Search Engine Marketing SEM covers not only Search Engine Optimization SEO, but also paid inclusion as well like Google Adwords and Yahoo’s Search Submit (formerly Overture). If you are running a Pay-Per-Click PPC campaign for your website, you don’t necessarily need to have your website optimized for search engines, since you are paying search engines to advertise your ads as sponsored search results. It is possible to have a poorly designed website which generates a lot of traffic from running ads on search engines.
Search Engine Optimization on the other hand focuses on optimizing your website for search engine indexing. It involves a thorough understanding of website design, and how to effectively craft a website’s layout and content that will make it search engine friendly. Search Engine Optimization is a focused discipline in Search Engine Marketing. Good SEO focuses strongly on knowing your industry’s target audience and identifying your industry’s most effective keywords. Well written content with those keywords crafted into your web page text should be seemless and smooth.