SEO is often cited as the secret sauce of digital marketing because it helps promote your business and acquire new customers easily, if you do it right. It's best to hire SEO companies or experts rather than doing it on your own if you lack the skills and knowledge. While SEO projects require small businesses to invest time, commitment and a reasonable budget for the long term, it is recommended for any business that wants to reach new customers online.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. People use search engines such as Google and Bing to find answers, do research, buy and hire online. SEO experts help people find your website or content easily by appearing on the first or top pages of a search engine's result.
What is the difference between SEO and SEM companies?
The difference between SEO and SEM companies is in the method used for your business to appear on search engines' result pages. SEO companies use techniques to get organic search results for your business. Meanwhile, SEM experts focus on paid search results, meaning placing your content as ads in the result pages.
Which is better for your business: SEO or SEM?
Consider these differences to see whether SEO or SEM is the best for your business:
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SEO
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SEM
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Longer time to see the results you want
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Quicker to get the results you want
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Rely on several techniques to achieve higher visibility on search engines such as onsite SEO, link building and keyword research.
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SEM is essentially search engine advertising and does not rely on many techniques.
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SEO projects require higher technical knowledge and skills.
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SEM projects are easier and simpler to plan and execute.
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SEO projects tend to be bigger and longer term than SEM projects.
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SEM projects tend to be smaller and shorter term compared to SEO.
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You don't pay search engines anything, but may hire SEO experts and buy SEO tools to achieve your goals.
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SEM projects involve placing pay per click (PPC) ads, where you pay search engines every time someone clicks on your ad.
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SEO may produce higher click through rate (CTR) compared to SEM because your business is ranked based on credibility, popularity and authority.
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SEM may have a lower CTR than SEO because people tend to trust organic results more than ads.
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SEO can be more competitive than SEM and harder to rank organically.
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SEM can be less competitive to SEO because it is easier to place an ad than increasing the visibility of a content organically.
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SEO jobs are harder to test because the ranking process is complex.
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SEM jobs are easier to test by doing A/B testing with different ads and keywords.
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SEO is good for the long haul, especially if you are a new business, or don't get much traffic to your business.
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SEM is good for quickly getting online traffic to your business, especially for campaigns and rebranding.
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Who is SEO for?
SEO is useful for all types of business whether you are in retail, professional service, trades or F&B because people are turning to search engines more and more for answers. SEO projects can also be cost effective with a good return on investment if done right, especially if you hire SEO experts.
How to hire the best SEO company for your business?
If you want to hire the best SEO company, these are some hiring tips:
- Identify your goals and needs:It's important to set realistic goals for SEO jobs. You should also determine whether you want to focus on SEO, SEM or a mix of both. Bear in mind that SEO companies can also do SEM projects.
- Research their claims: SEO companies and experts can claim a million things. With SEO, the results are easy to see. All it takes is some research on search engines, using free SEO tools that can verify whether their achievements are true.
- Understand the methods used: It's crucial to have basic knowledge in SEO. Hire SEO companies who aren't resorting to questionable tactics or black hat SEO that can get your website penalised or worse, blacklisted.
- Get access to SEO data: Are they tracking and sharing their data fully? Or will you only get access to high-level data that may not tell you much? Would they have regular reviews to get feedback and improve?
- Find reviews or references: Seek online reviews and approach references to gauge their experience before hiring a particular SEO company or expert.
- Set a timeline: While SEO projects require a longer time to bear fruit, usually within 6 months, you should still set a realistic timeline of when to expect to see results. Otherwise, you will be throwing money down the drain
- Seek for integrity and trustworthiness: These two values are important in hiring the right company or expert. Can you trust them to deliver? And can you trust them to do the right thing when things don't go to plan?
- Integrate SEO with your marketing team: The expert you hire must work closely with the rest of your marketing team because SEO is not an isolated job. Ensure regular and transparent communication where there's updates, feedback and next course of actions.
- Compare total costs for SEO services: Get at least 3 free estimates and pick companies that are upfront about the cost and the detailed work that is needed. Set the record straight about what happens if you don't see the results you want.
