Many people new to marketing on the web confuse Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with Search Engine Marketing (SEM).  It helps to think of SEO as doing “on-page” work and SEM as “off-page” work.  SEO is the process of making your website 1) Easily indexed by the major search engines; 2) Funneling your visitors (including search engine spiders) to the desired page or call-to-action.  Just a few SEO techniques would include:

• Put keyphrases in title (H1, H2,..) tags
• Link to funnel page using keyphrases in anchor <a href=”"> tags
• Link other pages to funnel page.
• Put most important content at top of page
• Avoid using Javascript-based navigation menus
• Use clean XHTML/CSS page layouts
• Avoid putting keyphrases in media (graphics, Flash, audio, video)
• Setup a blog on your site and regularly write articles that contain your keywords

SEM should be part of an overall marketing campaign in which you define a strategy for driving traffic to your site - and more specifically, a particular page on your site - for your desired keyphrases.  This campaign can include Google Adwords and other pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social bookmarking, social networking, user forums, directories, backlinks, and any other “vehicle” that provides a means for linking back to your site using your desired keyphrases.

When people want to “SEO their site” - that’s good, but there is more involved in getting your site ranked on any search engine. You have to view the full picture and have a strategy that makes sense for your business, content, and objectives.