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There’s No PR in SEO … Or Is There?

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In the same way PR is no longer just about press releases and coverage, SEO is not bound by keywords and metadata. In fact, they have more in common than you might think and understanding this link could be critical to your marketing efforts.

After all, both public relations and search engine optimization serve the same essential purpose: to attract and engage audiences. The common link? Content.

No single asset drives modern marketing quite like content. It’s a key piece of the pitch and the rankings when done right.

So, let’s take a look at a few of the ways content fuels both PR and SEO.

Modern marketing equates to strategic storytelling.

Content is about telling stories, but those tales also require some strategy. Yes, you want to engage your audience, but you have to get them there first.

This makes keywords the cornerstone of effective content. But, this isn’t an exercise in stuffing copy full of keywords from a list the SEO team dumped into a spreadsheet. Google is too smart for that anyway.

We want to analyze this data to understand audience interest and intent.

From there, we can craft good content that in turn becomes the foundation of a PR campaign. Centering on a piece or series of content gives a campaign the consistency needed to digitally draw an audience.

The content, PR and SEO should all speak the same language to maximize exposure.

Public relations uses the content to inspire coverage or generate the all-important backlinks from influencers and publishers. The more unique articles or segments and quality links or mentions, the better the SEO.

Press releases shouldn’t be confined to the inboxes of the media outlets you send them to. Every release deserves some space on your website, especially when that copy is optimized with keywords.

A healthy, current newsfeed on your website ensures a steady stream of content that can also keep posts flowing on social media, another known contributor to search results.

It works both ways, as SEO can also influence the pitch itself.

The same behavioral analysis generated by the keyword research can also be used to justify the content being shopped around.

So, it may very well be that, factually, the letters P and R do not have a physical place in SEO. But, strategically, PR can and should be at the heart of it.

About The Author

A journalist by trade, Shane tells stories that connect brands with target audiences and inspire them to act. He’s a writer, not a copy machine, and that approach brings exceptional content to every print or digital piece he pens.

Shane taps into his past as a reporter and editor to develop clear messages that resonate in every medium, be it blog or brochure, sponsored content or script.

Daily newspapers developed a habit for idea generation, attention to detail and knack for question-asking. His background as a magazine and web editor keeps client communications grammatically sound and effective.

Shane’s word-based deliverables range from long-form features to concise digital copy to persuasive prose. He’s been on both sides of the PR pitch and puts some muscle behind ABC’s media relations.