What Is The Difference Between SEO & SEM?

Whether you're a newbie to marketing or a seasoned expert, sometimes it's helpful to refresh your understanding of the key differentiating factors between Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing (i.e. SEO vs. SEM).

Let's take a step back and look at the definitions of the two:

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the practice of increasing the quality and quantity of traffic to your website through organic search engine results (Source: MOZ.com). The quality aspect refers to attracting people to your site who have a relevant interest in what you're displaying. The quantity aspect is simply about how many people are clicking through from those search engine results pages (SERPs). The more traffic you receive, the better.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the process of gaining website traffic by purchasing ads on search engines. (Source: Search Engine Land)

To help summarize the key differences between these two traffic drivers, I've developed a simple Venn diagram infographic that explains 'what is the difference between SEO and SEM' with the crossover of both sides illustrating the purpose or objective of applying these two methods of traffic generation. 

SEO vs. SEM - a venn diagram - gregbeazley.com