If you have a website, you have certainly heard of SEO and SEA. The first time you encountered these terms, you might have felt a bit lost. But don't worry, through this article, we will provide a brief overview of these concepts so that you can fully understand what we're talking about. We will also show you that you don't need to spend a fortune to achieve good visibility and a strong e-reputation.
SEO vs SEA: Let's decode these 2 SEO strategies!
SEO and SEA are two acronyms that refer to techniques for getting ranked on search engines. First, let's briefly outline their characteristics.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): A Long-Term Strategy with Lasting Results
When we talk about SEO, we refer to organic search or natural referencing. Translated literally, search engine optimization aims to optimize your site to effectively respond to user queries.
The goal is to rank well for specific queries and certain keywords to gain visibility. It’s a significant challenge considering that the top five organic results receive 67% of all clicks on a results page (Source: Zero Limit Web).
If you want to earn the trust of internet users, you must invest in organic search. Indeed, although competition is fierce, and achieving significant results takes time, SEO enables you to:
- Generate "free" traffic
- Generate quality traffic
- Sustain that traffic over time
- Inspire confidence
SEA (Search Engine Advertising): A Short-Term Solution
In contrast to SEO, we have SEA. This acronym literally means search engine advertising. This type of paid referencing allows you to pay to appear on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). To run an SEA campaign, you need to:
- Choose target keywords
- Create an ad
- Set a maximum CPC (Cost per Click) or CPM (Cost per 1,000 Impressions)
- Pay based on clicks or impressions and track results
Your ad will then be displayed until you stop the campaign. This solution may seem ideal as it allows you to be ranked for your chosen keywords and achieve results quickly. Your ROI can be measured easily and rapidly.
However, SEA is not a miracle solution, and there are downsides to this strategy. Firstly, once your campaign is over, you "disappear" from the SERPs. If you want to achieve long-term ranking, you need to budget accordingly. Finally, don’t forget that you are not alone in the market; there is fierce competition for certain keywords, and reaching the top position can be a real headache.
Fun Fact: 70-80% of people ignore paid search results (source: imFORZA, 2020)
When to choose SEA over SEO?
- You want immediate results (Example: During the launch of your business if you have short-term KPIs)
- Your business experiences spikes in objectives at certain times of the year (Example: Toy retailers during the holiday season)
- You want to test your offer (Example: When launching a new product, you seek quick feedback)
The advantage of Google Ads is that it allows you to reach the first page without needing to provide fully optimized content. The ads redirect users directly to the pages of your site that you have preselected.
Paid advertising provides quick and hassle-free visibility. In other words, SEA allows you to reach new customers with the sponsored content you wish to promote. You have near-total control over your site's online presence.
The Positive Influence of SEO on Your Traffic
SEO for Quality Traffic
You might be wondering what we mean by quality traffic? Let us explain!
When we use this term, we refer to users who are interested in your offer. Users who can, in turn, increase your conversion rates. More generally, SEO will allow you to generate leads over time. While SEA can also attract potential customers, this technique tends to be less cost-effective in the long run.
SEO for Continuous Traffic
We return to the point that organic search is a strategy that unfolds over time. You surely want your business to achieve good visibility without ongoing expenses. With various techniques and best SEO practices, your website will hold a strong and impactful presence on search engines.
Establishing a strategy and witnessing its effects will take time, but your efforts will be rewarded in the long run. Developing an SEO strategy can seem like an insurmountable challenge. If you are not familiar with the basics of algorithms, it will be difficult to improve your ranking.
To assist you, we have compiled some tips for optimizing the SEO structure of your website. With these tips, you'll have a solid foundation to help position your website competitively.
A Positive Return on Investment (ROI) Through Low Costs
As we mentioned earlier, employing SEO helps reduce your costs without compromising the achievement of your goals. Today, a multitude of online tools are available to optimize your organic search and provide a comprehensive view of its progress. Most of these tools offer a "freemium" model, allowing you to assess the current state of your SEO performance. You can also get a glimpse of possible improvements. Among the most well-known and widely used SEO tools, we can mention:
- Google Search Console to track your search performance on Google
- SEMRush which provides reports on your keywords, netlinking, and competitors
- Website Grader to evaluate your site's performance across various key metrics
- SEO Hero Ninja to check your site's ranking for a specific keyword
- Oncrawl to analyze and cross-reference your site's pages (very useful and effective for large or e-commerce sites)
Of course, achieving significant results after establishing an SEO strategy takes time (around 6 months). Despite this, the time you invest in optimizing and ranking your site will have a positive impact. Creating content on your site will address users' queries, making you a reference in your field.
While paid search may provide faster coverage, at what cost and for how long? Offering quality to search engines will enhance your reputation, your visibility, and thus your results. Do you want to be known and recognized in your area of expertise? Simply paying is not enough! You need to provide quality and answers to attract your target audience.
Implementing an SEM Strategy (The Mix of SEO, SEA, and SMO)
We previously introduced what SEO and SEA are, but have you heard of SEM?
The magic formula for effectively optimizing your website:
SEM = SEO + SEA + SMO
When discussing overall search engine marketing (Search Engine Marketing), we must include not just organic and paid referencing but also optimization for social media (Social Media Optimization).
Thus, in your efforts to enhance the visibility of your business, it is not necessarily required to oppose SEO and SEA. In fact, it may be more sensible to opt for a combination of these two strategies (without neglecting social networks, which serve as a significant lever for generating traffic) to grow your site on Google.
An essential point to note is that SERPs are constantly evolving. Indeed, we can observe that Google strives to respond as precisely as possible to users' queries. The featured snippets, also referred to as "position 0," serve as concrete evidence of this! You know, those little boxes that Google has implemented to provide direct answers to our questions without needing to click on a site.
Therefore, it is crucial to maximize traffic acquisition. Even though SEO allows for better visibility with a "small" budget compared to a paid campaign on Google Ads, a hybrid strategy can help position certain pages of your site for hard-to-reach results/keywords. With SEA, you gain better control over the positioning of your ads. This is a real advantage since a downside of SEO is its dependence on Google's algorithms.
Fun Fact: In the year 2020, Google made 4,887 changes to its search engine, averaging over 13 changes per day (Source: Abondance.com)
How Digidop Can Help You Optimize Your Organic Search?
After reading this article, you might think that it’s time to pay more attention to your natural referencing strategy. Don't worry; Digidop has the right solutions to meet your needs! We implement action plans and work on various levers to enhance your visibility on search engines. We take care of your online image by establishing a professional and optimized website (Digidop is a certified Webflow agency). Our expertise with no-code tools also enables us to offer a personalized solution to automate certain tasks in your business and ensure optimal performance.
