SEM and SEO

Some Comparisons and Similarities of SEO and SEM:

Link Building:
SEO – Inbound links are a large determining factor in rankings.
SEM – Links are a result of success, which means that SEO benefits from good SEM.

On Page Elements:
SEO – Title tags, headers, image title, bold text and use of keywords are all influential on search engine rankings.
SEM – Coding and tags are not so important, while visual attention grabbers make a bigger impact.

Titles:
SEO – The title tag of a page tells the search engines what a page is about and carries a lot of weight in the rankings.
SEM – Titles and headlines are extremely important for grabbing attention and getting users to click-through.

Content:
SEO – Quality content is important in order to rank well.
SEM – Quality content is important in order to hold the readers’ attention and win their approval.

Analysis:
SEO – Analysis is necessary in order to know which changes have made an impact (positive or negative) on the site’s rankings.
SEM – Analysis is necessary to know what types of content draws interest.

Predictability / the Benefit of Experience:
SEO – Experts are able to reproduce success with new sites (although it’s not as easy as it sounds), as the same elements can be applied.
SEM – Those who know the social media audience can recreate success by publishing posts and headlines specifically for this purpose.

Success Breeds More Success:
SEO – Trusted domains will have a positive effect on all pages, including new pages.
SEM – Power profiles on sites like Digg can keep traffic flowing with new submissions.

I believe that SEM is the best way for new websites and blogs to draw visitors. This early success with social media can have long-lasting effects on search engine rankings as well.