The main goal of every com­mer­cial website is to achieve the highest possible ranking on search engine result pages. The reason for this is simple: the higher and more prominent a website’s subpage is ranked in a search engine result page (shortened to SERP), the higher the chances are that more visitors will reach this website.

Better vis­i­bil­i­ty on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Co. can be in­flu­enced through search engine marketing tech­niques (SEM) such as search engine ad­ver­tis­ing (SEA) and search engine op­ti­miza­tion (SEO).

Pur­chas­ing ad­ver­tise­ments in a search engine as well as specif­i­cal­ly op­ti­miz­ing a homepage for organic web searches help website operators generate clicks and con­ver­sions. In other words: a thought­ful­ly executed SEM campaign can turn the interest of a visitor into a concrete sale. SEO and SEA function dif­fer­ent­ly as online marketing in­stru­ments. A com­pre­hen­sive SEM strategy should always seek to in­cor­po­rate synergy in search engine marketing by striking the right balance between SEO and SEA.

SEA vs. SEO: the dif­fer­ence is in the content

The effects of suc­cess­ful search engine marketing are reflected directly in the SERPs. When a user searches for a term on Google, Bing, or Yahoo, the re­spec­tive search engine compiles both a natural listing (organic search results) as well as a selection of ap­pro­pri­ate ads (inorganic search results) depending on which keywords the user searched for.

With paid ads, busi­ness­es are able to secure a position in the inorganic search results for certain keywords they have selected. This method falls under the category of search engine ad­ver­tis­ing (SEA).

When no ads are placed, the deciding factor for a higher ranking on a search engine is the relevance of a website’s content with respect to the words the user has searched for. Varying math­e­mat­i­cal al­go­rithms are what determine placement in this case. 

A solid ranking for organic web searches requires op­ti­miz­ing a given website in ac­cor­dance with search engine-relevant criteria. This is where the different in­stru­ments of search engine op­ti­miza­tion (SEO) come into play.

Both tech­niques, SEA and SEO, have clear dif­fer­ences regarding costs, goals, mea­sur­a­bil­i­ty, and sus­tain­abil­i­ty. 

What is search engine ad­ver­tis­ing (SEA)?

The goal of placing an ad in a search engine is to increase web traffic and to create brand awareness. The position in paid search results is de­ter­mined by a host of criteria: the amount of the bid, the op­ti­miza­tion of the text display, and the relevance of the content for the searcher. Search engine ad­ver­tis­ing scores high with its pre­dictable success, high trans­paren­cy, and ability on the part of the user to control ad­ver­tis­ing tactics. Depending on budget size, SEA can be used as part of a limited marketing campaign or be in­cor­po­rat­ed into a more permanent ad placement strategy. The high costs as­so­ci­at­ed with SEA are offset by the quick high rate of return. Access to different tools offers users multiple pos­si­bil­i­ties for targeting and re­tar­get­ing.

  • SEA is ideal for projects and ad­ver­tis­ing campaigns that need to be quickly im­ple­ment­ed and demand fast and mea­sur­able success
  • SEA tactics are largely shaped by trans­ac­tion­al goals. The primary benchmark for success is in­creas­ing the con­ver­sion of website visitors

What is search engine op­ti­miza­tion?

SEO en­com­pass­es both on page and off page tactics that are designed to increase a website’s vis­i­bil­i­ty in organic rankings. While off page SEO aims to optimize the backlink profiles of a website, on page SEO seeks to align a website’s content and structure more har­mo­nious­ly to search engine behavior; this helps to achieve a higher SERP ranking. Together both off page and on page SEO help ensure a good ranking in the SERPs. However, there is no way of guar­an­tee­ing that such measures will lead to an increased ranking. In contrast to SEA, SEO does not entail any fixed costs, but it is also not as trans­par­ent and cannot be tailored to specific needs as favorably as its afore­men­tioned coun­ter­part. And despite their time-consuming nature, SEO tactics are char­ac­ter­ized by sus­tain­able successes. The latter aspect also lends itself es­pe­cial­ly well to in­creas­ing brand awareness.   

  • SEO is ap­pro­pri­ate for long-term and permanent website op­ti­miza­tion
  • In addition to the con­ver­sions, there is a larger focus on a more per­ma­nent­ly improved vis­i­bil­i­ty
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Search engine marketing: finding the right mix

Despite their dif­fer­ences, SEO and SEA equally ensure that websites become more visible in SERPs. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, the higher the frequency and promi­nence of a website, the higher the chances are that a user will visit the website. Certain cir­cum­stances warrant a com­bi­na­tion of SEO and SEA. Website operators profit from the right mix of SEO and SEA, which is sometimes referred to as a synergy effect in search engine op­ti­miza­tion. This concept is composed of the following points:

  • shared data use
  • overlaps in keyword strategy
  • SEA-supported website op­ti­miza­tion
  • multi-listing strate­gies 

Extended database by linking per­for­mance data

Special SEM tools deliver mea­sur­able data to website operators that simplify the planning and im­ple­men­ta­tion process of SEM tactics. The most popular search engine on the US market is Google and its set of tools is composed of familiar names like Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and Google Webmaster Tools. While Google Analytics delivers per­for­mance data to both SEM channels, Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) provides in­for­ma­tion as to which keywords influence a homepage’s ranking in organic searches and how much traffic comes through these keywords.

Although GWT analyses deliver per­for­mance-based in­for­ma­tion down to the click, it does not supply any details on con­ver­sion data. Con­nect­ing the Webmaster Tool with Google Analytics and AdWords is therefore rec­om­mend­ed as it retrieves organic per­for­mance data and compares it to SEA tactics. This function helps website operators better un­der­stand click chains and follow the path of the customer to their final purchase decision (customer journey). Ad­di­tion­al touch points can further be de­ter­mined and later used to identify ad­di­tion­al SEM tactics.

In­ter­ac­tive keyword strate­gies in SEO and SEA

Both SEO and SEA in­cor­po­rate keyword-supported tactics. Keywords determine both the structure of a search engine-optimized website as well as the com­po­si­tion of ad campaigns for search engines. Given the common oc­cur­rence of keyword overlap for fre­quent­ly searched terms in short-tail and mid-tail texts, it is best to perform an SEO keyword analysis; the results of this should be the basis of an SEA campaign. Long-tail com­bi­na­tions should be completed sep­a­rate­ly since they are most often not collected during SEO analysis. Further details on search volume and keyword trends are found in Google AdWords’ Keyword Planner. When AdWords campaigns are booked for specific search items, the planner provides details as to what extent, if at all, these keywords lead to con­ver­sions. This option is es­pe­cial­ly useful for de­ter­min­ing which high-per­for­mance search words should be used for SEO tactics.

Search engine ad­ver­tis­ing on Google is accounted for through the CPC (cost per click) method and for this reason fre­quent­ly searched keywords with high click costs are best covered through SEO tactics in order to reduce long-term costs. SEA does, however, offer af­ford­able, long-term solutions for long-tail terms with low search volume. New web projects that are not yet highly ranked in organic searches should focus on carefully targeted ad­ver­tise­ments to improve their po­si­tion­ing. These efforts can be scaled down at a later point once a good organic ranking has been achieved.

SEA-supported search engine op­ti­miza­tion

AdWords campaigns offer a wide range of insights for op­ti­miz­ing websites according to search engine-relevant criteria. In order to achieve the highest possible number of clicks, search engine ad­ver­tis­ing relies on a process of con­tin­u­al­ly improving text displays and landing pages. A/B testing is the crux of this process and tests two different ads that use the same keyword to work out which performs better. Findings from these test runs can be used to optimize ads and are also useful for drawing con­clu­sions about the ef­fec­tive­ness of different SEO tactics. This is due to the fact that snippets, which are composed of titles and de­scrip­tions, have a strong influence on click rates. Suc­cess­ful tactics can also be trans­ferred to SEO landing pages and other cor­re­spond­ing meta- elements this way.

SEO/SEA mix: more vis­i­bil­i­ty through multi-listing strate­gies

A multi listing is a website whose search results appear in both organic as well as paid ad­ver­tis­ing result pages. This strategy’s dominance in the SERPs trans­lates into increased vis­i­bil­i­ty and better branding op­por­tu­ni­ties. Multi listing cements trust in a brand. The use of this strategy depends greatly on the available ad­ver­tis­ing budget. A good position in organic rankings is fur­ther­more a pre­req­ui­site for such marketing measures. Ad­di­tion­al starting points for multi-listing strate­gies include fade-in shopping images that also include other info boxes such as the Knowledge Graph, which Google sometimes includes in the SERPs.

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