The majority of business owners understand that the primary goal of SEO is to get to the number 1 position in the Google search results. When you acquire that position, your click through rate (CTR) will be at least 200% higher than the next runner-up. In addition, the first page of search results receive 95% of all online traffic, while the remaining pages receive 5% or less. With this in mind, your business needs to be positioned to rank as high as possible online. Another equally important factor is the ability to increase your corporate brand awareness. If you are a growing business, but no one recognizes who you are and what you do, you will be missing out on a tremendous amount of opportunities.
Many businesses think they can use blogging and social media to increase their online profile. While these activities do help, they don’t always create the kind of visibility that motivates action, generates leads and new sales. SEO used to be about building the most amount of links, but today the quality of those backlinks are much more important. It is critical to develop compelling, authoritative content. In general, the higher the authority of the website you want a link from, the more difficult it is to create.
While there are countless ways to improve your online search rankings, one of the most effective is to employ the use of Public Relations. While many businesses try and keep up with the latest Google algorithm to tweak their SEO strategies, traditional methods such as working with a Public Relations professional will help you succeed. Public Relations gives you the opportunity to connect with journalists and media outlets to put your website and business at the top of the search results. Major media outlets like the Washington Post or CNN are highly authoritative sites, but obtaining a link from their sites seems almost impossible to the average person. These news organizations have earned their authority by deliberately and carefully choosing the most newsworthy content. Public Relations connects you to these media outlets to get you and your business noticed.
Building your company’s brand awareness and authority should begin by understanding what your customers read and where they read their news. For local businesses, the larger city newspapers typically make sense, while larger companies should target industry publications and relevant media outlets. There are numerous Public Relations activities that can improve your SEO rankings and drive more traffic to your website. Create a Public Relations strategy for backlinks using the most effective, impactful activities, such as these:
- Securing online editorial articles. Online editorial teams have the ultimate, unwavering authority in the eyes of the search engines. A single link from an editorial article can easily skyrocket your website’s authority, brand recognition and help catapult your business to the next level. The power of this Public Relations activity can not be underestimated.
- Press releases are an important part of any SEO strategy. They should be newsworthy, well written pieces of content in order to get more attention and backlinks. The key is to ensure you have quality news distribution, so don’t use a free service which will provide you with low quality links and result in poor search results. If you’re unsure how to syndicate a press release, hire a professional to get the job done right.
- Speaking at Events – Participating in local and industry events is a great way to increase brand exposure and increase your authority. One you are approved to speak, make sure your website is linked on the event’s website. The newly acquired link will be relevant to your business and help improve your business in the search results.
Trying to implement some of these strategies can seem overwhelming. How do you use Public Relations to increase your domain authority and create a media buzz about your company? Hire a PR professional who will provide you with immediate access that would otherwise take months or years to develop yourself.