How PR Can Help Growth for an Integrated SEO Strategy
As a digital marketing agency, we think it’s crucial to have a marketing strategy that is consistent across all platforms, whether on social media, in the press, or online. But what exactly does that look like, and where should you start?
PR, or public relations, focuses on managing the spread of information (and the perceptions of that information) from organizations to the general public. Similarly, SEO focuses on managing the online presence of an organization’s website, pushing the site higher in search engines like Google for relevant search terms. We think both of these are equally important for your company: PR is how people can learn about your company and form a good first impression, while being easier to find in potential customers’ research can affirm that first impression and, possibly, get you a new customer.
A disjointed PR effort can effectively destroy your SEO strategy. Let’s say all of your public relations efforts focus on your company’s new CEO, but you have no other content on your site about that CEO and never link back to your own site (instead linking to the CEO’s old company, perhaps). In this case, the relative SEO benefit versus potential is very low. Users will have no way of confirming that it is in fact your company where the CEO now works.
On the other hand, if every PR article is deeply integrated with the story you want to tell, and clearly leads back to pages, URLs, and aspects of the site that you want to highlight, then there is the potential for a smooth customer journey. For example, when your PR efforts guide people to your new CEO’s bio on your site and other relevant pages, potential customers will develop trust and brand affinity faster, and start the customer journey in a smooth manner. That smooth customer journey can send positive trust signals to the search engines and help build the overall trust of your domain.
Now, we’re not saying that you won’t be successful without PR (we know PR can be expensive). SEO with no PR can still succeed if properly managed. However, when SEO is integrated with PR, the possibilities for growth can increase in a markedly positive manner. A classic case study for success here is NerdWallet. Their PR strategy has always been joined at the hip with their SEO strategy, and the SEO lift has been meaningful over time. From the beginning, NerdWallet worked closely with a PR firm that helped them get content on high-domain-authority sites and get links back from those sites. This boosted NerdWallet’s perceived authority and ultimately helped them gain the credentials they needed to become an expert in the industry. Even if you can’t afford top dollar when it comes to PR, look for ways to get your content on the sites of well-known leaders in your industry. The links back from those sites can provide an excellent boost for your SEO strategy.
If you are already investing the dollars in PR, you want to get the maximum ROI–no great article written in a great publication comes for free. If you integrate each PR article within the goals and strategy of your SEO team, you create another chance for returns on the PR investment. Ensure that any publication links back to relevant pages on your site, using anchor text that speaks to your key services or mentions your organization or brand by name. Finally, ensure that your SEO team is aware of posts you know are coming in advance and when they are published so they can weave those additional looks into the holistic SEO and marketing strategy. Check out our other posts for more information on why anchor text and hyperlinks are such an important part of any SEO strategy, or get in touch with our team today.
