The abbreviations SEO and SEM are often used in similar or even identical contexts. If you’re not familiar with the whole search engine marketing scene it can be tough to find out if there’s any difference between the two at all. But as with other kinds of ‘insider’ terminology, appearances are deceptive.

For starters, SEM is an abbreviation for Search Engine Marketing, and is a broad label that covers pretty much anything that will get your site listed more visibly in search engine results. This can range from utilizing back links to deliberately submitting your URL to search engines. By contrast, SEO is narrower, and stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a subcategory of SEM, but any individual SEM operation does not necessarily contain SEO.

It?s important to know the difference between the two terms; make sure you ask for all information if your unsure before going and spending money on a SEO or SEM package. For example, a company offers you a package, if you don?t ask and get all the information, you might be buying into a package that merely is the company submitting your website URL to a few search engines, something you can easily do yourself.

You need to find out very specifically what a company will do to help you become visible on the web. Figure out what search engines they’re focusing on besides the obvious ones. Yahoo and Google are so popular they’re basically freebies! While some companies will offer URL submission to search engines alongside many other options, it’s not worth paying for that part unless they’ve got a comprehensive list of relevant search engines to submit to. Maybe they’ll offer to keyword optimize your site, in which case you’ll want to know what keywords they’ll use, the density of keyword use, and whether or not they use meta or alt tags.

The main importance is not if it?s a SEO or a SEM package, but rather, what exactly are the methods in the service they are offering? SEM is a more valuable option, as SEO can be included as a marketing strategy, but it?s also important to remember that a SEO can be nothing more than sticking your URL in a few search engines. To get the best value for your money, do your homework. Look for reputable websites and ask for specific information on the services they provide. That way, you can make a much more informed decision between using a SEO vs SEM.