How to Leverage Digital PR for Link Building: a PR for SEO Guide

Welcome, LinkedIn community! I’m Nikolas Lemmel, the team lead over at Maximatic Media, where we specialize in seamlessly integrating public relations with search engine optimization to elevate brand visibility and authority. Our journey over the past several years has been dedicated to mastering the art of leveraging PR not only for its traditional benefits but also as a strategic tool to enhance SEO outcomes..

Whether you are just starting out, looking to refine your approach, or hoping to gain a new perspective on PR for SEO and Link Building services, I hope this discussion will provide valuable insights and inspire innovative strategies. I look forward to your thoughts, feedback, and questions as we delve into this fascinating interplay between public relations and search engine optimization.

Understanding the Core of Public Relations and SEO

Before we dive head first into the practical side of integrating PR campaigns with SEO objectives, we should first cover the fundamentals of each field just so we’re on the same page.?

Public Relations, at its most foundational level, is the art and science of crafting and managing communication between an organization and its key publics to build, manage, and sustain its positive image. It’s the process of identifying newsworthy aspects surrounding your personal brand or organization and spinning them in such a way that media outlets with large readerships have a reason to talk about you. It’s a very human-oriented field centered around building relationships with various authors, contributors and editors at publishing powerhouses that are relevant to your industry.

SEO, on the other hand, despite also existing for the same purpose of getting your brand or content in front of the eyes of your target audience, has a far more technical approach behind it. You cannot exert any meaningful degree of influence over how well your site ranks on Google through relationships with key individuals like you’d often see in PR. Instead, an SEO’s primary focus is on influencing various technical aspects of the target site or content such as schemas, formatting, keyword density, speed optimization, indexation and general site architecture. To truly compete with the big boys, you have to pay close to attention to just about every single one of these variables.

However, there is one major factor that arguably has the biggest impact on where a site or any given piece of content ranks amidst its sea of competition. It’s also serendipitously one of the few factors in SEO that can actually be influenced by leveraging human relationships and, thus, intersecting the fields of PR and SEO together. That so-called factor? Backlinks!

Backlinks can take form in just about any form of online media. A company page on Linkedin that leads back to the company’s site, for instance, is a backlink. A comment on Reddit that hyperlinks a piece of text leading back to some random site’s blog? Also a backlink. A clickable infographic image on a site that was borrowed and credited to the creator’s site? Backlink.

To put it shortly, a backlink is really just any link that leads traffic back to your site from another page. It doesn’t even necessarily need to generate a lot of traffic. Just the mere existence of it is oftentimes enough for Google to reconsider how relevant your content is in comparison to your competitor’s. The more of these backlinks you have, the better your chances of outranking your competition.

Types of Backlinks

Now, the caveat to backlinks is that just because you have them doesn’t mean that they'll actually be useful for meeting your SEO objectives. You can have tens of thousands of keyword-relevant backlinks pointing back to your site and net absolutely zero utility out of them. Simply go on a place like Fiverr and you’ll find dozens of sellers selling a thousand, ten thousand or even a hundred thousand links for a measly $10-$20. Those links are almost always going to be computer-generated and plastered around web2.0 sites that have little to no presence themselves on Google.?

The same goes for social links and just about all User-Generated-Content (UGC) as well. If everyone has access to those links, then it’s hard to argue that the presence of those backlinks makes you any more of an authoritative or relevant source on the subject matter than the next site in line. The backlinks that truly matter come from other sites that (a) command a very strong presence on Google, (b) are relevant to your niche or industry, and (c) link back to your site in the form of a “dofollow”. These types of links are frequently referred to as guest posts and are arguably the most valuable links when it comes to level of impact on your rankings.

Think of these dofollow backlinks as endorsements or “votes of trust” exchanged between websites. Both dofollow and nofollow links play a crucial role in how the internet operates and how these endorsements are distributed. Oftentimes, you may want to link to a website because you have discovered something interesting or valuable there. When using dofollow links, you are essentially telling Google that this source is reputable and worthy of trust. A nofollow link, on the other hand, is generally viewed as more contextual as opposed to trustworthy and thus, doesn’t pass on any “link juice” to your site when utilized.

Now that we understand exactly WHAT types of links we want to receive, let's talk about WHERE we want to receive them from. The best backlinks come from websites that are regarded as authoritative and reputable by Google. But how would you tell which website is authoritative and which one isn’t? To solve that dilemma, a handful of metrics were created within the SEO world to gauge exactly where a site ranks on the authority scale in comparison to the rest of the web. The metric that prevailed and became the principal measuring stick by which all major SEO professionals assess their target sites is known as the Domain Authority (DA) score.

How to Assess the Value of a Backlink using Domain Authority Scores

Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine result pages (SERPs). Domain Authority scores range from one to 100, with higher scores corresponding to greater likelihood of ranking.

It’s calculated by evaluating multiple factors, including linking root domains and total number of links, into a single DA score. This score can then be used when comparing websites or tracking the "ranking strength" of a website over time. If domain A is more likely to appear in a Google SERP than domain B is, then we would expect domain A's DA to be higher than domain B's DA.

Since DA is based on machine learning calculations, any given site's score will often fluctuate as more, fewer, or different data points become available and are incorporated into those calculations. For instance, if facebook.com were to acquire a billion new links, every other site’s DA would drop relative to Facebook’s. Because more established and authoritative domains like Facebook will have increasingly larger link profiles, they take up more of the high-DA slots, leaving less room at the higher end of the scale for other domains with less robust link profiles. Therefore, it's significantly easier to grow your score from 20 to 30 than it is to grow it from 70 to 80.

When you think of very large and prominent websites like Facebook, Wikipedia, and Linkedin, each of those websites has a score of 99, indicative of their positioning in the eyes of Google. Obtaining a do-follow link from these sites would solidify you as a highly authoritative source because it communicates to Google that these other highly authoritative sites are considering your website to be the “final destination” as opposed to theirs. The issue, however, is that none of the above referenced sites ever give out external do-follow links. It’s simply impossible to get one from them because of how their website code and linking procedures are structured.

However, as you move further down the Domain Authority totem pole, what comes after these large, user-generated-content mills? News sites!

The Impact of Digital News Media on PR and SEO

As major news and media outlets began transitioning to an online media delivery system (with many even discontinuing print media in their entirety) in the early 2000s, traditional PR began shifting alongside it. Nowadays, the vast majority of readerships at prominent news and media outlets like Forbes, Wired, USA Today consume more than 70% of their media output entirely online. That gave rise to PR agencies like our very own Maximatic Media whose sole focus was on obtaining Digital PR features within these prominent news sites.

The methods behind obtaining these media placements and features didn’t deviate too much from their traditional roots. Any given publicist worth their salt would still need to identify “angles”, build relationships with contributors and authors writing for those relevant news sites and pitch them in a way that lands a feature. Neither did the exposure or brand-awareness-building principles change during the switch. However, the key turning point in this digital media shift was the immense utility websites gained in the SEO sphere when being discussed and linked to by these high-authority news sites. As opposed to traditional PR deliverables where the net gain was largely limited to a massive boost in interest that quickly fizzled out, digital PR gave brands a more consistent stream of traffic indirectly by tying their site to the beneficiary’s.

Let’s look back at the three aforementioned news outlets I referenced above: Forbes, Wired and USA Today. Forbes has a DA score of 95, Wired has a DA score of 93 and USA Today has a DA score of 94. All three of these media outlets have scores that vastly outperform 99% of other websites currently in existence. As a result of that, when you look up something like “Best 401ks” or “best gadgets”, the first top 5 results are always going to be Forbes for 401ks and Wired for gadgets. They command a strong enough authority within Google’s eyes that anything they publish for their target keyword or subject gets instantly embedded on the first page of Google because of how high their DA score is. Google trusts the output of their site enough to know that if they write something for this topic, chances are, it is probably very relevant and truthful to that specific keyword.

It doesn’t take a genius then to figure out that if you are a 401k provider and you want to level up your online presence and traffic potential, getting that co-sign from Forbes in their “Best 401ks” article would be absolutely monumental for your SEO and general marketing objectives. But how would a small business, startup or organization go about securing that co-sign from Forbes? Well that’s where traditional PR practices come into play.

Leveraging PR to Obtain High-Quality Backlinks

Now, for this section, I could go on and on about how to formulate the “perfect” pitch, how to identify the “best” angles or narratives for your brand or product and in reality, yes, that stuff matters a lot in the grand scheme of things.

However, if taking into context the example of Forbes’ Best 401ks or really just about any large, global/national media outlet, the quality of your “pitch” will have almost no effect on your inclusion within their article. The truth of the matter is that your pitch would probably never even be seen or registered by anyone relevant to the writing or publishing process at a place like Forbes. The contributors writing for these outlets are inundated with such a large amount of pitches on a daily basis that it’s almost impossible for them to even so much as glance at all of them.

Crafting well-thought-out EPKs and using tools like Muckrack or Prowly can definitely help an up-and-comer secure some form of local media coverage but targeting really high-authority news sites like any of the three we covered above will simply not be attainable for 99% of those who try. Venturing into it is like venturing into a bottomless pit of unreplied emails and unseen Linkedin/Twitter DMs. The guys working at these outlets are well aware of how in demand their attention is and getting into direct contact with them is virtually impossible unless you’re running within the same circles.

Pitching to contributors working at these outlets requires a degree of authority that very few publicists actually possess. That’s largely why when I, Nikolas Lemmel, co-founded Maximatic Media, I only did so after already building a network of journalists during my time working at a major PR powerhouse in the biotech sector. Upon transitioning into self-employment and freelancing, I already had the connections necessary to leverage it for media coverage on behalf of my clients. The same applies to the rest of the publicists that work for our team. That’s how we are able to offer our clients access to 400+ publications through our PR spreadsheet, ranging from Forbes to Rolling Stone to USA Today to TechCrunch and many more. You can have a look at our PR spreadsheet to get a better idea of how far our reach extends for a relatively small, boutique PR firm:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SX7bI0YSZeJCWwxaMEZ1LG-QtoiLFnDVJZjW1n-ZvQ0/

Now, I am by no means saying that you cannot secure media coverage on high-authority sites without extensive connections— all I’m saying is that it's just immensely more challenging. But for those of you guys with ample amounts of time and a strong willingness to persevere, let’s break down some actionable steps that have likely been broken in just about every other surface-level guide to self PR management:

Actionable Steps to Landing Coveted Links From Authoritative News Features

1. Know your outlet’s/contributor’s audience: For instance, if a client comes to us saying he wants a Rolling Stone feature for his fintech product, that’s likely not something that we would agree to pitch to our Rolling Stone contributor without overreaching. Value your journalistic connections by not throwing anything and everything at their wall. That’s how you burn bridges in the PR world.

2. Have a ready-to-publish EPK: Make your connection’s job easier; don’t just give them bullet points of what you want published. Research their previous articles and provide a well thought-out EPK that follows their typical writing style and the editorial guidelines of the publication they write for. It will go a really long way for fostering a long-term working relationship with your contributors.

3. Attend industry events: Industry events are probably the best ways to meet journalists and establish a point-of-contact with them. That’s how I and many other publicists have acquired our existing networks. As ironic as it sounds, the best connections in digital PR are almost never established digitally. Some fields simply require you to put boots on the ground and a face to the name in order to get much business and PR is definitely one of those industries.

4. Leverage existing connections to acquire new connections: Remember that PR spreadsheet I linked above with 400+ publications in them? 90% of those publications were added as a result of our contributors either moving around between different publications or giving us a replacement contact for when they leave or are unable to publish something on our behalf for personal reasons. Knowing someone that knows someone plays a big role in PR network building so don’t be afraid to ask for an introduction when you feel the time is right.

5. Start small and work your way up: Aiming for the big dogs right away will almost never work out favorably for you. Many contributors working at large outlets don’t want to risk being the first to bring attention to your cause. If you already have a meaningful amount of local coverage, the top-tier contributors will be more attentive and willing to work with you. Or more accurately, they have other sources they can cite as getting the information from in case things go south as it did for the FTX debacle.

Conclusion

As we’re coming up to the end of this post, let’s do a brief summary of what we’ve covered and I’ll leave you with some final, honorable-mention tips for you to mull over.

First and foremost, we explored the fundamental aspects of both Public Relations and SEO, emphasizing their unique roles in enhancing a brand's visibility and authority online. Public Relations is about crafting and managing your brand's narrative across various media platforms, while SEO focuses on optimizing your online presence to improve your visibility in search engine results. Both disciplines, when integrated thoughtfully, can dramatically boost your overall digital marketing strategy by ensuring that your content not only reaches a wide audience but also resonates and ranks well.

We then delved into the crucial role of backlinks in SEO, explaining how not all backlinks are created equal. The value of a backlink is significantly determined by the authority of the linking site, as well as its relevance to your industry. This is where PR's prowess in securing high-quality media placements becomes invaluable. By leveraging strategic public relations, you can acquire 'dofollow' backlinks from respected domains that not only drive traffic but also enhance your site’s authority and search engine ranking.

Moreover, we discussed practical strategies for securing these coveted links, from understanding and aligning with the media outlet's audience to crafting pitches that resonate with contributors. It's crucial to approach this with a mindset of building relationships, rather than just extracting value. Engaging with contributors, providing valuable content, and maintaining a professional rapport are all key components of any successful PR endeavor.

Here are a few final tips to keep in mind as you venture on your journey of integrating PR with SEO:

1. Skip the press-release route: A lot of publicists out there will try to sell you on pushing out syndicated press releases through something like PRNewsWire or Accesswire. These syndicated releases will not ever come with do-follow links and won’t even be viewable anywhere on the main site. These press releases are only for the purpose of releasing information to the public for those that are keeping an eye on your company. It won’t help you attract new attention or generate much traffic for you on the SEO scale.

2. Link back to your domain with brand anchors: When delivering pre-written EPKs to your contributors, make sure to use brand anchors when linking back to your site. This will help you raise your own site’s domain authority score and make it easier for you to rank future content as soon as you publish it, outpacing your competition.

3. If all else fails, consider outsourcing: Some individuals and organizations simply don’t have the time it takes to obtain top-tier media coverage themselves and that’s perfectly fine. Oftentimes, simply engaging the services of a PR agency that specializes in PR for SEO services nets you far greater results than the time investment it takes to build a network from scratch. Just make sure to hire a PR firm that has some measures of guarantee in place, otherwise you may end up finding yourself paying thousand dollar monthly retainer fees for meaningless “outreach” that doesn’t actually lead anywhere.

With all that said, I want to thank you for joining me in this in-depth exploration of this esoteric sub-field of SEO. I'm excited to see how each of you applies these insights to your strategies and I look forward to our continued learning and success in this dynamic field.

- Nikolas Lemmel | Maximatic Media