Cathy Gazzolo is our Website Design member. Cathy gave us a presentation on the difference between SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing.

Examples of SEM are the paid ads that you see at the top of your search where the website has paid Google or another search engine for that top spot rating. Google AdWords is one of the services that provides SEM. This can also be referred to as PayPerClick. The advertiser sets a budget for the amount they want to pay out to the search engine and they are guaranteed the top listing as long as their budget lasts.

SEO is the “Free Links” that appear below the paid listings. They are not as predictable or guaranteed and ranking is based on algorithms established by the search engines. It used to be based on keywords (Metatags) but this has changed over time. The rankable keywords have to be in the body of the text and relevant to the subject. Title tags and descriptions should provide useful information for the searcher. Cathy cautioned us to wirte our web content for the customer, not just for Google.

Another factor in searching is backlinks, but htey should be backlink from relevant sites not from paid backlink farms. Cathy also mention ed that it is important for webssite to be visible on mobile devices. Remember Cathy Gazzolo and Radiant Website Designs when you hear your associates mention that they are looking to build or upgrade their current website.