Why Public Relations And SEO Should Become Best Buds

Website promotion is a competitive, lucrative industry where everyone from Manhattan Public Relations(PR) Firms to small-time Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies are vying for a piece of the pie. Ironically, on the information super highway, it is because of the lack of knowledge that most SEOs and PRs have for one another that neither side is able to offer a truly effective and affordable solution, which yields Return on Investment (ROI), on a large scale for their clientele.

Let me explain.

THE TROUBLE WITH PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR is an industry that creates visibility across several different media for its clients while adhering to a pre-defined budget. It is an industry of communicators, with the ability to disseminate information to selected outlets armed with a rolodex, a press release and some serious people skills. Yet, with all of their strengths, one of the greatest criticisms of PR is their lack of ability to produce measurable ROI.

Large companies see the overall benefit of a well executed PR campaign, but medium-sized companies don't see the immediate value in a bunch of blog links or they can't afford to have Custom Myspace Tools developed for a product launch. As a result, many medium sized companies are leaving PR out of the marketing mix.

THE TROUBLE WITH SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

On the other side of the spectrum are search engine optimizers (SEOs). Technically savvy problem solvers, SEOs can tweak a website to maximize its exposure in the search engines (the tools that over 90% of internet users turn to when finding new resources or information online). SEOs rely on their technical expertise as well as their ability to build "backlinks" (links coming from other websites) to achieve success in the search engines for their clients.

In the past few months, however, (06-07) search engines have gotten "smarter" and have made traditional methods of building backlinks less effective. Many SEOs have turned to what they call "link bait", tapping into social media (blog forums and others) to build backlinks. Of course, "link baiting" is really just a nerdy term for online publicity. It's something that only the best of SEOs have mastered, and many PR Practitioners are now diving into.

WHY PR AND SEO SHOULD BE BEST BUDS

Where "link baiting" (and really online promotion in general) is concerned, Public Relations firms have a distinct advantage. With their preexisting experience, contacts online and off, and other resources already dedicated to building online visibility, PR firms are much better equipped to get mentions and links on authority websites than their SEOs counterparts.

Of course just because a PR firm can get mentioned in a dozen blogs posts, or make the first page of Digg.com, doesn't necessitate an increase in their client's bottom line. With the help of an SEO consultant, or SEO company, however, PR firms could present actual numbers to prove the value of their service by converting online publicity into search engine dominance.

If PR could tap into the technical expertise of a search engine optimizer they could solve the problem of tangible ROI and expand their services to more medium sized companies, ecommerce sites, and others. What if you as a PR Practitioner could hand your client a piece of paper saying "Look, we've gotten your name out to your niche here, here, here and here - oh, and as a result of this, you are now number one in the search engines when searched for these top keyphrases..."

Likewise, SEO firms, what if you could cut your workload in half by completely cutting out link building, show your clients better results, and get them mentioned in related high-traffic blogs or ezines? How much more would they be willing to spend with you? For how many more keywords would they want to rank?

YES, BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

It is a symbiotic relationship. Yes, you have to pay another company and cut away at some of your margin, but the relationship is mutually beneficial. Furthermore, if each party is accommodated with solutions specific to the other's industry where both stand to make a buck from offering the other's services, the relationship will grow.

By putting stock in SEO as well as outsourcing it, Public Relations Firms will be able to retain their larger clients with greater frequency as well as set their sites on medium sized businesses that previously hid their wallets when someone mentioned the words "press release." Similarly, by outsourcing to PR firms, Search Engine Optimization companies will be able to service more clients, while providing all around better results.

The most important point to remember here is that neither SEO nor PR firms have the whole of the online promotions pie yet. PR's strengths lie in creating visibility, but not technical prowess. SEO is just the opposite. They're a veritable Yin and Yang, an Odd Couple, Bonnie and Clyde, Simon and Garfunkel, Best Buds just waiting to find each other out there in the entangled world of bandwidth, servers and free information that is the internet.

Starting SEO the Organic Way

In the beginning it appears difficult and frustrating. Essentially, knowing that you have to spread your website and its information across THOUSANDS of sites can bring you down. On the contrary, simplicity, patience, and persistence will win this battle sooner than you think.

Organic, or Natural Search Engine Optimization begins with looking at any form of website optimizing that does NOT involve paying search engines, other websites, directories, or blogs. Basically, if there is no SEO company working on your organic search engine optimization, you should not be spending any money. Our recommendation is that any small business starting up should not seek any paid method of advertising unless there is a comfortable available budget for online marketing. Why is this? Well, in the beginning, it is always best to start small, and build your way up!

Through progressively creating, adjusting, and monitoring these Organic methods, success will follow!

- Social Media Networking (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc...)
- Directory Submission
- Blogging
- Article Submission
- Press Release
- Content Building
- Link Building
- and more!

Social Media Networking

Understanding the power of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is only half of the battle. Currently, Facebook is ranked 2nd, Twitter is ranked 9th, and LinkedIn is ranked17th in the world.

What does this have to do with you? Well, if you properly utilize these three social media sites, website popularity for your business or company will come. First on the list is setting up the account. By setting up an account, you can put up logos, pictures, videos, and much more on your profile. In addition to this, if you link your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts on your website, it is easier for viewers/potential clients to view your web pages which can lead to conversions. In the eyes of a potential buyer of your product or services, branding and website popularity is very important. Getting the person to your website, and then selling is hardest part.

This is why having simple profiles set up on social media sites will help to build your online profile. You can also think of it like this...the larger and more professional your online resume is, the more likely you are to receiving impressions-->clicks-->views-->conversions.

Directory Submission

Submitting your website to directories also plays an important role in your Organic SEO strategies. Being able to spread your URL and biography across thousands of free directories is a great privilege! The only downside to doing this is you will not see these link backs immediately unless you are willing to pay.

Some directories offer Paid One-Way Links, with free Reciprocal links. Where as other directories offer free One-Way-Links, with paid Reciprocal links. In addition to this, free One-Way-Links usually take 2-3 months of review before they will link your web page. Having said all of this, it is still worth your while. Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing are changing their algorithms evermore quickly, so having progressive links to your site over time is a good thing!

Blogging

Blogging is always an important part for site awareness, just like being outside, you are able to interact and communicate with other people that you have never met. This same concept translates into the web, and having individuals commenting, questioning, or remarking on your thoughts and ideas. Blogs such as Squidoo, Tumblr, and BlogSpot offer excellent rewards for activity on their site.

In addition to this, the writers of these blog posts get to learn more about what they do or write on. Setting up blogs is very simple and clean. Our suggestion is to fill out your profile as much as you possibly can with pictures, videos, biographies, and anything else that comes to mind! As long as it is profanity free, you will never have any issues with blog admins or other fellow bloggers.

A last point to make about Blogs is that it allows you to write what ever you wish, whether it be educational or for marketing purposes. Having that extra option to express your knowledge or expertise about a certain subject(s) is only beneficial in the world of gaining website popularity.

Article Submission

Submitting articles is very similar to posting on blogs. One main difference is that articles are more formally developed then blog posts. For instance, you can post on your blog that you are having a bad day. In an article situation, you are trying to demonstrate and express your knowledge and expertise out to the public in hopes of getting mass recognition which would then lead to more traffic on your site.

Article Submission sites, or press release sites, help put your information out to the mass public looking to read about a certain topic. For example, if somebody is interested in how to remove a virus from their computer, the benefit of a computer store writing an article on how to fix your computer from viruses would be beneficial. The mere psychology behind helping others out of good-will, and giving free information to the public can only benefit you. In addition to this, the search engines also will give ranking credentials to sites that expand their horizons across article and press release sites such as EzineArticles or GoArticles.

Press Release

Press Releases are a little more formal in the sense that you will want to utilize press releases for important news and events. For small business owners, press releases can benefit through releasing a new location, a new event, sponsorship, affiliate, and much more.

An example of this could be if you own a sports store and you sponsor a little league baseball team. If the little league baseball team wins a tournament or competition, you could press release that it was with the help of your sponsorship that they were able to achieve such success. Of course you don't want to take all of the credit, but there is nothing wrong with taking a little recognition for your hard work and kind heart.

Content Building

One of the most important ways to increase your organic or natural rankings is by creating content every week. By writing about your business or services, search engines will pick up on the activity on your website while giving you credit for mentioning your keywords or phrases in different context.

Although this sounds like you can just keep repeating the same word over and over again, the search engines are smarter than that. When creating content, it MUST be YOUR OWN, and not DUPLICATE from another competitors site or blog. If you're thinking about playing with this fire, you should be careful because the search engines are very intricate, and are more than capable of spotting duplicated content that is not your own. By being able to pick up when and where the content is put on, the search engines will know if a year later you duplicate another sites content, so avoid doing this at all costs. If you are lazy or don't feel like writing content, contact an SEO business or professional content writer.

A last point that is needed to say on this topic is that content should be structured so whatever the main subject is that your topic about, gets properly placed and mentioned. For example, if somebody was to write about SEO, you would want to avoid mentioning it at the bottom of the paragraph or story. Instead, try starting off with the sentence: In Search Engine Optimization....

Link Building

Link building naturally is also a very key factor in organic SEO. In order to build links, you must conjure up a letter targeted at webmasters of websites that are relevant or complimentary to your business. Moreover, adding a "links" or "resources" page to your website will also help to have a back-end page in which you can list the sites that you are link exchanging with.

Essentially, the more deep links, the more website popularity. Deep links are the most important and effective when trying to achieve rankings on the search engines due to the fact that another site is fully recognizing the existence of your site.