How to Intelligently Integrate Your SEO and PR
Linus Kurtenbach3/14/2022
Our guest author shows you 3 tips on how you can leverage synergies with SEO-PR.
Table of contents
- Why the linking of SEO and PR is overdue
- What is SEO actually?
- PR helps SEO - and vice versa
- Which tools are suitable for this linking of SEO & PR?
- Understanding Content Marketing as a connecting element
- Content is crucial, not the channel
- The most common mistakes in dealing with media: 5 tips on how to get into the media
It is no coincidence that journalists are leaving well-known media houses to build newsrooms in organisations and turn brands into media. The need for good stories, high-quality content and interesting formats within companies is increasing. Because: Markets are saturated, there is a plethora of content on the net and at the same time the price and competitive struggle in many industries is increasing. What would happen if both departments bundle their know-how, complement each other and work efficiently together in the interest of the organisation and tell good stories?
Why the linking of SEO and PR is overdue
To cut to the chase: Linking the disciplines of "SEO" and "Public Relations" is not just about recycling content. In order for synergies to be utilised within an organisation, both disciplines must first understand each other. In content marketing, a strong parallel to PR can be seen in the production of content. In both cases, the aim is to share marketable, attractive and relevant content with the target audience.
However, in the case of SEO and Content Marketing the target group is one that has an increased interest in a company's products and services. The aim here: generating leads, qualifying them and thereby increasing sales. Different formats and channels are used for this.
In practice, however, there are many elements that remind us more of traditional PR work. Developing communication strategies, developing core messages, preparing content in appropriate formats for our own channels and external channels, or obtaining feedback, these are all processes that occur in both content marketing and PR. Both disciplines focus on analysing, curating, staging and distributing content. So why not work together productively and on an equal footing? The interface between the two areas is found in SEO-PR.
Formats and channels in content marketing with corresponding peculiarities
What is SEO actually?
Content in the form of blog articles, studies or white papers that have been optimised for search engines help the company generate good SEO rankings and be found specifically on specific topics. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) generally describes the use of strategies, tools and techniques to be listed in search engines for certain keywords in the top positions.
Both the technical optimisation of the site and the content optimisation of the content are analysed by search engines such as Google, Bing or regional pendants such as Yandex or Baidu. In addition to the technical and content aspects, the so-called OffPage SEO is also considered in SEO: link marketing and Link Building fall into this category.
PR helps SEO - and vice versa
PR work can also generate leads: whoever collects high-quality backlinks in relevant media environments not only creates SEO traffic and does something for brand awareness, but also brings their own company into the "Relevant Set" of potential interested parties in a credible way. These ideally then convert into high-quality leads on their own channels.
The customer's journey is thus influenced by PR and SEO. If you do both well, both channels boost each other. And what happens if PR professionals do not take into account organic search? Quite simply, the searcher then ends up with the competitor who ranks for corresponding search terms.
Which tools are suitable for this linking of SEO & PR?
Those who do not optimise SEO content for search engines like Google, not only do not achieve rankings, but also lose customers. Because today, decision makers search for information via channels like Google and Bing. An important element for SEO-PR is keyword research in order to identify corresponding search terms for which rankings are to be generated. Because through keyword research and appropriate optimisation of content, we can rank for keywords in search and thus generate organic traffic. In this post, you will learn, how to find the right keywords for your SEO strategy using keyword research.
For this, SEO tools are suitable, which have built up a corresponding keyword database. According to OMR Reviews, the best SEO tools are Sistrix, Semrush and Screaming Frog SEO Spider.
Sistrix
Anyone who has anything to do with search engine optimisation in German-speaking countries is sure to have heard of the analysis program Sistrix. Based on the data of a huge keyword pool, it forms a central metric for comparing different domains. In addition, the SEO tool allows domains (over 100 million in total) to be analysed much more deeply, whether at domain, host, directory or URL level. In addition to the core SEO function, Sistrix also offers the additional modules Optimizer, Links, Ads, Social and Marketplace.
Semrush
Semrush is a toolbox comprised of the 5 toolkits SEO, content marketing, competitive analysis, social media and PPC. Each category such as Social Media Management, On-Page SEO, Keyword Research, Link Building, Paid Advertising, etc. has several tools that delve deeper into specific applications of the upper category. Different SEO processes are covered by the tool and additional insights can be gained through traffic and market analysis.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Behind Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a so-called crawler, a software that specifically searches a website or parts of it and scans it completely. By default or individually adjusted properties, the tool often only called "Frog" collects various SEO-relevant data such as links, (intermediate) headings or pages with 404 errors. All data can be exported and then, for example, edited in Excel.
Other helpful SEO-PR tools on OMR Reviews
Besides Sistrix and Co. you will find many more SEO softwares with verified reviews and ratings on our platform OMR Reviews. These softwares you can take a closer look at.
Understanding Content Marketing as a connecting element
Today, it is essential to think the Customer Journey in such a way that the customer does not end up with the competition. This requires a common understanding of topics. My recommendation: Develop topic strands together and establish regular exchange. Only in this way can an understanding be developed and similarities recognised. "The understanding of how communication works needs space everywhere in the company, because ultimately every employee can also be an ambassador", says Christoph Salzig, who has been working successfully with his agency pr://ip - Primus Inter Pares on the client side with experts from PR, marketing and sales for many years.
Content is crucial, not the channel
Companies should think about the buyer's journey cross-media, i.e. networked and multichannel, and also consider offline touchpoints. In the area of digital contact points, a distinction can be made between own, earned and paid channels. The own channels (Owned Media) consist of the website, the blog, the own social media profiles as well as the Landingpage, which was designed by the company. The earned channels (Earned Media) are organic Google rankings and organic reach in social media such as Facebook, but also guest articles, interviews in trade media or lectures at trade fairs and congresses. The paid part of the channels (Paid Media) consists of Google advertisements, advertisements in social media and sponsored articles in trade media.
Before using all three variants of content distribution, one should first ask oneself on which channels the customer is on the move, and answer this for each phase of the Buyer's Journey and each individual content format. The decisive difference between these forms of content distribution is the relationship of trust and acceptance - here, Owned and Earned Media have clear advantages over paid advertising.
The points of contact between companies and potential customers are so diverse that the customer's journey to purchase often takes place via different variants and patterns. It is important for companies that suitable content is available for the different phases. The contents are crucial here, not the channel. Rather, content should be prepared specifically for different channels and customer groups.
The most common mistakes in dealing with media: 5 tips on how to get into the media
PR and press work addresses the right (media) contacts with the right content and messages in order to reach the right recipients and build relationships with their own stakeholders. Afterwards, the topic must meet the interest of the journalist and enable him with the right content to create something unique for his readers, which enhances his content. To quote tech editor Mike Butcher, "News is also about making my publication amazing. Just being a Start-up does not make you News." Conclusion: It is no longer enough to play a funding round via press release to a medium to create a clipping.
5 Tips for the Press Pitch:
1. Know who you are contacting
2. Build a relationship before placing a topic
3. Tell a unique story
4. Personalise pitch
5. Think about and describe the benefits for the reader
The relevance, the benefit for the consumer and the entertainment factor are important criteria for turning mere content into a press topic. "It's about telling a unique story. It should be especially clear why the organisation it's about is trustworthy and what the readers, viewers or listeners get from it," says Christoph Salzig, owner of the communications agency pr://ip - Primus Inter Pares. The search engine sees it no differently: it too is pleased about valuable, unique and user-friendly content.
Author
Linus Kurtenbach
Als Marken- und Kommunikationsstratege kreiert Linus Botschaften, um Menschen für Innovationen, Technologie und Vernetzung zu begeistern. Er ist Fan von gutem Storytelling, nützlichem Content und bringt reichlich Erfahrung aus dem B2B-SaaS-Marketing, der Technologie PR und der Event-Kommunikation mit. Bei der Kommunikationsagentur Primus Inter Pares ist er Seniorberater und betreut Kunden aus der digitalen Wirtschaft und darüber hinaus.
