Search engine optimization and search engine marketing both are intrinsic part of internet marketing efforts. However, there is a lot of confusion as to which one is a better strategy in return on investment (ROI) terms. This post will help get rid of some doubts.

SEO vs. SEM – The ROI Myth Heavily Crushed

Return on investment (ROI) is one of the biggest factors for any course of action involving investment of resources when it comes to making a decision. For a whle a debate has been heating up on whether search engine optimization (SEO) has better ROI than professional search engine marketing (SEM). In fact it has turned into somewhat of a myth that it is easier to get good ROI through SEO than it is to get the same ROI through SEM. Two facts have helped evolve this myth. SEM strictly involves click costs while SEO works through organic traffic. Let’s see whether this myth is a myth or if it is a fact.

What is the Truth? Is SEM Better than SEO?

When you look closer to this myth, you will see there is no truth in it and there are a few reasons why. In this post, I am going to discuss the ‘landing page difference’. In SEM, you make the decision on which landing page your visitors will see. In SEO, a search engine spider makes the decision on the landing page visitors will end up on. There's a difference in control, and that difference makes all the difference in the world. That’s why serious search engine marketing services providers opt for full blown SEM rather than just SEO. Searchers need to be satisfied with what they see. If they come to a site and don't think it's the best site for them, they'll go back to the search engine results page and click on your competitors' links - in a matter of no time. However, if your landing page is optimized for the keywords the searchers choose, and the ad copy the searchers see- then you will be able to tell a new visitor immediately that he/she's come to the correct place. And no matter how great your site is, that's a message that visitors need to hear. Because people don't just want to see a good landing page, they want to see a landing page that is relevant. However only a good search engine marketing firm can optimize your landing page. A search spider won't. Gemini Rising Ltd can help you easily with that.

Perhaps SEO and SEM Both Win

In both SEO and SEM, you only hit ROI if your searchers purchase from you. A search engine marketing service provider might need a higher initial investment than an SEO firm does (because SEM requires the management cost, plus the PPC cost; while SEO only costs the price of management alone) - but you are also likely to get better conversions through SEM, because you're likely to get better landing pages through SEM. And it's only conversions that will get you ROI. Are we saying that getting the best SEO possible isn't worthwhile? No way! The more you dominate in the search engine results page, the better. It will plant your brand in the psyche of the searchers making your website or blog easier to remember when they would require services/products you offer. So excellent SEO is absolutely vital to strong internet marketing! But saying that SEO will get better ROI than SEM - because organic traffic is free - ignores the most important element of SEM: control. And its control that makes all the difference between getting traffic, and getting traffic that converts. And that makes a huge difference when it comes to ROI.