If you think digital PR Strategy is merely another buzzword and haven't given it a chance, you might be overlooking a valuable opportunity. The best part of Digital PR strategy and SEO go together like peanut butter and jelly. Digital PR is not only helpful to your website on its own, but it can also significantly enhance your SEO efforts and represents the purest form of "white hat" link building.

As someone who specializes in utilizing digital PR for SEO, I am going to delve deep into digital PR and its numerous advantages. I will also provide you with some crucial tips on where to start and how to achieve the most success from your efforts.

But first, let's explore what digital PR is and why it is becoming increasingly important day by day.

What is digital PR ?

Digital PR Strategy is short for Digital Public Relations. It comprises a set of marketing strategies aimed at raising brand awareness and enhancing online presence.

Public relations has always played a final role in building a brand, and this remains unchanged in today's digital society. The landscape has evolved from traditional methods like billboards and press comments outside office buildings to innovative digital campaigns and mentions in key online publications.

Digital PR facilitates brands in effectively communicating with their potential customers. Social media, the web, and online tools assist Digital PR strategy professionals in spreading the word about their brands, products, or services. They achieve this by testing and implementing various marketing techniques and PR campaigns.

Static intelligence can be transformed into conversations, allowing companies to engage directly with their target audience at any time of day or night. By connecting and sharing with the target audience, it is possible to initiate a dialogue that clarifies your focus and disseminates news and information much more rapidly than ever before.

So, if your goal is to enhance your brand's image, reputation, and visibility, all you need to do is read this guide specifically created to address every question.

Let's get started now!

Why Digital PR is Important for SEO and Link Building

In the current era, if your target audience cannot easily find you online, it is as if you do not exist at all. Online appearance is vital to business success. However, just having a “good” website isn’t enough to outrank and outpace your competition. You need something more.

Digital PR strategies can rapidly spread the word about your business and shine a spotlight on your growing brand. It is an excellent way to create a scalable solution for SEO link building. Here are the top reasons why digital PR is crucial for your SEO efforts.

Digital PR serves as a critical link-building tactic that addresses many SEO challenges. While blogging and guest posting are final for brand promotions and can help attract the attention of industry leaders, digital PR excels in acquiring relevant links and scaling a website's online presence while maintaining good domain authority. This is what makes digital PR invaluable for SEO and link building.

It's about creating content that resonates with your target audience and is worth sharing across different types of platforms.

Some key elements in a digital PR campaign include the following:

• Writing press releases

• Creating shareable content such as infographics

• Engaging in online discussions on social media and forums

• Developing relationships with industry influencers

Unlike traditional PR strategies, digital PR focuses on reaching online communities instead of mainstream media. On the other hand, search engine optimization or SEO is more technical and involves optimizing your website content for higher search engine rankings. This includes things like:

• Selecting targeted keywords

• Creating backlinks from other websites strategically

• Using SEO-friendly structures (such as meta tags) for pages and posts easily

Is Digital PR right for you?

In the present time, Digital PR Strategy is gaining popularity day by day due to its proven results. Despite being a more challenging tactic, it is garnering widespread interest. One of the primary reasons for the increasing popularity of digital PR is its ability to generate high-quality links that are challenging to replicate. A strong digital PR strategy amplifies your SEO efforts, enhances domain authority, and increases organic traffic

Authority links have well-researched, high-quality articles and such web pages attract and retain the readers’ attention. However, it can take months to earn links separately. For optimum results, you must incorporate PR link-building with traditional link-building processes like guest posting, social media backlinks, etc.

One good PR link-building strategy can help establish your brand as an industry leader. Hence, the goal is to connect with top-tier evolution in your niche.

The Difference Between Digital PR and Link Building

Both link-building and digital PR are necessary online marketing strategies business owners use to propel their businesses to a higher height. Nonetheless, there are important differences between Digital PR and link building. 

At this moment we all know the importance of the digital world. We have seen a lot of major changes and adaptations happen since the internet has grown, including the transition from traditional PR to digital PR. 

For a long time, traditional PR worked for brands. It was effective for that time. Being promoted in national newspapers and magazines was exactly what brands wanted to drive sales until consumers started using the internet more. Most brands have a website now and many are based specially for online. Traditional PR still works but digital PR can offer a lot more to grow online business.

Digital PR is made up of a little bit of everything; traditional PR, content marketing, SEO and public relations, link building, and social media. The aim is still to get coverage in the national newspapers and publications but now the focus is their online websites. While we can get coverage in The Times print newspaper, we can only track the traffic from their website, which is much more valuable for any brand.

Due to the transition of brands and consumers online both Link Builders and Digital PR’s must follow Google’s rules. In the past, link building has used Black Hat techniques for quick wins but Google has now made it difficult for this to happen, these days much of the work Link Builders do is very similar to what Digital PR’s are trying to achieve.

This is what has struck me to explain a little more in depth about the differences between link building and digital PR. While both areas are similar, their contemplation is very different.

Methods of Link Building

To elucidate the disparity between the two approaches, let me explain how they operate. My professional journey commenced in SEO, where I was part of the outreach team tasked with building links for a high-street brand.

In any campaign, a Link Builder collaborates with Keyword Researchers to identify the reasons behind a website's performance issues and determine the campaign's focal points. This process, highly technical in nature, consistently places the brand at the core of all strategic decisions.

The primary objective of a link-building campaign is to enhance search results and elevate website traffic. Link Builders employ various methods to acquire links, such as collaboration with bloggers, creation of infographics, and engagement with smaller niche sites. While these platforms may not boast the same readership as mainstream news publications, they align closely with the content being promoted, a crucial factor in Google's evaluation. Link Builders often rely on metrics like domain authority or the trust flow of a link placement to gauge its value.

A link-building campaign reaches its conclusion once all link Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are met, and its success is measured by the improvement in the website's ranking on Google.

Frequently, Link Builders refrain from revisiting the same site for a brand, as obtaining a second link from the same source adds minimal value. This aspect can certainly amplify the challenges of their role, especially considering the vast landscape of over 1 billion websites to explore.

Methods of Digital PR

Similar to link building, the initiation of digital PR involves thorough research. Individuals involved in digital PR for SEO purposes typically collaborate closely with the SEO team to uncover insights and comprehend the behind-the-scenes dynamics. However, it does not take precedence in their tactics. Instead, Digital PR specialists identify opportunities for their clients to gain exposure and develop ideas to contribute to larger conversations.

A digital PR strategy revolves around engaging people and evoking emotions. Examples of this approach include presenting shocking statistics in articles, creating entertaining online quizzes, and sharing stories on current topics. While these ideas originate from research on audience representation, they are transformed into comprehensive campaigns designed to benefit, inform, or entertain a brand's consumers.

Given the nature of these campaign strategies, most digital PR teams collaborate with major websites, journalists, and online publications. The primary goal is to expose information to readers, leading to the natural acquisition of high-authority links for the brand. The approach of digital PR is inherently more public-facing, driven by the desire to connect with people.

Establishing relationships with journalists is crucial for digital PR. The focus is on providing consumers with noteworthy topics of discussion and elevating the brand in the most positive manner possible.

Understanding reporting

The end goal for both link-building and digital PR is to gain backlinks and enhance the website’s authority. Reporting for both areas is similar as they both track traffic, visits, and revenue but the process by which they get to this stage is very different and their aims are dissimilar. Link Builders are set on the prize and want to mark Google as much as possible to achieve the deserved position on the rankings, but Digital PR’s look to impress people and create anything that will naturally get talked about and in turn the ranking position will improve.

Compared to traditional PR, digital PR is now easier to measure after a campaign due to all the activity essence online. You can track the traffic and understand exactly what worked and what didn't. It is simple and easy. I think that link-building and digital PR are evolving similarly and are constantly adapting to the demands of the digital world. It will be interesting to see where both areas are in five years, and if indeed they both still exist.

Is Digital PR the Same as Guest Posting?

Some SEO experts may argue that guest posting and digital PR are synonymous. While there is some overlap, they represent two entirely different approaches.

In the realm of digital PR, a more editorial mindset is crucial when creating content and identifying link-building opportunities. Third-party sites link to your content either as a referenced source or to enhance the value of their own content. Moreover, links obtained through digital PR efforts are likely to originate from high-value domains. Although your domain score may not directly impact SEO rankings, securing backlinks from websites with high domain authority is significant.

Concerned about competitors adopting the same strategy? Unlike other link-building methods, it's improbable that competitors can easily replicate the links acquired through digital PR. Some competitors may still be questioning, "What is digital PR?" if their SEO strategies are trailing behind.

On the other hand, guest posting tends to be more transactional. While sponsored links may not necessarily be penalized by Google, they often carry limited value. Additionally, there is often minimal synergy between linking sites and the online platforms they reference. Furthermore, guest posting methods are easily replicable. Through the use of link analysis tools, competitors can swiftly discern your strategy and imitate it.

In addition to the links that we’ve already mentioned, which are a strong positive signal to search engines about your website, even brand mentions that don’t comprise links can be beneficial for SEO too.

You can see so many of the outputs of a solid Digital PR campaign will convenience your organic search performance – so why not incorporate it into your SEO strategy from the start?

5 reasons why you need digital PR in your SEO Strategy

• Link Building with Digital PR Delivers Higher Quality Results

Optimizing your website and creating quality content can only take you so far. Eventually, you'll need essential backlinks to boost your website's authority, and the higher the quality, the better.

Backlinks involve obtaining links to your website from third-party websites. Search engines perceive these backlinks as "votes of confidence." The larger and more established the brand or website endorsing you, the greater visibility your website will gain on search engine results pages (SERPs). Google assumes that if prestigious websites vouch for your content, it must be of high quality and relevance to users, resulting in a higher ranking for your website.

When we refer to "high-quality" links, we're emphasizing high "authority" (or Domain Rating, among other terms). A high authority website is typically recognized for outperforming others in search results.

For instance, if Joe Bloggs creates a well-ranking blog on a specific topic, but the BBC creates a similar one, the BBC would likely rank higher due to its highly reputable and expert status, substantial backlink profile, and documentary nature (consider E-A-T in the next section).

Many SEO professionals incorporate some form of link building into their strategy, and it's usually an ongoing effort, often described as an art form. Obtaining a substantial number of quality backlinks each month is necessary to start seeing benefits, but these links often don't reach the high quality of, for example, the BBC (scoring around 85/100); they typically fall between 35-65/100.

Does it work? Yes! However, it becomes more about the quantity of these links while maintaining a good average authority.

This is the challenge that most SEO professionals face daily.

The good news is that Digital PR can be a solution. A successful Digital PR campaign provides trend-worthy content or assets exclusively available on your website. This means that if a journalist wants to cover it (which they likely will), they need to link to your website.

• It enhances your credibility and trustworthiness (E-A-T benefits).

(E-A-T) stands for Authoritativeness, Expertise, and Trustworthiness.

The greater portion of SEO’s will know what it means and its significance, but if it’s new to you – it’s a concept that’s included in Google’s Quality Raters Guidelines. An instrument created for their (human) rating team who evaluate websites in Google search results.

Their mission is to understand how effective Google’s search algorithm is at ranking websites that are high quality – ensuring the very best, most pertinent content is submitted to search users.

E-A-T favor guides the team to identify what is and isn’t a “good” website for a search query. So, it’s really important for SEOs to take on - board and leverage as part of their strategy.

In 2018, Marie Haynes (the E-A-T whisperer) did a visional talk at Brighton SEO which lays out everything you need to know to get started with E-A-T:

So, now we know a bit more about E-A-T, however, we should also keep in mind that at the very heart of all this great content should be one thing: the user.

Digital PR and a great content strategy will drill down into your audience, giving brands a 360-degree view of who they’re telling to, and most importantly, what their audience will engage with.

Combine digital PR and digital marketing best practice with E-A-T principles and you’ll have dynamite that conducts results long-term.

You could even implement a long-term digital PR and content strategy aimed at building your E-A-T!

• A significant boost for your referral traffic.

Yes, Digital PR generates quality links like no other. But this quality isn’t just in authority and the impact it drives for you – it’s about traffic too. Because of the nature of Digital PR, the links you earn will be from targeted media outlets; outlets that have been selected because they’re a part of your audiences’ lives.

This means they’ll engage with it, click the link, and want to know more, which is what makes online PR in digital marketing such a strong channel for reaching your target audience.

So, Digital PR drives traffic from the right consumers, who are likely in the market, or at the discretion phase (or perhaps they’re ready to purchase). It’ll tip new expectations into the top of the funnel, whilst nurturing others further down. All of which has a positive impression on your conversions and sales.

Another effortlessly measurable win for the SEO team!

• It surpasses the competition.

If you're not the market leader, you're likely chasing after the competition. Personifying what the leader of the pack is doing well is important, so you can emulate it and catch up. But what if you could make a significant impact to gain a substantial edge that you could then continue to build on?

We've discussed the effectiveness of Digital PR for SEO, so you already know it produces results. And those results in public relations and SEO extend beyond the digital realm; they resonate with hearts and minds as well.

An effective campaign can send shockwaves through a niche or market, transforming your authority and brand visibility to such an extent that even the market leaders take notice.

• Brand awareness 

Brand awareness refers to the extent to which a target audience recognizes, recalls, or is familiar with a particular brand. It is a measure of how well a brand is known within its market or industry and plays a crucial role in influencing consumer perceptions and choices. Effective brand awareness strategies often involve building a strong brand presence across various channels, creating memorable experiences, and consistently delivering a brand's message to its intended audience.

Google utilizes a myriad of ranking signals—these are the factors that, when executed effectively, accumulate to prompt Google to recognize and reward a high-authority website.

As an SEO professional, your goal is to satisfy these signals to the best of your ability (certainly outperforming the competition!), so you can reap the rewards.

Brand signals are indeed significant and may include:

1. Brand name anchor text – the text associated with a link (e.g., Lego).

2. Branded searches – when users search for your brand, it signals to Google that your website is a legitimate brand.

3. Social – accumulating numerous likes/followers on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all positive signals.

4. Brand + query (keyword) searches – an increase in searches for your brand along with a specific query could enhance the positions of your non-branded content for that particular query.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the value of digital PR for SEO is evident; it is designed to enhance your SEO efforts. By focusing on securing inbound media coverage and linking brand mentions, you will inevitably enhance your website's digital visibility. While digital PR and SEO are mutually beneficial, they function differently to accomplish the same goal: improving your website and brand.

Remember to keep these strategies in mind to ensure you maximize your results.

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