. These advertisements are labelled as ‘sponsored links.’
An easier way to describe this is that SEM focuses on gaining search traffic through the use of paid advertising. It is a type of marketing that promotes websites by making them more visible on search engine results page.
Common methods of SEM include:
- SEO (free)
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Advertising: You pay every time someone click on your ad link
- Paid Inclusion
- Traditional ads
What is the difference between SEO and SEM?
So now that we have looked at SEO and SEM in more detail, it is easier to understand what the differences are between the two.
To conclude, SEO aims to provide a better organic search result, whereas SEM uses the search engines to advertise your website or business to internet customers and to send more traffic to your website. SEO is a non-paid component of SEM.
SEO Advantages
- SEO is a long term approach, however in the long run it allows businesses to establish search credibility.
- It is inexpensive. Therefore it will reduce costs, allowing you to spend money on other important areas of the business.
SEM Advantages
- Paying most of the time gets you further quicker. With SEM you can have instant web traffic, without the long wait through organic search rankings.
- SEM guarantees better visibility on search engine result pages (SERP’s) which SEO cannot guarantee.
If you want an eCommerce site, you need to be visible in both organic and advertised links, which means you need both SEO and SEM. Many might argue one is better than the other, but ultimately you need both to succeed.
If you want more information on understanding how SEO and SEM can benefit your business, give us a call here at FDC Leicester on 01164 244 244.

Topics
Latest blog
- 3 Big SEO Mistakes That Is Limiting Your Marketing Efforts
4th April 2017
- Is SEO Really Important for Your Business?
4th April 2017
- Why Your Web Design Needs To Have CRM Integration
10th February 2017
- Updating Patches for Web Domain Security
25th January 2017
- How to Integrate Linnworks with Magento 2 Ecommerce Platforms
11th January 2017
Archive
SEO Search Engine Optimisation(8)
-
2017(1)
-
2016(2)
March(11)
- What is robots.txt and how can it help with SEO?
- Why what you do for Google helps with Yahoo
- Google’s Research Tools to Find the Right Keywords for SEO
- International SEO at a Glance Part 1
- SEO vs SEM
- Ways to Optimise Your Website in 2016
- URLs and users need to be BFFs
- Do Do Not Not Duplicate Duplicate
- What are Meta Description Tags and How to Use Them Effectively?
- Give Your Web Pages a Little Labelling and a Lot of Love
- Introduction to SEO Month
February(1)
-
2015(1)
-
2014(4)
-
2013(4)
May(1)
March(7)
February(10)
- SEO & PPC – A Winning Combination
- Video Marketing Strategy And Your SEO Campaign
- Boost Your Rankings With On-Page SEO
- Let Quality Content Boost Your Rankings
- Taking It Back To Basics; Organic Backlinks
- Is Micro Formatting Important To SEO?
- Writing Good Content For Your SEO Strategy
- The Biggest Search Engine Optimisation No No’s!
- How To Achieve A Perfectly Optimised Page
- Why SEO Is Imperative for Your Business, Online or Offline
January(2)
-
2012(5)
August(3)
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2017(1)
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2016(5)
September(1)
May(3)
April(4)
March(33)
- Web Design Jargon
- The Top Image File Formats for Web Design
- The Best Web Design Tactics You Can Use
- Web Design Tips and Tricks
- Attention Leicester Businesses
- Mobile Internet – Internet that goes everywhere with people
- Collaborating Design, Development & Content: The Evolution of a Web Designer
- A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words: How Alt Tags Can Help When a Picture Can't
- Making Content and Design Work in Harmony
- Web Design Shouldn't Be Rushed
- The Relationship Between Web Design and SEO
- Quality over Quantity
- Tweeting for success
- How to Engage Your Audience and Retain their Attention
- Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Website
- Ahoy Anchor Text
- Navigation, Navigation, Navigation: Part 2 - How do I ensure that my website has good navigation?
- Navigation, Navigation, Navigation: Part 1 - Why is Navigation an important part of website design?
- How Important Is It to Have a Good UX Design?
- Why it’s Important that FDC Is Almost a Decade Old
- Measuring the Quality of Ecommerce Web Design
- Web Design Mistakes to Avoid
- Resizer: Google’s stance in web design standard practice
- The Future of Web Design
- Why Web Design is About More Than Just Different Colours and Templates
- Minimal, Clean and Simple: futuristic web design
- Looking for an E-Commerce Web Design Agency in Leicester? Look no further!
- FDC Studio - Web Design
- FDC - Decoding Web Design
- Predicting Web Design Trends in 2016
- The Do’s and Don’ts of Ecommerce: how to make your online business succeed
- What Makes Web Design Great?
- Web Design for Leicester-based business Dustraction by FDC
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- Top 4 Benefits of Magento 2 to make shopping carts
- The use of Extensions in Magento 2 for Improved Marketing
- The power of Magento 2 as a Catalogue Management Tool
- The Top 4 Advantages of Magento 2 for Web Developers
- The need for effective E-commerce Platforms
- The flexibility of Magento 2 for Creating Mobile Apps
- Magento 2-The best Content Management System
- Magento 2 Perks for a winning E-commerce solution
- Magento 2 offers amazing Online stores
- Magento creates the best web customisations
- Improving Website SEO using Magento 2
- How to use Maegento 2 to create the best shopping websites
- How to select the best Magento 2 Web Designs
- How to create an engaging E-commerce website with Magento 2
- Creating Beautiful Stores with Magento 2
- Best 5 Features of Magento 2 as a CMS
- Employing Magento 2 for empowering Affiliate Marketing
- 4 E-commerce stores that have successfully migrated to Magento 2.0
- How to Manage High E-commerce Traffic with Magento 2
- How a transition to Magento 2 can help you rank better on Google
- Is Magento 2 Suitable for Small Merchants?
- Scalability Gains with Magento 2 - A Myth or Reality?
- The 4 Best Features of Magento 2 That Make It the Best E-Commerce Platform
- What Makes Magento 2 a Robust E- Commerce Platform for B2B Businesses?
- Generating business through your website
August(11)
- 4 Magento 2 Extensions That Can Reduce Your Cart Abandonment Rate
- 6 Reasons You Should Move to Magento 2
- Affiliate Marketing Made Easier with Magento 2
- How to Migrate Seamlessly from Magento 1 to Magento 2?
- Magento 2 Extensions that Make Your Payment Process More Efficient
- Magento 2 Offers Improved Performance - What the Hype is All About?
- Magento 2 vs. Magento 1- Understanding the Differences
- Magento 2 vs. WooCommerce - Which One is a Smarter Choice?
- The Four Best Magento 2 Themes for Fashion Stores
- Understanding the Tech Stack of Magento 2
- Why Magento 2 is Likely to Win against Shopify in the E-Commerce Battle?
March(2)
February(7)
- Is the old way to sell the new way to sell?
- How Magento Can Benefit Your Business
- Compete With the Big Boys with Magento
- Magento: Amazon and eBay Integration
- Magento – Making E-Commerce Easy
- Small Tweaks To Increase Your eCommerce Website Conversion Rates
- 5 Reasons Why You Should Update Your Ecommerce Website
January(6)
- The Complete Package: Get the E-Commerce Website Your Business Deserves
- Climb the Ranks – How SEO Can Increase Business Profits
- Commerce Made Easy with Magento
- Stand Out – Why a Customized Website is Invaluable to Your Business
- Stay in Control – An Integrated Website to Optimize Business Performance
- Effectively Market and Grow Your Business in 2016
-
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- Google MyBusiness – Integrate location, reviews and your website with one program
- How to Use Raven Tools to Effectively Manage SEO and Social Media
- Google Merchant Centre – Perfect for E-Commerce Solutions Part 2
- Google Merchant Centre – Perfect for E-Commerce Solutions Part 1
- Google AdWords the Basics Part 2
- Google AdWords the Basics Part 1
- Google Webmaster as an effective tool – Part 2
- Google Webmaster as an effective tool – Part 1
- How Google Drive and Youtube Can Drive Your Business Forward
- Google Analytics Explained - Part 2
- Google Analytics Explained - Part 1
- How Google works as a Search Engine
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- Affiliate Marketing And Its Value
- Are You Missing Out On Vital Marketing Opportunities?
- How To Attract The Female Audience
- Is Your eCommerce Site Designed Around Your Customers?
- Get The Most Out Of Your eCommerce Store
- Avoid Making The 10 Biggest Facebook Marketing Blunders!
- How To Use Twitter For Businesses
- Is Your Business Making The Most Out Of Google+?
- Google+ State That There Is No Concern Regarding Facebook Search Tactics
- Boosting Lead Nurturing Campaigns
- Embrace Open-Source Marketing
-
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- E-marketing Campaigns: How to Win the Rat Race
- The Golden Rules of Selling Through Your Website
- Generate Cash Without Having to Do a Thing - Here's How
- The 10 Biggest Branding Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- The Seven Key Considerations of Branding
- Dale Shows You How to Cash in On Your Website
- eCommerce: Have You Done Your Homework
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