Let me start by saying that I have a degree in public relations. I got into PR because I had a desire to figure out what gained people’s interest — what inspired them to take action. If you don’t know much about PR, Samuel Scott has put together a simple walk-through of the public relations process. Recently I’ve delved into the world of digital marketing, a mixture of Web design, social media, and SEO. However, people remain my passion.
For many individuals working on improving SEO, the task of search engine optimization is focused around Web optimization. This certainly makes sense; however, the market is gearing more and more toward content creation every day. The truth is that good content is not written for the company, it’s written for the user. Conversion is a side effect.
One of the greatest aspects to public relations is the concept of reciprocity and mutual benefit. Individuals feel obligated to return favors. If nothing else this is the greatest reason to implement content creation as a strategy. Give consumers something to consume and they will engage with your brand more because of it.
Google’s algorithm for figuring out exactly what you want becomes more and more specific everyday. What started as a field of spamming keywords and links has now become an advanced science of mutual benefit. Google wants to give its users exactly what they were looking for when they type in a keyword. Therefore, it is up to marketers to create that content for the users. If more people engage with your content, Google likes it more. This is the win-win-win situation of SEO.
Public relations and SEO are becoming more and more integrated every day. In the past, someone in public relations would generate hype for a journalist, thereby supplying the journalist with a story and gaining the coverage. Today SEO practitioners will need to generate exceptional content for influencers, thereby supplying the influencer with the content and gaining coverage. And the best part is that everyone benefits — including Google, which will give the website higher rankings.
These will be the ranking factors of the future: exceptional, clear, and consistent content.
Many of the ideas in this article came from insights from Samuel Scott who does SEO at the Cline Group through several of his articles I’ve read and webinars I’ve attended. If you want a more in-depth look at these concepts, check out Samuel Scott’s wonderful article on The Coming Integration of PR and SEO.