PR, Deep Links, And Other SEO Secrets You Need To Know Now

This is an article “PR, Deep Links, And Other SEO Secrets You Need To Know Now” by Marc Primo Warren

The link between traditional and modern marketing will always be there. From how PR practitioners use newsworthy articles to create brand awareness, to how we perform networking strategies, any seasoned marketer will notice hints of conventional marketing while executing search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.

However, SEO trends change just as fast as consumer preferences and behaviors do. Last year, digital PR declined by 4% due to the pandemic, yet 88% of practitioners still believe that online PR is still the future. That insight comes from realizing how things are no longer confined to creating a dozen press releases and posting them online for link building. Of course, getting backlinks from authority websites will always be helpful, but these days, and as the popular meme says, 'modern challenges require modern solutions.'

This simple guide will help you understand why you need to address the current challenges of online PR and how to use it to boost your SEO strategies further. After reading, you'll also know how deep links can significantly improve your organic performance, with a few new secrets thrown in there as well.

Good PR for SEO

Every brand needs to focus on the finer details of its messaging, particularly on keywords and the primary intent. After all, PR strategies should put the brand under a bright spotlight where more people can see what it's all about. Marrying your PR efforts with your SEO ensures that you cover all the proper channels for broader reach and increased brand awareness as much as possible.

While putting your brand on every consumer's top-of-mind, much less at the top of search rankings, is difficult enough, there are many ways you can set yourself apart from your competitors through SEO-boosted PR. Of course, like every other brand, you must identify your PR goals, whether for a campaign or the long term, including potential benefits, obstacles, audiences, online traffic, and revenue.

To efficiently illustrate your goals, review the three main elements that will make up your campaign: content, PR, and SEO. Creating engaging, entertaining, and informational content should be reinforced with keywords and other off-page SEO strategies to increase website traffic, leads, and sales. Using efficient keyword tools like SEMrush, Ubersuggest, or Ahrefs can help drive your PR efforts forward, push your brand's messaging, establish your reputation, and create more meaningful relationships with your audiences.

For most SEO practitioners, it's easy to understand why PR and SEO should always go together. They practically share the same objective of disseminating your brand's message to target audiences promptly. Media pick-ups for PR are also similar to how authority sites create backlinks to your landing pages.

The more you earn backlinks from reputable websites, the more Google's algorithms will take notice and grant you higher rankings on page one on its search results. To achieve this on your PR pieces, you'll need to review your target audience's search intent and queries and select the most relevant short or long-tail keywords from there.

When performing SEO, take everything from a PR professional's perspective, particularly in positioning your client brand's reputation online. You can start by aligning your keyword-rich content from your blogs, web directories, related sites, social bookmarks, and social media profiles to your website. Refrain from paying for editorial links, unless a sponsored post or advertorial is part of your plan. These links won't do much to give you the search ranking power you need, anyway.

Also, it would be best if you consider deep linking rules for your online PR campaign. While building links is the meat of most SEO efforts, your PR tactic should be more focused on influencing your target audiences and giving them more value via genuine messages than simply aiming for higher rankings.

Why Deep Links are essential

Despite the 45% of online users who say that they are not bothered by a website's links, only 8.6% are building links to their keyword-rich landing pages. Perhaps, because media hooks for a brand's content are hard to come by, marketers focus more on the creation of appealing creative assets rather than online PR pieces with deep links. Most SEO campaigns are also centered on overall link key performance indicators (KPIs) to increase conversions rather than boosting brand reputation via link building.

However, deep links can help deliver more qualified leads while also boosting a brand's online presence, which makes it a lucrative investment for the long term. Digital PR marketers usually identify high search volume keywords that can outrank their competitors and create more commercial opportunities throughout the marketing funnel in the process.

Campaigns such as online contests or themed catalogs as buyers' guides that link back to the commercial landing page are good ways to establish deep links. Competition-based campaigns may not contribute to page rank, but they effectively generate leads and increase brand awareness.

Striking the right balance

Other traditional PR strategies that you can apply to your deep link-building efforts include thought leadership articles and other informational content supported by your brand assets. Be careful not to overload your content with relevant keywords, as search algorithms might consider deterring your page's relevance to users.

It's important to remember that not every PR tactic can work with your SEO strategy. Online contests and directory citations are not always suitable for informational eCommerce websites, while giveaways and thought leadership campaigns seem inappropriate for commercial websites that showcase services.

What you need to do is manage your audiences' expectations and be credible with your content. Try to create deep links to websites with high lead generation and transactional numbers, and ensure that the links are highly relevant to your host pages.

As a bonus tip, internally link your website to other online PR campaigns that use the same core keyword pages to increase link equity. By aligning your generic links to your SEO strategies, you also achieve a more balanced deep-link to lead generation landing page ratio for better core keyword performance.

Learning the proper methods of integrating your PR tactics with your SEO performance can significantly benefit your brand. Continue building site authority and producing quality PR content that align with your audience's search queries. Also, avoid spamming them with keywords on your meta tags and page titles. You'll know how to develop better content if you regularly monitor Google updates and understand how the platform reviews each user's search intent.