I know many of you digital and media buffs are thinking… common this is basic stuff! However, in the recruitment space as well as within many New Zealand businesses, it’s easy for clients, and sometimes candidates, to get them mixed up. It’s understandable really, the acronyms SEM and SEO are pretty similar and can get lost in a sea of ever evolving lingo!
So bear with us, let’s briefly chat through the key differences and potential careers in each!?
Paid search:
Where do we go if we want to find something online? Just Google it, right? We all know this is now where we find products and services. Put simply, Paid Search is a paid service provided mostly by Google, (90% of the search market in NZ) and is commonly referred to as Google Adwords, SEM or PPC. A Google Adwords advertisement is a paid advert where a search engine query is entered into Google. This advert can be found highlighted at the top of page, easy for potential clients to find.
A business will launch a campaign based on key words or relevance to their market, they will add a dollar budget spend, and the business simply pays by a cost per click.
You will find a fabulous Google AdWords campaign requires time and learning. The difference between good campaigns and average ones can simply be writing good adverts, easy to use landing pages, and well thought out ‘call to action’ phrases with key words.
Paid Search campaigns can have a big return in New Zealand. Well created and managed campaigns should deliver more relevant visitors to your site or landing page, create increased brand awareness, create new customers, improve marketing ROI and more.
Oh but paid adverts don’t stop there, under the Paid Search title is also; Display and Re-marketing. You know the lovely ads that pop up on the side or top of other websites, once you have visited a site, reminding you to buy this or do that? Yeah well that’s a whole other conversation.
Search Engine Optimisation:
Also known as SEO, this is often referred to as some kind of voodoo magic, and how it works is almost always misunderstood. (There are old-school and new-school approaches to this with equal supporting arguments on both sides.) **Many argue the new ways and the old ways and what works best.**
To simplify, SEO is the process of optimising or enhancing the content on your website including: written content, images, video, Google My Business and much more. Think about what consumers are searching for online, each page should then be written including these key search words and phrases to help Google find your site. The aim of the game is to ensure your customers can reach your content.
By enhancing your website you will assist Google (and other search engines) to organically find you and your products and services with no advertising money needed!
Logically it makes sense, your website needs to be precise enough for the search engine to find YOU in among an endless sea of content.
You may hear both terms ‘on-page’ or ‘off-page’ SEO. But let’s not go into that right now.
There is a long list of ‘to-do’s’ when it comes to SEO, here are 5 key components:
- Your site needs keywords, each page should target key words to help Google find you. Including; page names, sub headings, names on images and more
- Google loves good quality content. It is crucial to have content that answers customers queries, using their language, containing the keywords they are using to find your product or service.
- Your business contact details are key
- Links from high-quality websites help
- Ensure no technical issues with the website, ie; errors on landing pages – if Google can’t see your site, it can’t show your customers
Careers for ‘Searchies’ (Search Marketers):
In general, from a career perspective, Analog Recruitment has found that typically SEM and SEO roles are split into specialist areas. Over the years employers have found that due to the size of their clients it’s quite difficult for one person to cover both roles to a high standard. I think many ‘Searchies’ would agree!?
I know many ‘Searchies’ add a tremendous amount of value to both agency clients and in-house brands, and both SEM and SEO careers have huge upside and career potential from both a salary & growth perspective in New Zealand.
Over the last 3+ years we have discovered a lot about the digital media landscape, and in particular the SEM and SEO recruitment space. If you are thinking of a career in either side of Search, we would be happy to chat further. Please contact us here.