A recent survey of Google searchers found that three quarters (75%) of respondents don’t pass the first page of Google results to find an answer to their query. Many of these clicks are being made by your potential buyers, maybe even your current customers. To stay competitive and generate leads, therefore, businesses need to ensure that they are on the first page of Google. The surprise for many is that PR – when done using proper SEO techniques – can be the most powerful tool to enable companies nab many of the influential links on Google’s first page.
Imagine what life would be like if you could own five or six key positions here. Think of the impact on your lead generation. Think also about the competitive impact of bumping your big rivals into the eternal darkness of Google’s page 2 and below.
Why do we need SEO?
We all know that SEO is one of the marketer’s key tools for improving the quantity of traffic to a website, and also increasing the quality of incoming leads.
Rather than outbound marketing approaches like pop-up ads or spam emails which customers can find disruptive, getting your organisation’s name to the top of search results will mean that you’re the first name that prospective customers see when they’re searching online.
Here are four ways that PR can help your SEO:
Optimising keywords in your PR materials
You’ve identified your company’s SEO keywords – in other words the terms you want to be found for - now what? The next step is to optimise any subsequent PR communications for these terms. Press releases, interviews and articles are great tools to share company news, increase visibility with your target audience and incorporate SEO tactics.
Comit has developed powerful growth enabling methodologies for writing attention grabbing media content and headlines that naturally include your business’ keywords and links. It’s important to note that search engines can penalise pieces of writing that include repeated keywords or poorly written content, so engaging with a professional who will understand the nuances of SEO should be paramount to your strategy.
You can own five or six links on page 1 of Google if you do this correctly. Some of these can be to your own website, but critically many of these will be pointing to independent media sites which feature you. These are often much more influential in driving prospects to contact you as independent editorial is much more compelling.
Building citations
Citations, or mentions of your organisation’s name on a third party site are one of the top ways to boost your search-engine results. No longer is it all about getting backlinks to your site. You can earn valuable Google ranking points by having your company name mentioned in local and national media and in key regional directories.
Leading national, business and technology media are noted as trustworthy websites so the more your name is included on these sites, the better ranked your site will be. PR activities such as company growth announcements, thought-provoking surveys or high-profile interviews can be a great way to grow your business’ awareness with your target market and take your SEO to the next level.
Google loves PR people who do it regularly!
In order to build website authority, your website needs to be filled with well-written content that includes keywords, hyperlinks and company news. Google loves regular blogs and social style content. The more you publish, the more Google will point people to you.
The best way to achieve this is with a multi-faceted and dynamic content strategy that incorporates media announcements, interesting company news and thought-leadership articles and blogs. A regularly updated company blog is a great way to improve your SEO.
Identifying your company’s key messages
It’s important to focus on your key business objectives to stand out in the online world. Businesses that have successful SEO strategies will have a well-defined company voice that is simple and consistent.
A PR professional will be able to understand what your organisation does and develop clear, concise and search-friendly messaging that will grab the attention of your target audience. By creating a messaging platform, you can avoid jargon and incorporate terms in future company announcements.
Summary
PR and SEO now overlap more than ever before. In order to build your profile in an online world, you need to have a strategy that encapsulates keyword development, content optimisation and message distribution. If you would like to learn more about Comit’s carefully honed techniques designed to capitalize on the unique capabilities of PR to generate leads through SEO, you can contact us here.
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