Difference between search engine advertising (SEA) and search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine marketing (SEM) is divided into search engine advertising (SEA) and search engine optimization (SEO). What they have in common is that both instruments aim to be at the top of Google and other search engines. However, they are fundamentally different, which is why they can be described as two sides of the same coin.
With search engine advertising (SEA ), the website operator pays money for every click on the sponsored ad – sometimes even several euros. To put it simply, if you want to appear in first place on Google for a specific search term, all you need is enough Google Ads budget. Whether search engine advertising pays off depends on the individual case. But let’s put it this way: there wouldn’t be so many companies running Google Ads if it wasn’t profitable. The two biggest advantages of SEA are that the ads are displayed immediately and that they appear above the “normal” (organic) search hits.
With search engine optimization (SEO), you don’t pay any money to Google (or any other search engine). However, it is not free in the strict sense. This is because the time required for search engine optimization measures can be considerable. Another disadvantage compared to SEA is that SEO measures do not take effect immediately. It can take several months for SEO measures implemented on the website to have a positive effect on the Google ranking. In the long term, SEO is often more cost-effective than SEA, but the two tools should not be played off against each other, but should be seen as useful complements to each other.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
In search engine optimization, a distinction is made between on-page SEO and off-page SEO. On-page SEO describes all content-related and technical measures that website operators can apply to their own website to make it more attractive for users (and therefore also for search engines). On-page SEO is therefore in your own hands. For off-page SEO, on the other hand, website operators are dependent on the support of other website operators. The most important thing here are (thematically relevant) backlinks, i.e. links on other websites that lead to your own website.
Google has over 200 ranking factors in total. Although the individual factors are largely known, their weighting is disputed among experts – and will remain so. After all, the algorithm is Google’s trade secret. Nevertheless, there are basic SEO rules.
5 tips for search engine optimization
1. keyword research: Which search terms are important?
It is neither possible nor necessary to be at the top for all search terms (keywords). Before you start with search engine optimization, you should therefore make a list of the terms for which you want to optimize your website. Local searches by industry (e.g. “joinery Cologne”) and service or product-related queries (e.g. “built-in wardrobe Cologne”) are often relevant for small businesses.
Synonyms (e.g. “joinery” and “carpentry”) are recognized moderately well by Google. The search results are similar, but not the same, which is why companies should definitely use synonymous terms on their website. It is even more important to speak the customer’s language. For example, most customers search for a “plumber” when they actually need a “plumbing, heating and air conditioning technician”.
As part of the keyword research, it is also useful to determine the approximate search volume, i.e. how many users google the term each month. This can be done free of charge using Keywordtools.org or the Google Keyword Planner, for example. For example, it may be nice for a restaurant in Cologne to be at the top of the list for “Speisewirtschaft Köln”, but the search volume for this keyword is so low that it is unlikely to be relevant to business. Nevertheless, niches can be interesting for small companies in particular, as there is often less competition here.
2. contents: What do you have to consider when creating?
Once the keyword research has been completed, appropriate content should be created. As a rule of thumb, each business-relevant keyword should have its own page on the website.
When creating texts, images and videos, you should first and foremost think about the target group – but secondly also about Google. For example, it is important to use business-relevant search terms in several places in text headings and image descriptions. Companies should also explain their services and products in longer continuous texts (with several hundred words) and answer frequent customer questions (FAQs). Small companies in particular tend to keep their service descriptions very short or only list them in keywords – a big mistake from an SEO perspective! Although users often only read the headings of long continuous texts, Google reads (“crawls”) everything.
The texts themselves should be stylistically appealing, easy for customers to understand and fit the company. AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or DeepSeek can help with text creation and with the right input (“prompts”) you can also generate stylistically correct texts, but they are not authentic – and it is precisely this authenticity that often characterizes small, owner-managed companies. However, the truth is that you don’t always have to reinvent the world. Especially when it comes to standardized services, it hardly makes a difference who you buy them from. For example, whether I have my stove connected by electrician A or B should make little difference. In such cases, I would also recommend having short texts generated by an AI tool. However, these are not legally protected. A competitor could therefore use them 1:1 for their website.
What applies to texts also applies to images: It’s best to use your own! Both purchased photos (“stock photos”) and AI-generated images usually show that they do not originate from the company itself. This may not be particularly noticeable in the case of individual decorative or symbol photos, but if a website has a proliferation of authentic but low-quality cell phone photos and bought-in glossy photos, this looks inconsistent and cheap. Hence the appeal to hire a photographer and have them take pictures of the team, the services and, if necessary, the premises. Then you will have both high-quality and authentic photos – and that should be the goal!
3. structure & usability: How should a website be structured?
Whether a website is beautiful is firstly a matter of taste and secondly plays no role for Google – this is as true as it is wrong. Well-designed websites are characterized by a clear structure, a logical menu structure, clarity and consistency in design. Texts should be set neatly, design elements should be in harmony with each other, graphics should be well prepared and colors should be chosen carefully.
From an SEO perspective, it makes sense to dedicate a separate page to each business-relevant keyword and to include this in the menu. At the same time, the navigation structure should be kept flat and a menu should not contain more than eight items. In general, users should be able to find the information they are looking for quickly and as intuitively as possible – i.e. without having to think. In addition to pages on the services and products offered, the menu items “About us”, Contact and Careers, small companies should consider what other content they can and want to present on their website. For example, it may make sense to list customer projects and references after prior consultation and to address frequently asked questions (FAQs) as part of a content marketing strategy.
The larger a website is, the more important internal linking is. Internal links can be used to give more weight to individual pages and draw users’ attention to other services or products. As Google evaluates user signals such as dwell time or click rate as a ranking factor, good internal linking also has a positive effect on search engine optimization.
4. SEO landing pages: Which page does a user land on after clicking?
An SEO landing page is a page that is optimized for exactly one keyword or keyword phrase (e.g. “wedding photographer Cologne”) and aims to rank particularly well on Google for this keyword. When a user visits the page, they should immediately get the feeling that they are in the right place. The content of the landing page should be prepared accordingly (e.g. with suitable texts and images for wedding photography in Cologne). It is also typical for landing pages to persuade users to take a certain action (e.g. a phone call), which is why several call-to-actions are usually placed on landing pages (e.g. “Call us!” buttons).
With location-based keywords, companies can face the challenge that they also provide their services in neighboring towns and want to rank well here too. For this reason, it is advisable to set up separate landing pages for selected keywords (e.g. “wedding photographer Leverkusen”). To keep the main menu clear, landing pages are usually only linked in the footer. Nevertheless, this method also has its limits, which is why SEO landing pages should only be set up for particularly business-relevant keywords.
5 Local SEO: How do you get your company on Google’s map?
For local searches (e.g. “pizzeria Cologne”), the map (the “Local Pack”) is placed very prominently on the Google search results pages. As a rule, three companies are listed here. The most important ranking factors here include: the match between the search query and the products/services in the Google company profile and on the website, the geographical proximity, the number and quality of reviews, the update frequency and correct master data. It is therefore important for local search engine optimization to fill out the Google company profile completely – in particular to enter all services and products and to describe them. How important the website is for ranking in the Local Pack is disputed among experts. It is therefore usually only generally said to be important. The same applies to the influence of the post function. Although posts themselves only have a small reach, they have at least an indirect positive effect on the ranking. Secondary use of social media posts is therefore recommended.
According to the Google guidelines, only the company name may be used in the Google company profile. In practice, however, it has been shown that it makes sense for companies with a high degree of specialization to state the main service in the name (e.g. “Max Mustermann | wedding photographer”).
A Google business profile is free, can be created within a few minutes for start-ups and is quickly verified. For existing businesses, there is usually already an entry that Google has either created automatically using business directories or that has been created by a user. To claim the company profile, you should google your own company and click on “Owner of this company?” in the corresponding entry and then verify yourself as the owner.
