The way we work together and collaborate in the digital world is changing every day. And modern-day Public Relations and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) have never been more intertwined.

What is Public Relations?

According to PRIA, “Public relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.” 

The scope of PR work includes everything from events, influencer marketing and most predominantly media relations with the aim to secure earned editorial placement across print, online, TV and radio.

What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)? 

According to Forbes, “SEO is the process of optimizing your website in order to get organic or unpaid traffic from search engines like Google. It increases both the quality and the quantity of traffic to your site.”

How do they relate?

Google prioritises not only the quality and relevance of your content but the importance of the sites linking to your site. What does this mean? That in order for you to appear higher organically for your SEO, your content needs to be relevant and get links from high performing sites. 

For PR practitioners, this is something we already do. We create and provide quality, relevant content that people are looking for. Plus, we are in constant discussions with the media and work to ascertain earned media coverage, often securing links back to our client’s websites. By building relationships with online media outlets with high domain authority, we can help push you up in the ranks on search engines.

The relationship between SEO and PR has changed with the advances of social media. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram still provide incoming links gain incoming links from organic interest in your business. This is where social media influencer marketing comes in – a key pillar of modern-day PR. While social platforms, may not be as golden as media sites, they are still very useful for SEO. 

In simple terms, it’s the correlation of content and quality of links that bind PR and SEO together online.

How can you optimise this for better results?

1. Ensure messaging and content is aligned

It’s important that both your PR and SEO teams are aligned with communication. To deliver a real boost to your organic search content, consistency across all forms of your content is key. Ensure that the whole team is aligned with key messaging, key words, timing, and key seasonal events for your brand. Content is king and needs to be coherent.

Seasonality is a crucial element for SEO. At different times of the year, there is more search volume for different topics or key words. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to create PR press releases and story pitches around what you know will be performing highly in search. Consider how you can align your brand with a trend that people are interested in and talking about.  That’s the buzz.

2. Optimise chosen links and keywords

SEO teams should work together with PR to optimise the links in all organic and earned media coverage – whether it’s from a press release or a story pitch. The links chosen, URLs and keywords used need to have relevance to both pillars.

3. Identify and target high performing media sites

PR practitioners should understand SEO and consider the high authority of the media outlets they are pitching to. In turn, this is a win-win, and will deliver a huge impact in your client’s online visibility.

If you’re looking to develop your SEO and PR capabilities, The Buzz Group is a leading Sydney communications. We are a full-service agency and our PR and SEO teams work hand-in-hand to deliver the best results for our clients.  We also specialise in Social Media, Influencer Marketing and Google My Business.

Get in touch today. And let’s create some buzz.