Are marketing and SEO the same thing?

Is there really a difference between SEO and other forms of internet marketing? Are they really all that different from each other? You can very easily be forgiven for thinking that they are one and the same or that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is just another piece of the marketing pie. SEO is indeed a form of internet marketing, but there is more to running a comprehensive and effective internet marketing campaign than looking at that one aspect.

Piecing it all together

Your online business, or the online aspects of your business, fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. No one piece is exactly the same as another, however they do all fit together to form the bigger picture. In this case the success of your online campaign to increase your business profile just so happens to be the bigger picture in question.

So what is the difference between SEO and other forms of internet marketing? SEO is aimed at the web crawlers, spiders and search engines as well as improving your website for your human users too. You need your website to be search engine friendly in order to better your search result rankings. Other forms of Internet Marketing, on the other hand, are often directly at your human audience and usually includes a call to action.

Being visible through good SEO is not enough. You need to impress and entice your prospects to become customers, not just be visible to them.  Other forms of internet marketing can increase both your appropriate traffic and increase your conversion rate.  PPC, Affiliate marketing, email marketing and shopping feeds are just some of the internet marketing tools which will raise your profile and give your business a boost.