Publicity for Robots: Is Link Building the Future of PR?
By Michael Magnus
At first, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can sound like some sort of complex computer wizardry. After all, Google’s search results are incredibly complicated. Some 200 different factors are used in determining rankings, and the majority of them are fairly technical.
Fortunately, there is good news for communication professionals. Google has shared that two of the most impactful factors in ranking are content and backlinks. Content optimization is a frequent area of discussion, however backlinks and link building are newer considerations in the larger discussion of digital PR.
Public Relations and Link Building
Link building is the discipline of earning and developing hyperlinks (or, more simply, links) back to a page from another website. It builds a sort of “link economy,” where sites earn ranking authority from both the number and importance of other websites that link to them. These sites, in turn, share that authority when linking to other pages.
Most PR professionals are likely already doing link building, but not taking credit for it. When we pitch a story or publish guest content, the links derived from those articles often help the overall SEO of a website. The biggest difference between link building and publicity is intent. With public relations, the priority is typically to influence people or the media, whereas link building professionals focus exclusively on influencing Google’s “RankBrain.”
As technology continues to evolve, the distinctive divide between PR and SEO begins to diminish. When stories are pitched, often key factors to evaluate are audience demographics and volume of readership. When link builders do outreach, the focus is predominantly on the potential link value from a particular publisher. It’s only a matter of time before these seemingly separate metrics are evaluated in tandem when writing a publicity plan.
Why is SEO important?
According to Hubspot’s recent Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics for 2020, 94% of all web traffic originates with an organic search. Furthermore, the study shows that the top-ranking result for a search query receives 35% of click throughs on mobile and 34% on desktop. Google shares insights that also suggest optimization is important for local clients, with 80% of customers using search to find information locally. Excluding SEO as a consideration when developing a strategic plan may leave a client or agency open to lost opportunities as digitally-savvy competitors rise to the top of the search rankings.
An additional benefit to consider is that tracking links provides practitioners with more metrics to measure associated with the success of a campaign. How many times have leading PR professionals had to report on handing out 3,000 brochures at a tradeshow or attempted to explain the value of a column inch to a marketing department? It is a continual challenge to quantify the value of earned exposures to ROI-driven executives.
By supplementing current reporting with search data, agencies can more clearly articulate how their efforts correlate with an increase in brand-specific search volume or how coverage contributes to higher rankings for industry keywords. Search statistics help connect PR efforts to demand generation, measuring increased search volume, traffic and, ideally, conversions tied to publicity efforts.
Is Now the Time to Integrate Link Building Strategies?
The tools available for link research in the past were clunky, overly technical sites. They were challenging to navigate and even more difficult to understand. That’s not necessarily the case anymore.
Moz’s search tools are intuitive, easy to learn, and come with a Chrome extension. Ahrefs has incredibly detailed tutorials and explanatory videos that are easy to understand, regardless of your level of tech literacy. SEMRush even has an app available to track campaigns. With any of these, you can add SEO research and reporting for around $100/month.
The barrier for entry to learn SEO fundamentals has been substantially lowered thanks to these more user-friendly tools, the vast knowledge base available for free online, and even SEO podcasts that help you learn on the go. The information is now easily available for anyone wanting to learn.
Having said all this, it’s important not underplay the value of a quality SEO team. Optimized content with great backlinks won’t attract much traffic if it the site is slow, data isn’t structured, or landing pages aren’t indexed properly. However, with the integration of search metrics, PR professionals can harness simple data in new ways to provide additional value for clients.