Nice article – clearly defines social versus SEO.

I think it’s also worth considering the optimisation of search within the social marketing channels you mention though.

I recently wrote an article about how to do that, in combination with SEO – I’ve called it Combined Search Optimision:

http://www.great-seo.co.uk/combined-search-optimisation-search-engines/

I must say that to describe SEO as “low level and cheap” relative to Social Media seems bizarre.

To describe SEO as only involving link building is also not creditable to a search engine expert. Link building is just one part of good SEO, with others including planning, keyword research, content authoring, on page optimisation, site structural and design considerations, conversion rates, monitoring and reporting, etc.

Some SEO is low level and cheap, as is a lot of Social Media work. Both can also be done well.

SEO is usually more likely to result in high visitor numbers than Social Media, which in the early days often involves the site owner busily marketing to their 50 close friends and family – hardly a strategy aimed to bring new visitors to a web site, develop any real authority, or attract new business to a company.

Time requirements are also a bit bewildering – you can comfortably spend 10-20 hours per week on SEO if you really want to make something of a site, just like you can with Social Media. If you want to do either SEO or SMM “quick and dirty” you still have the option of buying in from a cheap link company (poor SEO), or automating your tweets based on various spurious algorithms designed to “build your follower numbers” (Poor Social Media).

Links from Social Media are often NOFOLLOW too, so the link benefit from some sites can me minimal, though as you point out there are plenty of other benefits to good Social Media Marketing.

I agree about the need to planning and consulatancy at the early stage of an SEO or Social Media campaign, in order to determine the best strategy for a client – that goes without saying for anyone wishing to do a quality job.

But other parts of the comparison seems overly simplistic, and rather mis-leading from a professional SEO.

I am new to the internet marketing and found this article cleared up so many questions in my mind. Light bulbs were going off in my head as I read on: oh that is what that means.

Thank you…

Since yrs I develop my online strategy and try to increase the results (leads, conversion).

The article is following my experience: Social media activity will effect no good relation between time and income.

If we discuss SEO, so some few parts make sense (keyword, image-alt, meta-tags). Most convincing is content. And here you can find the most common mistakes which are spread to 99,99% in all sites – following the wrong recommendations of the “experts”. As nearly all site owners follow the mainstream, the effect is less worse than it should, but still bad enough

In response to your comment Peter “the purpose of this article is to highlight the key differences and aims of each type of campaign not what any single campaign should contain”
This article was not intended as a guide to what “SEO” actually entails or individual components of SEO or SEM as was clearly highlighted, and yes it is simplistic to make it easier to understand for web owners not conversant with web site promotion.
The article also refers to generic back link building which as you rightly pointed out, and I would agree is only one aspect of good SEO. The other factors you mentioned I would also consider very important for SEO as is made quite clear on my website, but they are outside of the scope of the article so not included as it is more focussed towards SEM.

Perhaps in hindsight it would have been better to use the title:

“Social Marketing Versus Generic SEM – What’s The Difference?”

Just goes to show the importance of getting the title right.

Excellent article Sam and thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the comment Darlene, I am pleased that the article was helpful for you

So you know you need to get your website on page one of Google to get more business, but how do you choose an effective SEO company that won’t take your money and deliver no results?

This article was not intended as a guide to what “SEO” actually entails or individual components of SEO or SEM as was clearly highlighted, and yes it is simplistic to make it easier to understand for web owners not conversant with web site promotion.

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Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) target paid listings. In general, the earlier (or higher on the page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a website web presence.

Search engine optimization (SEO)
is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.
Other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) target paid listings.
In general, the earlier (or higher on the page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine.
SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines.
This gives a website web presence

seo means search engine optimization.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) target paid listings.

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the earlier (or higher on the page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list,the more visitors it will receive from the search engine.

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In the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) industry, there are two camps on either extreme: Those who write about SEO and those who actually do SEO. Yes, they both bleed into one another which typically breeds results-based (as opposed to theory-based) posts about SEO, but the two extremes don’t necessarily have to be at odds with one another despite some harsh opinions on the side of those who actually do SEO.

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Whether you’re a business owner or SEO pro, you know by now that ranking high in the search engines requires inbound links. Lots of them. In fact, the quantity, quality and relevance of links are the key factors in a site’s rating – and the #1 reason why Google places one site above another on its results pages. I have tried wordtracker linkbuilding tool. Its been pretty good but little bit pricy tho. You can do a 7 day free trail to check whether it is working out or not.