SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is the marketing practice of promoting products by increasing their visibility in search engines. PPC (Pay-Per-Click) is an advertising option on search engines that allows businesses to display ads alongside organic results and pay only when they receive clicks. SEM and PPC are both types of internet marketing. In some aspects, they’re similar but different from each other in many others.

1) Cost – SEM is typically less expensive than PPC

As a rule of thumb, SEM prices are lower on average because the advertiser doesn’t have to pay every time their advertisement is clicked. Whereas, with PPC, there has to be a cost for every click made on an ad which is why this type of marketing works only when the client gets revenue from each advertisement click. Otherwise, there’s no point in using it.

2) Clicks – PPC usually gets more clicks than SEM

This happens because of the cost per click idea: typically, someone will bother clicking on an ad that doesn’t cost anything but might not bother clicking on an ad where they have to spend money.

3) Control – SEM gives more control over the ads than PPC

This is because, with SEM, advertisers can choose what keywords their ads will show up for and other settings like when the ads are shown, how often they’re shown, and so forth.

4) Level of Difficulty – SEM is typically harder to do than PPC

With PPC, you only need to create ads, set a budget, and then let it run. SEM, however, requires understanding how search engines work and then optimizing campaigns accordingly, which is why many people hire professionals to do this for them.

5) Targeting – SEM allows more options for targeting specific customers than PPC

Since SEM advertisers can choose what kind of ads they want to show up for, they are allowed more control over who sees them, which allows them to have better results.

6) Long-Term vs. Short-Term – SEM tends to be a long term strategy, whereas PPC is short term

This is because with SEM, you need to spend time and effort on building search engine rankings, and after all that work, you might not even see any returns right away (there’s also the possibility that it will never pay off), whereas with PPC you only need to sign up for an account and then let your ads run until you stop paying for them.

7) Match Type: With SEM, you can target users searching for specific keywords related to your product or service. With PPC, you can only target those who have already visited your website.

8) strategic SEM allows for more strategic keyword targeting than PPC does because of its ability to target users based on interests and past behaviors. In addition, advertisers can use negative keywords in their SEM campaigns to keep from showing up for irrelevant queries. Keyword targeting in PPC is more limited because you have to choose your keywords based on what they are most likely to be typed into a search box rather than their potential value.

In conclusion, there are several key differences between SEM and PPC. While both forms of advertising can be successful, it is important to understand the differences to choose the right one for your business.