SEO, SEM, or social media? What is recommended?

1. SEO is an abbreviation for search engine optimization. The goal of SEO is to drive search engine users to your website through organic search results.
2. SEM is search engine marketing. It's a mixture of SEO and PPC advertising. These are the ads at the very top of your Google search.
3. Social Media Marketing (SMM) is marketing on a social platform including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram non-paid social media marketing and paid ads.

All three abbreviations are commonly used when discussing digital marketing, yet most people don't know whether they should invest in all of them or just one. Happy to tell you that most successful companies and brands engage in some combination of these marketing channels, including most of the top websites you visit every day.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization begins with a set of strategies to get a website visible to a user organically on Google search results.

PAST AND PRESENT OF SEO

Around the 2000s, if a company wanted to rank their blogs high, one could write their targeted keyword as many times as possible. Google would begin surveying a website, and the result would be exponential while developing a practice of manipulation in the results. Nowadays, SEO all depends on trust. Gaining trust is the search engine by giving trustworthy content to the people. The website has to begin with being:

Quickly crawled and understood by the search engine

Two easy ways you can help the search engine navigate your website is by using title tags, including H1-6 tags, and internal linking to other articles and pages within your website.

Using Title Tags

Using header tags in your content will make your articles easier to read and pinpoint the critical content.

Internal Linking

Internal linking is a popular strategy that we have all seen. We search up a question or phrase and click the first article that pops up. When you begin to scroll, you see multiple hyperlinks throughout the content. When you click one, it uploads another relevant piece begins - and the cycle continues as you continue to read. This is most important for authority and provides value to a reader, especially a search engine. The search engine wanted to understand which pages are the most important, and internal linking to related content throughout your blog helps all articles included to rank.

Help Solve Problems

Most people go to the internet to solve a problem, and Google has many ways to determine whether a website revolves around an issue. If your site provides knowledgeable content towards a problem, it will be recognized and push that topic to the top, and the following user will click on your link when they need answers to the same or similar subject.

Google's goal is to provide the best results for searchers. Provide excellent blog content, and you will be rewarded in the long run.

Provide quality information for resources to other websites (external backlinking). Even if your audience is seeking common problems and the volume of competitors in your industry is large, it is still vital to create unique content to help you stand out from the pack. Providing eye-catching infographics or giving new information on any new changes regarding your industry is a great way to earn site links to your website.

SEM: Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing is everything involving SEO but including paid ads to reach your target audience. The standard campaign practice for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is Google Ads.

SEMs usually start with a campaign with detailed keyword research to create targeted campaigns that place their products and services in front of the right audience.

Social Media

As much social media is the interaction among a community, big or small, they create, share, and exchange info or point of view through a social network referring to organic and paid marketing efforts. The leading platforms are:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

LinkedIn

YouTube

A typical business's goal in social media is to drive quality traffic to their website to convert them as a buyer/client and drive revenues. But first, you need to engage:

• Have to identify which platform would be best for your company
• Identify your audience and develop quality content
• Create your voice to build your brand to your audience

Search Engines vs. Social Media Marketing

SEO and SEM are different strategies for making your pages prominent in search engine results, but the result is similar - users search for keywords you're targeting, and they click on a link to your page.

Social media marketing is a very different situation, and with social media platforms, it's a marketing approach that no business can afford in this day in age.

What is the Recommended Strategy?

There is no wrong answer to this question, as all three can help you through the long and short run. The real questions are what is your timeline, and what is your budget?

Fast Timeline and Big Budget

If you need a fast ROI and have big pockets, you should try SEM. SEO takes months to see a positive impact in results, yet SEM would drive the conversion in no time. When it comes to your campaign, you are in the driver's seat, making this a perfect strategy for a company with the money to add towards advertising and needs a quick turnaround.

Slower Timeline and Big Budget

SEO is the best strategy for long-term results if you are ready to invest in a marketing strategy and have a longer timeline. SEO will help increase your credibility in Google, bringing them up in search rankings. Which is a result, it will bring a greater audience to your website. This means your brand is constantly visible. Even if you stop an SEO campaign, your website will rank high for a while.

No Timeline and Smaller Budget

Social media marketing is a great channel when your budget is limited. It is a perfect way to target your market without breaking the bank. Building your brands and engaging with your customers is free, posting content is free and even analytics are FREE. Then, when a business begins to develop a brand on socials, spending on ads can be used and make conversions easier for the company.

Why Use Just One?

There is no one grand marketing strategy; none are better than another. The best marketing strategies use multiple channels to cover all the bases and enjoy all the SEO, SEM, and social media marketing benefits.

• SEO builds your reputation and high-quality engagement for the long term
• SEM can target buyers quickly
• Social media marketing increases awareness and engagement with your brand

SEO could prove more cost-effective for long-term success if you focus on conversions, supplemented by SEM to make faster sales. Social media campaigns spread the word about your brand, creating more loyalty and drive traffic to your website to increase conversions further.

Diversifying marketing activities means more people will see your message!

Any questions? Comments? Please let us know! If you need help with SEO, SEM, or social media marketing, please contact our Hyperchat team today!