How PR and SEO Work Together

Written on 11 August, 2016 by Nick Bell
Categories Search Engine Optimisation

The importance of PR was underlined with a big black pen following the great ABS census debacle of 2016. The whole saga was a huge reminder that the way your business handles its relations with the public is integral to its success. Public opinion holds colossal power these days, particularly with the freedom of social media platforms, therefore it’s vital that you establish positive PR grounds right from the outset.

What many people don’t realise, however, is that PR should effectively work in tandem with SEO. Where the two pillars existed as separate entities once upon a time, they can now effectively intertwine and when done right, bounce off one another to really boost your business’ digital marketing efforts.

A common goal lies at the heart of PR and SEO: to grab your audience’s attention

When you break it down, these two marketing techniques harness the same goal as one another; it’s essentially their anatomy that’s different. By employing an effective SEO strategy, you can magnetise your target audience to your business. Then, with the creation of engaging content, you can shape your audience’s opinion of the company. The idea is to collaborate the two in order to draw on one another’s strengths.

So, how can you achieve this?

When you earn media coverage via effective PR strategies such as press releases and non-paid stories, you are essentially presented with the opportunity to boost your rankings. SEO can detect keywords in your campaign that need optimisation, and help choose appropriate URL links to therefore incorporate. The idea is to gain incoming links by generating organic interest in your website. In much the same way, SEO experts can ensure any links that re-direct your audience to external websites are safeguarded with a “nofollow” HTML code in order to avoid search engine penalties.

By utilising your PR efforts to drive more links to your website, you can richly enhance your reputation. Even if it doesn’t convert to sales, if journalists pick up on your story, you will generate more clicks, build more links, and essentially amplify your digital presence.

Make sure you manage the crossover of tasks  

Before you get carried away with your PR and SEO efforts, it’s important to ensure the two don’t accidentally collide. Communication is key when you want to combine two different-yet-similar departments: you don’t want to duplicate information; you simply want to collaborate to produce high-quality materials that can optimise your exposure as much as possible.

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