While they are closely related, there are some major differences between SEO and SEA
In the realm of online marketing, there are different ways in which you can make your website more visible to potential customers. Two of the most prominent ones are online advertising (SEA) and search engine optimisation (SEO). And while they both have the goal of improving your online visibility, there are some important differences.
SEA
What is SEA? Well, SEA, short for search engine advertising, refers to paid advertisements in search engines like Google. When advertising, you bid on your keywords and only pay when a user clicks on them. This is called the pay per click (CPC) model.
Benefits of SEA
- Immediate visibility: with SEA, or CPC, your website will shoot straight to the top of search results, quickly generating much more traffic.
- Great control : you can target particular keywords and audiences, thus giving you a lot of control over who sees your ad.
- Measurable results : you can closely monitor your ads’ performance with SEA platforms’ statistics and in-depth reports.
SEO
What is SEO? SEO, short for search engine optimisation, is a branch of online marketing that aims to achieve higher rankings in organic search results. Organic search results are the non-paid results that are displayed on SERPs. These results are ranked based on relevance to the query, and quality of the content on the website, as well as a number of technical and on-page SEO factors.
Benefits of SEO
- Lasting visibility: well-optimised content can continuously generate traffic without the non-stop advertising cost.
- Credibility and reliability: organic search results are often regarded as more credible and reliable by users, so they often get more clicks.
- Broad coverage: you don’t have to focus on very specific keywords in your SEO strategy, you can also create broader visibility with related keywords.
Important Differences Between SEO and SEA
Paid vs. Organic
The biggest difference between SEO and SEA is whether or not you pay directly for your online visibility. With SEA, you pay per click on the ad, while SEO improves your website to help generate more organic traffic without CPC.
Speed vs. Permanence
SEA is a quick way of gaining visibility and achieving results, but as soon as you stop paying, the advertisements disappear. SEO strategies take more time to kick in, but they do have more long-lasting effects.
Budget vs Effort
The main thing you need for SEA is a budget for CPC, while SEO requires investment in the shape of time and resources in order to optimise your website to have long-lasting results.
Seach engine advertising (SEA) and search engine optimisation (SEO) both have their own unique benefits and goals. Which strategy best fits your business, depends on your goals, budget and timeline. Some businesses choose to combine both strategies and achieve optimal visibility. Regardless of the approach you take, knowing the difference between SEA and SEO is crucial to developing an effective online marketing strategy.
Looking for Professional Guidance About Your Online Marketing Strategy?
Here at Applic Group, we specialise in optimising websites for both search engine advertising and search engine optimisation. Whether you are looking for quick visibility through SEA, or for long-lasting results with SEO, our expert team is ready to guide you. Get in touch today and discover what we can do to help you.
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