Link Building and Digital PR Strategies
Over the last few years, PR efforts and SEO have come together through link building, which is a great way for companies to get genuine backlinks from authoritative websites. When outlets have big audiences they tend to become picky about what they’re going to publish, which means companies must have a strong digital PR strategy if they want their press releases to stand out from the crowd and get published.
That also means companies should work toward getting backlinks organically and through editorial coverage instead of artificially building backlinks because Google values the former a lot more when ranking websites.
Building Relationships
Instead of companies constantly focusing on building backlinks, they should be focused on building relationships with relevant journalists or media outlets. This is a common piece of advice that’s shared in the PR industry, but not a lot of people tend to go into detail about what it really means.
At its core, building relationships means that the company should be looking to engage journalists in valuable ways through conversations, such as through contributing the company’s expertise to relevant industry topics. It’s incredibly easy for businesses to communicate with journalists these days, as most of them have a social media presence. If the company is able to provide commentary or insights into an industry topic, the journalist is going to be more likely to mention the business in their articles. Additionally, when a company is able to do this consistently, it’s going to end up with journalists coming to the business to get its perspective instead of the business trying to chase the right outlets.
Quality Communication and Content
Companies can also take matters into their own hands and work on expanding their press releases through content on the business website. While this type of effort won’t help a business build more backlinks immediately, being consistent and offering readers high quality and valuable content means more people are going to rely on that content. Then, when a trade publication discusses a topic that the business has already covered in its blog, for example, the outlet will be more likely to link readers directly to that content for valuable and high-quality insights.
Not only that, but when a company offers more opinions on a topic or even a story, it’s going to provide a lot more value to both readers and even journalists. When outlets cover stories, they always appreciate having multiple contributors that back up claims, and when a company has discussed a number of different topics, journalists are going to be more likely to reach out to that business for any insights, comments, or expertise. Furthermore, companies also have the added benefit of communicating with government bodies or officials when working on different subjects. That can also benefit journalists that talk about different stories, and that makes it even more likely for the reporter to reach out to the business.
