SEmO this, SoEM of that

many of my clients and associates looking for internet marketing advice wonder about the difference between SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing), and which is a better choice for them. (for more info about what these and other common internet marketing acronyms mean, see my previous blog entry)

SEO, while truly the BEST way to get your site out there, recognized and trafficked, can be quite a daunting beast. it's not for the fair-hearted (or small-budgeted), as it takes hours of painstaking commitment to truly optimize a site for the search engines. you need to review each page, code and copy, as well as spend considerable time building content, links and other long-term growth strategies to help your site not only achieve but MAINTAIN solid search engine placement. most mid-large companies hire professionals in SEO, web developers who specialize in optimizing sites, to do this for them either in-house or by contract. smaller companies usually depend on their webmaster or agency to provide this service. in either case, for SEO to be effective, it must be maintained. that means that you cannot think of SEO as a one time project that is 'finished' when you reach your page 1 status on Google. rather, it must be treated as a long-term strategy that is continually redirected with the ebb and flow of business.

SEM on the other hand, is much more like the standard print marketing most small businesses are used to. placing ads in search engine results is just like advertising offline. you plan a campaign strategy, set a budget and run with it. unlike print advertising, SEM allows you to work with the campaign in process, tweaking ad copy and placement to achieve better and better results. like offline campaigns, the bigger your budget the bigger your reach, but even with a modest budget you can still see some results for an SEM campaign.

so, which is better for your company? well that depends on a few factors...
1. are you a local business?
if you offer a product or service that is local (i.e. salons, gyms, restaurants), an SEM campaign can be targeted by geography to reach just your market. for this reason SEM may be more affordable than you may think. similarly, an SEO campaign that targets you geographically may be very effective, even with just a bit of effort.

2. do you sell online?
if you're looking to generate dollars, you really need to look at the breadth of products you offer and number of competitors. SEM can give quicker results than SEO, but if there is a lot of competition in the space, you may be paying more per click than you can return in profit for conversions.

3. are you a strategic marketer?
does your business tend to use long-term marketing strategies to reach customers, or do you run on the fly? solid SEO can take months to show results, and if you plan your site around keywords that are not viable in 2 weeks, you will be wasting your money and time.

in my opinion, both SEO and SEM have their strengths. personnally, i prefer SEO as it requires the business to think more strategically, plan long-term and grow with time. that being said, i have many clients that i create and run SEM campaigns for who are quite happy with that method of advertising. in the long run, a bit of both SEM and SEO, budgets permitting, is probably best. short, quick results from SEM can boost your business, while long term planning and strategy with SEO will keep it going for the long haul.

but that's just my opinion...love to hear what you think.