in SEO by Jeffrey_Smith

For those unfamiliar with SEO, it is an acronym for search engine optimization; SEO roughly translates as a systemic method to achieve higher rankings in search engines for specific pages that correspond to specific keywords.

internet-marketing-seoSEO is a facet of internet marketing used to deliver visitors through an opt-in mechanism. By searchers merely “executing a search query in a search engine”, that query works on their behalf by scouring the search engine index and returns an array of relevant websites for shopping, entertainment, research or business based on the keywords used in the query.

Although SEO sounds simple enough, it is a time consuming endeavor.  Search engine optimization is based on a series of aggregate factors that require (1) content (the quantity is dependent on the subject or amount of competition (2) relevance (the more unique the better) and (3) reputable signals of trust and reciprocity from your peers through citation (which are backlinks / peer review from trusted websites).

Through this synergy, something powerful occurs, search engines interpret the context of your pages and assign them with a particular value based on how important they are based on the topic or keywords on the page. After the page has been graded, search engines pass it along to others who use keywords related to the “optimized” topic.

Although this is grossly oversimplified, the goal and driving force of SEO is to produce rankings. What transpires as a result of “wanting to rank for something” competitive analysis and keyword research transpire as a prerequisite and a plan for optimization occurs.

What is often overlooked in SEO is the post-click marketing process after visitors arrive which paves the path of revenue. It is equally important to create this “post-click agenda” as it was to get them there by crafting an enticing value proposition or conversion path capable of enticing the visitor to take action. Without this vital portion of the equation, the SEO effort is in vein.

Internet marketing on the contrary, is less dependent on the method, but more about the results they produce. According to Wikipedia “Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), banner ads on specific websites, e-mail marketing, and Web 2.0 strategies.”

In fact, many organizations optimize for the wrong reasons (because everyone else is doing it) without even considering conversion optimization (the fulfillment of a desired action) into account. You would think that before you spend 4-6 months targeting a competitive keyword to gain traction that you would have a clear action path established for conversion, right?

From the SEO service side of things, this is deemed “putting the cart before the horse”, but quite frankly, many fall prey to making this vital mistake when it comes to using SEO. Search engine optimization is not a cure all, it is a means to broaden the sales funnel and filters relevant traffic based on search behavior and intent.

Remember SEO is passive in the sense that it merely attempts to intersect points of relevance within context by using search terms (keywords) that someone may actually type in when searching for some emotionally charged intent.

SEO does not go out and promote your business, it positions your pages to appear when people search. Which means your message is active when it is appropriate and consumers are more likely to engage your offer.

Based on how well your pages are aligned with that topic, the degree of internal continuity they have with other related pages, how well they are linked together and what type of authority either the site can develop or that page can develop determines how important it is in the search engines index.

As a result, a page considered more reputable and relevant acquires a position higher up on the totem pole in the search engine results pages. However, despite the keyword or what the website or page is optimized for, it is only 50% of the equation, what happens next is even more important (marketing and conversion).

This is where Internet marketing and SEO differ. Internet marketing on the other hand represents a vast array of practices that serve one uniform purpose, to generate more business. And, although it can be less forgiving as performance benchmarks are readily available and inherent to scrutinize each method for effectiveness, the basis is that it must produce results in order to remain useful.

In addition to return visitors, in order for a website to thrive it needs “NEW VISITORS” to offset a jaded sales cycle. Just like a popular nightclub creates a buzz by promoting and attracting new visitors (since they know the law of averages) and must compensate for waning periods of business, your website should also hedge itself.

The more new visitors that frequent your website, the more likelihood that they will (a) mention it and pass it on (b) return again to see what else your website has to offer (which could lead to an eventual conversion) or (c) earmark your website as authoritative so that you can pass more ranking factor from page to page or create new pages to acquire competitive rankings.

What you don’t want is a website “like a hole in the wall dive bar” with the same regulars frequenting the establishment daily and not really bringing anything to the table (except for the habit for consumption).

The simple point is that by reaching a broader audience with your website (through multiple mediums), you are less vested in dependency on one marketing channel and can segment traffic using analytics to split test which stream of visitors produces the higher rate of conversion or user engagement.

In which case there is always PPC, Email marketing, Video Optimization, Landing Page Optimization, Podcasts Social Media Marketing or other evolving segments to aid the process of increasing sales revenue and enhancing visitor retention.

Naturally the value of marketing is dependent on the need to reach the audience who needs your product or service most and depending on the competition for those customers changes the scope of that value.

However, regardless of the process of acquisition the need to reach potential customers is paramount for the livelihood of your business. Just as in real estate the motto is location, location, location for internet marketing and SEO it’s all about timing, interest and appeal.

Reaching consumers when they need it with the right message and creating enough appeal to funnel them to the right offer or landing page can either make or break your revenue model.

Conversion can occur through (1) the intersection of SEO and intent through intentional or unintentional optimization (2) dove-tailing from other websites who have built an authoritative domain or a community using banner advertising, affiliate programs, pay per click or pay per performance marketing or (c) developing inherent authority in your own domain as a destination site.

Since no two websites are alike, the methods you use will vary from site to site, the audience and its needs. What matters most is, does it work, how well, and at what cost?

Results are the basis for keeping an internet marketing medium intact as a vital asset in your approach or relinquishing it to seek a viable alternative to attracts new eyeballs to your website.

One thing is certain, regardless of the method, competition exists and the need to reach your audience in the most efficient and affordable manor has roots in either method, the range of execution is simply a matter of scope. 

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About Jeffrey_Smith

In 2006, Jeffrey Smith founded SEO Design Solutions (An SEO Provider who now develops SEO Software for WordPress).

Jeffrey has actively been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings a wealth of collective experiences and marketing strategies to increase rankings, revenue and reach.

48 thoughts on “Internet Marketing or SEO?
  1. Corwin says:

    Hi Jeffrey, I’ve been to your articles for a while now. It’s a great article about Internet marketing.

  2. Vijay says:

    ur post is very useful to me for actual concept of Internet Marketing. It’s very interesting post.

  3. I truly love SEO. No matter how much I read about it on the Web, I am always on a lookout to know more. This post has been helpful.

  4. mauco says:

    Great post Jeffrey. Thanks for clarifying the concepts. But I have a few questions:

    If the goal and driving force of SEO is to produce rankings, is it right to say that the goal ad driving force of ppc is to produce conversions?

    I read somewhere that there’s no need for creating a special landing page but rather to focus on optimizing every page to the ‘teeth’ to make it a potential landing page. Is that true?

  5. @ Corwin:

    Appreciate the Kudos.

    @Vijay: Don’t spam the blog please, I changed the keyword-rich anchor you dropped since I knew your comment was insincere. Anyway, I left the “no-follow” link in tact if it means that much to you.

    @Nancy:

    Devour information at every opportunity, but make sure to put it to practice yourself to validate if it really works or is just people flapping their lips. Thanks for commenting.

    @Mauco:

    I concur on your first question, essentially both are to drive conversion since both occur from within a search engines. Just two distinct types of personalities clicking them.

    Although PPC has higher rate of conversions, SEO has 3 times the traffic (still providing a better spread across the law of averages).

    Both are useful, despite our preference for SEO, but it all depends on if your product or service is editorial by nature and you can dedicate content to elaborate (Organic SEO) or if that is just considered clutter getting in the way of conversions (E-Commerce Style PPC landing page) free of all text (just a call to action and buy now button).

    on the second point, every page is a landing page, depending on design, some convert better than others. All I am suggesting is to put your best foot forwards, you can create PPC style landing pages then get the to rank using SEO through internal links, a threshold of permanent 301 redirects from content-rich pages, etc).

    Hope this clarifies.

  6. Thanks for your post.
    I really look forward for this kind of excellent and so informative post.
    Thanks again.

  7. swasa says:

    Really true facts about seo.Thanks for sharing.

  8. Firstly i would like to say that your page design is very neat and clean.Really liked the way you have elaborated on each of the points.Cleared a lot of my confusions too.Thanks.

  9. Margaret says:

    I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Margaret

    http://businesseshome.net

  10. No Name says:

    Well, SEO can really get an online business going. I think every website should do this.

  11. Great article regarding internet marketing

  12. Thanks for the Great post Jeffrey

  13. Thanks for sharing this since I will going to join seo next month.I have few question in my mind so I ask you here.
    If the goal and driving force of SEO is to produce rankings, is it right to say that the goal ad driving force of ppc is to produce conversions?

  14. Very Informative Post. This Tips are very useful for all SEO Professionals. Thanks sharing with this informative post.

  15. No Name says:

    Informative & Well Written Article. Nice Sharing with SEO Related Useful Tips.

  16. Diamond Grinding Wheels says:

    Great resource for all Web masters.

  17. Gr8 information. i am glad to thank to you

  18. I found it very interesting that you pointed out the difference between SEO and Internet Marketing. Most people think they mean the same thing. This article concisely made the distinction between the two and I will be using this information as a reference point in the future…
    Thanks for the valuable information.

  19. Kristy says:

    hmmm. After reading your article i think about it really hard. SEO for me is not only for rankings it also help on generating sales, etc. Different websites does have different ways on attacking SEO. Different strategy will be use for each websites depending on the goal. For me internet marketing is a general term which SEO will be classify as part of it. There are a lot of ways on marketing through the internet one of which is SEO.

  20. In addition to what i’ve said SEO is a combination of on-page and off-page optimization. On-page is within your website, optimizing it with your target keyword while off-page is linking to related websites.

  21. Have no money to buy a building? Don’t worry, because it’s achievable to take the loans to solve such kind of problems. Hence take a sba loan to buy all you require.

  22. Social and seo, i want to continue with internet marketing as seo in europe

  23. Master the art of driving traffic to your websites, and you will NEVER worry about money EVER again.

  24. kajabi says:

    SEO is good for me, just because PPC can get so expensive if you are not using it effectively

  25. Zoey says:

    Great post. I realize I’m coming to it a bit late, so I am wondering if you still find seo that important currently? I remember reading a reference stating that seo is really only about 15% of traffic generation. Still important, but as important as it was before?

  26. You have to know the basics of internet marketing and SEO is also very important, by combining the two together it lays a very important foundation for your marketing online.
    http://www.onlinekey2profits.com

  27. Internet marketing is the general term or the wider platform in e-business, SEO is just a part of it, but SEO is the heart of it

  28. at the end of the day, whatever brings the most people/targeted traffic to your site is going to be good for you…for me SEO is a 5000m marathon…with the last 500m being internet marketing

  29. Avenir says:

    Its helps businesses increase my website’s visibility on the internet. Thanks for great sharing..

  30. I would choose SEO, coz its more easy and you can have more backlinks and traffics for our website… Nice Article!

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