PR is all about creating genuinely interesting, newsworthy campaigns and content pitched to the media to secure coverage. Public relation agencies work hard to get their clients mentioned in the press while SEO firms work hard to get their clients’ websites seen in search results.
When PR is used in SEO, it helps generate high-quality authoritative links. These are the types of links that Google and the other search engines put a lot of value on when ranking websites in the search result pages.
Everybody knows that backlinks are one of the most fundamental aspects of SEO. However, it’s not always easy to get the ‘right type’ of backlinks which are those coming from high authority sites and reputable sites within your niche.
When a major publication like an online newspaper publishes a piece about your brand, it will earn your website a high-quality, authoritative backlink that will boost your search ranking. And SEO is all about ranking high in the SERPs! Aside from that, you’ll also get some brand recognition which is also very good for SEO.
SEO and PR go together like bread and butter and they complement each other brilliantly. PR and SEO working in tandem can accomplish several things like:
To get journalists and online publications interested in covering your brand, you have to give them a story that’s worthy of media attention. You’ve got to create a compelling & unique story that’s so good they’ll want to cover it.
Then it’s a matter of getting the journalist or contact person at the online publication to open your email that pitches your story so you get a response. If done right, your email will be opened, your story will be liked, and you’ll get the media attention and valuable link you need.
Apart from sending emails to journalists and editors at online publications, you can also use a PR website like HARO (Help A Reporter Out). HARO is a very effective way to connect with relevant journalists and publications. Another option is to use a site like PRWeb to publish press releases to get media attention for your story.
Today, many digital marketing agencies are offering digital PR along with SEO. This type of agency collaborates with journalists, bloggers, and influencers. It also uses press releases to earn high-value backlinks and social mentions for the clients it serves.
There’s no doubt that digital PR drives impressive results, and especially when it’s paired with a strong SEO strategy. In a recent chat on Twitter, Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller said that digital PR is ‘probably more critical than technical SEO’ and that’s coming from one of Google’s own!