Comments on: Why SEO Is More Important Than SEM

By: Dave Davis

Dave Davis — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:32:05 +0000

Well, he didn’t actually say “SEM” just search marketing and Lisa probably didn’t quote him right.
Potato potaaaato.

By: Richard Hearne

Richard Hearne — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:21:58 +0000

Dave

Check out:
http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/archives/2006/12/keynote_search.html

Danny Sullivan apparently just discussed SEO as organic and SM as paid. Funny coincidence that this pops up in my reader

By: Richard Hearne

Richard Hearne — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:02:33 +0000

Yeah Dave

It really is a very grey area with different people referring to different things. I never really considered SEO to be a bubset of SEM. The you have people talking about ‘Search Maketing’. Personally all I know for sure is that SEO is about organic.

Confusion reigns supreme

By: Dave Davis

Dave Davis — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 09:51:47 +0000

Richard, don’t mean to poke this at you but if you refer to : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_Engine_Marketing

“SEM, is a set of marketing methods to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). The three main methods of SEM are:”

That goes back to the whole “SEO is a subset of SEM”.

By: Ireland SEO Marketing » Pay Per Click Advertising For Site Traffic

Ireland SEO Marketing » Pay Per Click Advertising For Site Traffic — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 02:25:04 +0000

[...] With SEO, it is more of long-term commitment to achieve the wanted results. As usual, Red cardinal has made an excellent post on why SEO is more important than SEM which is something that should be taking into consideration before starting a pay per click campaign. [...]

By: Mojo

Mojo — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 09:50:45 +0000

Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Obviously every business has to start somewhere in both the ‘real’ and online worlds. Isn’t link bait a bit underhanded though, like spam? Unless you really are being honest and only posting links EXACTLY when and where they’re called for? I haven’t read much about link baiting though. I must have a look :o)

By: Richard Hearne

Richard Hearne — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:14:52 +0000

Hey Mojo

Everything takes time. You simply cannot expect to succeed overnight. The point I was making is that SEM/PPC is a good tool for young sites and properties that want quick results.

In the long run organic is the way because good SERPs have a far higher ROI and lower risk than those sponsored slots IMHO.

Remember that getting links is possible even for young sites if your cute about how you do it. Link bait is the perfect example.

By: Mojo

Mojo — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 22:57:04 +0000

Isn’t it true though, that older domains and those that can afford affiliate links inevitably do better than newer sites and teething businesses that might not have the budget to advertise or get affiliate links on popular sites to boost their SE rankings? It seems like a catch 22 situation for many young sites/businesses if you ask me.