Search engines have revolutionized how we use the Internet. Instead of having to know the exact site address you want to visit, you’re able to tell Google or Bing what you want to know and let their algorithms do the leg-work for you. Think of it as hopping into a lightning-fast taxi that instantly takes you anywhere you want to go. “Find me a great local Italian place for lunch, Google.” “Bing, I’m looking for a new suit – what can you show me?”

For marketers, that presents an opportunity to guide the search their way using two essential tools: SEO and SEM. Through search engine optimization and marketing, marketers are able to suggest the route the taxi takes and the ads displayed on its side panels.

Free for All or Pay to Play
The major difference between SEO and SEM is that one is unpaid, and the other’s paid. Search engine optimization refers to content that attracts natural search inquiries. Google, Bing, and other search engines index sites to make finding relevant content easier. When you type or say your search terms, these sites serve up a list of hits that match keywords within it. For common search terms, listings are in the millions. A few uncommon phrases might turn up only one result (which, by the way, is known as a Googlewhack – try it yourself and see if you can find a one-hit wonder).

For most keywords, results are in the low thousands, and marketers compete heavily to be the top listing among that number. Your content creator and SEO specialist have to know your target market and stay on top of the latest changes in how search engines index sites. It’s an art as much as a science, and the listings are volatile. A site that’s on top one day could find its fortunes shifting in a hurry with a tiny tweak to Google’s search algorithms. SEO is also content-hungry; search engines demand new, relevant information to deliver the most relevant results to their users. That’s why most marketers layer SEO with SEM.

With search engine marketing, you automatically move to the head of the class. Take a look at Google’s search page and look at the top. You’ll see a few listings that are labeled as ads. They’re functionally identical to any other listing, but the company that posted it paid to put content front and center on the search page. Paid listings go through the same careful selection for keywords, high-quality backlinks, and page load optimization, so in that sense, they also follow the rules for SEO. SEM isn’t always as closely fitted as SEO content to a given keyword search, though, and it isn’t free.

Cooperation, Not Competition
Organic traffic from SEO takes time to accumulate. Search engines are designed to move sites up on listings as they accrue authority with high-value backlinks and other signals of reliability. By contrast, SEM is quick. Pay-per-click (PPC) on-page ads and search engine listings appear right away without waiting for indexing or gradually growing an audience organically. Some marketers may argue for one strategy over the other, but a two-pronged approach that uses both lets you capture instantaneous interest and build authority over time. With SEO and SEM, the tortoise and the hare work together to win you the race.