Sphinn - Comparing SEO vs. SEM

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Comparing SEO vs. SEM

Posted By: sodapopseo 254 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://blog.zetainteractive.com)
Category: Google SEO

A well-respected industry peer recently wrote a piece attempting to compare SEO vs. SEM in terms of their share of ad revenue compared to their share of search traffic. He provided some fairly robust data points that seemingly pointed towards SEO as the logical choice for marketing teams that are strapped for budget during these rather harsh economic times.

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from hugoguzman 254 days ago #

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Thanks for the Sphinn! I'm good with Rand's general mindset, but I just feel that some of the data he presented was misleading or possibly misguided.

It's really just my two cents on the topic.

from dannysullivan 254 days ago #

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Well, I don't see how you can compare SEO to SEM since I consider SEM to be an umbrella term that encompasses both SEO and Paid Search.

Now if you mean comparing SEO and Paid Search, I'm with you :)

from JohnHGohde 254 days ago #

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"I don't see how you can compare SEO to SEM since I consider SEM to be an umbrella term"

Some people define them as following:

SEO - A technical field involving HTML markup coding, among other things, where CONTENT is considered King. And, where link building is done internally within the same domain.

SEM - Mostly about marketing, involving such things as Social Media Marketing, where LINK BUILDING is considered King.

from hugoguzman 253 days ago #

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@dannysullivan - sadly, most of the companies that my agency deals with refer to paid search as "SEM", so as a good marketer (and mediocre writer) I feel that need to speak their language.

Also, I felt that the title would have lost some punch if I wrote out "natural search vs. paid search?..."

Thanks for chiming in.

from hugoguzman 253 days ago #

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@JohnHGohde - thanks for the alternate interpretation.

What I'm really curious to hear about is whether you agree with the premise of my post.

from JohnHGohde 252 days ago #

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@hugoguzman

Doing some more research, I would have to agree with dannysullivan. The original article which you are complaining about doesn't even exist anymore. All I could find was a one paragraph reference to it on another website. But, it definitely appears to have been presented as PPC vs SEO.

Even PPC vs. SEO doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It should have been PPC vs. Natural Organic White-Hat SEO.

An even more interesting article would have been PPC vs Black-Hat natural organic SEO. Now, try to tell me which is more cost effective.

from hugoguzman 252 days ago #

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@JohHGohde - you're sort of missing the point.

The grand majority of companies we work with (Fortune 1000) equate "SEM" with "Paid Search" (aka "PPC"). The use it in conversation and even refer to it in this way in RFPs. And while I appreciate the semantics of the situation, I have to write for my clients and prospects first and foremost.

But yes, I'm aware of what "SEM" means, what "paid search" means, etc...

from JohnHGohde 252 days ago #

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Perhaps, you are missing the point? The original article used PPC, rather than SEM.

from neyne 249 days ago #

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before reading the article, it appears that Hugo is not alone in his SEM/PPC interchangable use. Take a look at the Pubcon November 11 agenda, under the SEM category: http://www.pubcon.com/sessions.htm

It is all about paid advertising. The border between the two is somewhat blurred for the rest of the conference but someone from the outside can easily be confused with the semantics.

so a) that is not the point of the article, b) Hugo's use of SEM instead of PPC is more widely spread than just among the uneducated clients.

Now going to read the article