Integrating search marketing in your e-commerce marketing activities is essential to help increase your store visibility in Google Search. When search engine optimisation (SEO) & search engine marketing (SEM) are done right, you will see an increase in quality traffic, which will bring more conversions and repeat purchases.  

But search optimization can be a difficult strategy to manage if you don’t know how to compare SEM vs. SEO. Read along as we dig deeper on the similarities and differences of SEM and SEO, and how to effectively use them for your growth.

What Are SEO & SEM Strategies? 

Google’s search results are divided into two main categories, which are the paid search results and the organic search results. SEO is where you focus on ranking in the organic results. SEM is when you tap into both SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) in order to get quality traffic from search engines. 

SEO helps businesses promote increase their brand presence visibility in Google Search by continually optimising your e-commerce site to rank higher. It involves optimising meta titles and descriptions, writing unique product descriptions and more to drive organic website traffic. 

On the other hand, SEM is a primary driver of business growth and customer acquisition for your e–commerce stores. SEM functions similarly to SEO, it helps brands get greater visibility in the search result in text format but it displays your e-commerce website above organic results.   

Another most striking differences it has with SEO is that it does not come for free. This is also why it’s sometimes referred to as ‘Paid Search’.

SEO vs. SEM: Which is Better for Your E-commerce? 

SEM and SEO strategies can be utilised simultaneously, depending on your e-commerce goals at different stages. SEM campaigns can help you start yielding results instantly, while SEO can take months.  

SEM are advisable to businesses that have just launched their e-commerce presence since SEO sometimes take time. SEM is an important method of targeting potential buyer and drive valuable clicks to a website. But as time progresses, SEO can greatly help you in reducing the cost of driving website traffic.  

Regardless of what product you’re selling, it’s hard for you to win over your competitors if your e-commerce website is not appearing in the search results. If you want to drive potential buyers for your e-commerce website, that’s what we can help.   

Need a hand planning a search  marketing strategy for your e-commerce business? Contact us to get started.