To start with, SEO is "Search Engine Optimization" and SEM is "Search Engine Marketing". What does that mean? ...
Let's use a "brick & mortar" gift shop as an example.
You have just opened a brand new gift shop that specializes in Hummels and spiritual nic-naks. The front of your store is very attractive and
when a customer walks in, it looks like a gift shop should. It is organized so that each area is clearly defined and the check-out process
is logical. You have contacted the local "Yellow Pages" and other phone companies and will be in the new phone books, coming out in 2 months.
The above example shows that you have "OPTIMIZED" your shop ... or new web site. Your new web site also looks attractive, is logically layed-out and functions properly.
You will now show up somewhere in the search engines, hopefully near the top. This may be fine, but do you need advertising?
To market your gift shop, you might want to purchase some air-time ads on a local radio station or even TV station. You should be careful which station you
choose, what time of day, and what type of ad to use. You might want to decorate your delivery van in bright colors. All of these items cost $$ and sometimes works, sometimes does not.
SEM "Search Engine Marketing" is taking your well-oiled web site and purchasing advertising. At the present, the two best advertising programs for web sites are "Overture" and Google-AdWords.
Both are PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising and are targeted to the exact keyword phrase you wish. If you want to attract people in NC who might be interested in Hummels, you might want to
purchase ads for the phrase,"NC Hummel figurines", or "Hummel North Carolina". This way when a person on Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Google, etc. does a search for "Hummel figurines in NC",
your ad will show up at the top of the screen. If that person decides to click your ad, then it would take them to your site. You might have to pay based on $.20 per click, or
set-up an account on a pre-paid basis.
Overture and Google-AdWords function differently, but the above principal is the same. If you have a nice shop, that is well organized and has good prices, you might want to market your business by purchasing
targeted ads.
Would it be a good idea to SEM without SEO? Probably not. It's like advertising your new gift shop, before you have carefully
layed out your shop. Do you want visitors BEFORE your shop is ready? Probably not. Do you want visitors to your new web site BEFORE
it is optimized and organized? Probably not.
Optimize your business (SEO) first and get it listed on the search engines. Then purchase your ads carefully to your targeted audience. Good luck!
