All public relations experts understand the importance of getting information in front of the right audience at the right time.
However, while that’s undoubtedly true for PR, it’s the foundational principle of any Search Engine Optimization strategy as well.
In fact, PR and SEO can even go hand in hand, helping to get the most out of every single message that you put out. Ensuring that your company gets attention and increases brand awareness on as many channels as possible.
But how do PR and SEO work together?
Let’s explore.
How PR & SEO Work Together
Not too long ago, PR and SEO didn’t have any connection whatsoever – both had their own goals and digital marketing processes that didn’t intertwine.
However, today, SEO and public relations have become practically inseparable – although both still exist on their own, they serve to augment each other’s impact online and can be incredibly effective when used together.
And that’s because public relations are perfectly positioned to enhance your SEO efforts.
After all, the primary goal of PR is to get people talking about your site, products, services, or news about your company. Thus garnering attention and making it easier to attract your very best prospective customers.
A successful PR campaign results in getting people aware and talking about your company, which can also be valuable for SEO in the context of link building services from all over the web, pointing back at your site. That being said, there are distinctions between what makes a great SEO backlink, and what may make a good PR link.
PR Links vs. SEO Links
PR links can originate from virtually any medium in which people are speaking about companies, topics, etc. on the internet and there is an opportunity for exposure. Usually, the most common forms are social media (through both influencers and normal posts) and traditional press releases.
The distinct difference between PR links and SEO links often lies in the intentions of the acquisition of the link.
SEO links are usually built 100% focused on keyword ranking opportunity through the:
- Location of the link
- Context of the content the link lies within
- Anchor text
- Any other way that gains Google’s attention in recognizing the link as a sign of authority to reward the linked site in keyword rankings
PR links are built usually with the focus of:
- How much exposure (views/clicks) the link has the potential of acquiring
- How the link will look in the context and page content to align with brand/campaign
- Any other factors to increase traffic/exposure through link clicks
As one can see, each strategy has its distinct differences. However, there is also much alignment that can many times be quite complementary if done correctly and teams work fluently together for the same overall goal.
Think of a case where you are launching a new brewery. The PR team would likely put out press releases and talk to social media influencers about the Grand Opening. But you would likely also reach out to local papers to see if they would be interested in coverage and running an article on their website about the opening.
Because the local paper is viewed as an influential website in the region, a backlink from that article to your brewery website would be very beneficial for SEO. It could help you rank the website for “brewery near me” type terms in the target area. The chatter generated by the press release and social media mentions then comes into play, because it convinces the local paper that your brewery is, indeed, worth covering due to the existing interest.
Finally, the rankings you gain from capturing this sort of backlink make it easier for your PR team to promote the business in the future (because it has more organic visibility). This is just one example of how PR and SEO can be mutually beneficial.
Best Practices in Public Relations SEO Strategy
Backlinks are what Google and other search engines use to determine how worthy a site is to be ranked for various keywords. If you can acquire links to your website from authoritative sources, you can naturally start climbing the rankings for the most important keywords in your industry.
With SEO and public relations teams working together, you can achieve two marketing goals at once, spreading your message through PR campaigns and also building up your SEO efforts for long-term visibility online.
Today’s website marketing depends on your ability to use SEO and PR together as it is an integral part of any companies overall strategy.
Even today, many PR experts aren’t aware of these benefits and the large impact their efforts can contribute to keyword rankings. As a result, education is very important when analyzing these marketing channels and their relationship to one another. Since PR and SEO teams are usually separated within an overall marketing department, it’s natural that there are a lot of misconceptions about how to combine these two marketing approaches for the best results.
Let’s explore some of the best practices of SEO public relations and how to use it to achieve the best long-term and short-term results.
If you’re going to get the most out of your PR strategy, you need to be creative in how you generate opportunities for exposure (and link juice!).
When developing content, you should always be mindful of what types of press releases, articles, or other content that could generate the most traction and get you the most backlinks.
The same goes for events.
For instance, if you organize an awards ceremony or conference in your industry and invite some of the other prominent members, as well as the press, you may find that you get a ton of shares (meaning, backlinks!) from authoritative sites, sometimes even your direct competitors which you can then outrank!
Obviously, creating top-quality content (not to mention putting together events) can be a challenging process, but it provides plenty of traditional public relations benefits.
When putting together PR campaigns with SEO, you should use various outreach strategies to get your content or your event published on as many sites as possible – maximizing your reach, the number of backlinks, and the success of your PR campaigns.
Bonus Points: SEO as Evergreen Public Relations
We already discussed how you could use your PR campaigns to provide a considerable boost to your SEO efforts, but can it work the other way around?
As you start accumulating more backlinks to your site, you will start ranking higher for branded keywords, as well as other essential keywords in your industry.
When your target customers type in those queries into search engines and see that your company appears at the top, that can provide a massive boost to your credibility and authority, shaping how your company is perceived publicly.
Victorious SEO
A cohesive SEO and public relations strategy can provide immense value to your company, however, making it work can sometimes be a challenge.
At Victorious, we are an SEO agency that uses search to unleash every company’s true potential, and we are ready to help! We offer comprehensive consultation on how to best integrate the two strategies that are customized for your industry and your company’s goals.
To learn more, please call us at (415) 621-9830 or use our site’s contact form today!
