It is hard to get your story heard when there are so many other companies shouting for attention.
Not only is it hard to get your story heard, but it’s also hard to be seen as a credible and viable option when you’re up against big brands with deep pockets.
Public relations makes sure to craft the perfect message, while SEO makes sure that that message can be seen by the right people. PR and SEO go hand in hand.
How Do PR and SEO Work Together?
Public Relations (PR) is the practice of building and maintaining your brand’s image and reputation.
Public relations aims to persuade people and alter their perception of a company or its products.
This can be done through:
- Press releases
- Feature stories
- Interviews
- Media coverage
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the practice of optimising your website so it can rank higher on search engines, ultimately increasing traffic, leads and sales.
Search engine optimisation aims to get your website and content in front of the right people.
This can be done through:
- Keyword research
- Content optimisation
- Link building
So PR and SEO go hand in hand.
Public relations make sure to craft the perfect message, while SEO makes sure that that message can be seen by the right people.
For instance, it is all well to have a great story, but if it is not on the first page (or top results of SERP) of Google, it will go unnoticed.
The goal is to mesh a good brand message and image while optimising it for the online search.
How to Leverage PR For SEO?
Synchronised Strategy
It’s important that your PR and SEO strategies are on the same page.
If you have a great PR strategy, then your SEO will be that much stronger.
They both support each other by boosting visibility and increasing organic traffic through search results, enabling your targeted audience to learn more about you.
Backlinks
Creating a backlinking strategy helps you optimise for search.
A backlink is when another website links to your website.
Backlinks are the #1 ranking factor for search engines like Google.
You can leverage PR opportunities for SEO by asking those you are pitching and communicating with to add a link to your website.
For example, if you have a podcast interview with someone, you can share a link to your website and ask them to add it to the show notes.
Keywords
Include keywords that your ideal audience is searching for in your content so that you can rank for those keywords.
Make sure these words appear naturally within your writing so as not to confuse the reader and Google.
Also, avoid keyword stuffing when you add all the keywords you can to your copy. This affects the user experience and can also land you in trouble with Google if their algorithm picks up on this.
Long-form Content is King
Long-form content is far more likely to rank higher in search results and increase backlinks and social shares.
Long-form content is always more engaging than short-form content since it provides the user with everything they need on one page.
This makes them perfect for educational or informative purposes where you want people to take something away from your post.
Search engines like Google prefer long-form content since its in-depth and answer user questions better.
The moral of the story is this: if you want your company to be successful, you need to invest in both PR and SEO.
They are two sides of the same coin, and together they will help you rise above the noise and be seen as a credible source by potential customers.
Have you tried using PR and SEO together to market your business? If not, what’s holding you back?
Now that you understand how to leverage PR for SEO, you can head over to the next section of the KAMG SEO Content Hub.
