SEO and internet marketing are often perceived to be synonyms.  While the two terms are closely related, they cannot become synonyms in any context.  SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization and it is a part of the umbrella term internet marketing.  Internet marketing refers to all the platforms available on the internet to market a particular product or service.

There are many ways to do internet marketing online including SEO, PPC (Pay Per Click), banner advertising, e-mail marketing, social media marketing and the like.  The confusion between Internet Marketing and SEO exists because SEO is the most popularly known form of internet marketing.  The end goal of every Search Engine Optimization campaign is to achieve high rankings on search engines.  To achieve this, many practices like link building, directory submissions, website optimization etc are used.

While there are many intricacies involved in internet marketing through SEO, other online marketing services like PPC or banner advertising typically have a single linear procedure.  This is why the confusion between the two terms probably crops up.  In marketing a service or product online, a host of internet practices are used.  But SEO is often the first and most important step in online marketing.  May it be a website design or content writing, it is a very good idea to check to ensure it is search engine friendly.

The objective of all internet marketing strategies is to drive relevant traffic to the website but SEO requires understanding of the way search engine behaves, which makes it more challenging. In essence, the relationship between Internet marketing and SEO can be equated to the “whole and its parts” theory.