What is SEM? Depends on Who You Ask
In the early 2000s, search engine marketing (SEM) was originally defined as the umbrella under which both paid and organic search would fall. This made perfect sense, as marketing naturally incorporates a wide array of tactics, including advertising.
Over the years, however, the term "search engine marketing" has come to mean different things, depending on who you ask.
When an industry can't come to common consensus about what a high-profile term really means, how can the business and brands shopping for, purchasing, and relying upon the performance of, these services possibly make informed decisions?
The definition of SEM is surprisingly different, even contradictory according to the search engines, within the industry, and throughout the business marketplace.
Soon after the term SEM came onto the digital scene, it became synonymous with paid search, at least to some authorities and many professionals working in the industry.
An entire industry has been built under the context of SEM as the practice of paid search. Yet, to others, SEM is still defined as a broader topic, incorporating SEO, paid search, and other techniques to impact search engine visibility.
Wikipedia definition of SEM a comprehensive approach to increasing visibility of websites in search engine results pages (SERPs) through optimization and advertising, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), and even includes SMM (social media marketing).
SEMPO defines SEM as:
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What is SEM? Depends on Who You Ask