PR vs SEO: Where should the spend be?

Search engines are used 6 billion times a day. From “how to tie a tie” to “why did Will slap Chris?” – two of the most searched questions last year – the whole planet heads to Google to find answers, advice, and entertainment. Whilst our social media and reading habits offer a good representation of our characters, we can choose how we portray ourselves here. Google, however, provides an unfiltered perception of our real interests, concerns, and personalities. As a quick test, start typing “what,” “why” or “how” into Google and see how reflective the suggested searches are of what you’re currently interested in. Even in a B2B market, only 5% of an audience is in the market for an offering. Those Googling a specific question, product or service are guaranteed to, at a minimum, be at the research stage in their purchasing journey.?

So, in lay terms, the higher a brand ranks on Google, the more likely it is to be purchased from. If only there was a way to optimise where it appears, hey? Enter, SEO.?

Search engine optimisation is defined as “the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines via natural or unpaid search results.” Google crawls, indexes, and queries a website’s pages and ranks them based on its criteria, which favours factors such as broad subject matters, fast loading speeds and positive user experiences. Pages that rank in #1 position take 18 months, on average, to get to this point, if they ever do. It goes without saying, a good search engine ranking is critical to see site traffic. Who has ever looked beyond Google’s first page out of choice?!?

Based on the above, it’s not hugely shocking that SEO is regularly dedicated more marketing budget than PR – but should it be? Editorial content repeatedly features at the top of Google, being a trusted source when users search for the likes of “the best kettle,” “the best turntable,” “the best sunglasses,” and so on. Two birds (SEO and PR) with one stone (marketing budget).?Edelman’s trust barometer?backs this up by confirming traditional media is favoured over owned media and social media. A user will trust an article more if it ranks highly on Google than if they found it themselves.??

PR and SEO agencies are often be mistaken for one another but have an entirely different skillset, aim and output. Have a scroll of a journalist’s Twitter and you’re bound to find an irate writer ranting about being “asked for a link” by an SEO agency. The PR model is based on personal relationships, understanding of titles and editorial content and communication and representation of a brand whereas SEO focuses on straightforward links to a site in any which way. As editorial platforms change and are targeted against views and affiliate sales, their own SEO becomes more crucial. A sure-fire way to lower their SEO? Encouraging readers to click off to a brand’s site. A sure-fire way to wind up a journalist? Request for this to happen without a personal relationship already in place. Taking this a step further, many media titles have applied Google’s ‘No follow’ function which tells Google’s crawler to not count its external links.?

To hit the aforementioned targets, many publishing houses are merging editorial teams and hiring specific SEO journalists who are targeted on site views, being awarded bonuses for surpassing these. Hello affiliate-led roundups and Google Trend-led pieces which support them in securing some extra cash. As AI (Artificial Intelligence) skyrockets, the numbers-driven titles are also likely to shortly introduce automated journalism for breaking news, but this will never have the same human element as written content does. Check out our blog on media’s shift to opinion and comment?here?for more on this. (Sorry, just flexing our SEO muscles by linking to another page)?

Whilst SEO and PR strategies differ, it would be imprudent to not tailor our PR outreach approach and client consulting based on their impacts on one another. The best PRs (ahem) understand what will drive traffic to an editorial channel and tailor their outreach based on this, referencing Google Trends, social media trends and relevant news in pitches and crafting bespoke approaches which fuse these with a title’s audience and editorial guidelines. On the flip side, SEO-savvy journalists will avoid sites with slow landing pages, low-quality content and complex JavaScript that will reduce their title’s ranking. Informed client consultation will see this then reported back to clients.?

Brands’ PR and SEO strategies should complement one another. A brand’s website not ranking highly isn’t the be all and end all , and strong PR investment can assist here. Featuring within editorial pieces which rank highly on Google sees them receive indirect traffic, known as ranking by proxy, from those in the market for their offering.??

As the editorial world shifts, the toss-up between PR and SEO should be reimagined by brands into considering how they impact one another.?