What is Digital PR for SEO?

Link building has long been considered one of the most important SEO strategies. The more links you can get, especially from authoritative sites, the better your search rankings should be.

But SEO is evolving. Google’s algorithms have become more sophisticated.

Improve your search rankings today by cultivating expertise, targeting key touchpoints in buyers’ buying journeys, crafting compelling data stories, and gaining influence through reputation and recognition. A digital PR strategy is needed.

Key insights:

• Digital PR for SEO is not link building, but an alternative to link building.
• Integrate SEO and PR. Google uses AI to act like humans and evaluate reputations. This is why digital PR and SEO have become so integrated around reputation.
• Digital PR for SEO is more than just links and brand mentions. Links and mentions are part of reputation.
• Digital PR for SEO is concerned with gaining a share of the online reputation of a company and its products/services, customer journey touchpoints, and company information across various platforms.
• Data campaigns that align with media trends will receive media coverage and increase your reputation.

Generative AI and how search engines understand topics

The past year has been an eye-opener to the current capabilities of generative AI and large-scale language models (LLMs).

What is most interesting is how these models can understand an individual’s reputation regarding a website, content, or a particular field of expertise. And it’s getting better and better.

To see proof of this, just ask ChatGPT Plus who they are and what they specialize in.

For example, we asked, “Who is Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable?” ChatGPT returned:

Whether it’s ChatGPT or Google, it’s not just backlinks that understand this type of information.

it’s a matter of reputation

Google is not limited to link profile analysis. We deeply understand your online reputation.

Google’s Search Quality Rating Guidelines clearly outline how we evaluate the reputation of sites and content creators. And these guidelines are supposed to tell search engines how you want them to behave.

Regarding reputation, the guidelines say:

“Reputation research should be carried out according to the theme of the page. For example, if the page contains medical information, investigate the reputation of the website that provides medical information and the content creator. The website is A reliable source for one type of content (e.g. humor videos) may be an unreliable source for another type of content (e.g. financial information).”

This requires a paradigm shift in how you plan your goals, measures, and tactics in your SEO strategy. It’s no longer just about building links, it’s about increasing the reputation of a site, content, product or person/organization.

We have to move beyond the number of high DR/DA links and start thinking more broadly about a site’s reputation.

Let’s dig deeper.Litigation against domain authority

PR and SEO integration

PR has long been used as a way to manage reputation. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines public relations as:

“Public relations is about influencing, engaging, and building relationships with key stakeholders across numerous platforms to shape and frame public perceptions of an organization.”

Applying PR to SEO is concerned with the reputation of individuals, organizations, and content among target audiences, not just search engines. This perspective allows your strategies, tactics, and actions to focus on the signals that Google is looking at to improve your rankings.

Therefore, your reputation on Google is gained by focusing on your reputation with your target audience.

But let’s start with what Digital PR for SEO is not.

What digital PR is not

Digital PR for SEO is not link building. “Link building” does not capture the complexity of how AI impacts ranking algorithms.

Although links are an important part of the overall ranking factor, they are not the only factor.

I’m one of the most skeptical people about Google’s recommendations for link building. But John Mueller’s statement makes sense, given that Google’s algorithms use AI to identify factors and evaluate entities.

“Well, I imagine that over time, at some point, the weight of links will drop a little bit because we’re not able to understand a little bit better how the content fits within the context of the whole web. And to some extent, links are always of interest because you have to find the page somehow. It’s like how do you find a page on the web that has no references?

But my guess is that over time, it won’t be as big of a factor as it is today. I think that is already changing considerably. ”

Links are just one part of the overall ranking algorithm.

Digital PR for SEO is not:

• Just link your profile.
• Just a mention of the brand.
• Regarding ranking operations.
• Insert a link or guest post.
• Select potential sites based on number of links, domain reputation (DR), or number of articles containing your keywords.

Links are generated from well-executed programs that are part of the user experience, not just to improve rankings.

Dig deeper: How to use digital PR to drive backlinks and business growth

So what is digital PR?

Digital PR for SEO is about search engine and audience optimization. It focuses on building the reputation of the product/service, site, content, and the individuals behind it.

Digital PR is reputation optimized.

Below are the main features of digital PR for SEO.

This is a popular specialty field.

A topical area of ​​expertise is a specific area in which a person or organization has significant knowledge and skills.

Types of expertise include:

• Personal expertise: Does the individual have expert-level knowledge and experience in a specific field? This should be relevant to your product or service.
• Organizational expertise: Does your organization have a strong culture, industry, niche, or product/service? This can be derived from company positioning, employee culture, processes, or unique technology experience.

When assessing expertise, look at three areas:

• Depth of knowledge: Expertise is deep knowledge in a field and a broad understanding of that field.
• Experience and practice: You will take the time to practically apply your knowledge in a variety of situations.
• Demonstrated skills: Real-world examples of how specialized knowledge is put to use in practice.

Messaging is an aspect of expertise and part of what influences the behavior of others.

it is proof of expertise

Demonstrating expertise means showing without explaining. Please provide examples of your personal or organizational expertise. This can be a product/service or related knowledge.

Proving your expertise can take many forms, but there are some basics that are easy to follow.

• Unique research: Perform your own research in your specific area of ​​expertise to help your audience.
• Customer/Client Story: Show your customers how you can use your product or research to solve their problems or benefit them with specific tasks or workflows.
• Expert comments: Use your experience to simplify, frame, or explain how to take action.

Demonstration of expertise must influence others to take action.

Data-driven storytelling

In contrast to link building, digital PR for SEO involves pitching a storyline to journalists and publishers. Journalists are pressed for time and actively seek out experts and data to craft compelling stories.

Creating your own research and research has become an important part of product and general marketing to communicate your solutions to customers. However, customer research alone doesn’t necessarily fit into the data-driven story lines that journalists often create.

I first perform media trend analysis to identify potential research topics and then create research that reveals or supports the trends.

Once the data drive storyline is created, media coverage will look something like this:

• Reactive PR: Monitor trends related to data and share insights and expert commentary with journalists covering the story.
• Passive PR: Monitor journalist requests for information related to data.
• Byline/Editorial: Share your data with your audience through thought leadership through guest posts, op-eds, and other bylines.
• Inbound PR: Optimize your articles to be found by journalists who are actively searching for research on a specific topic.
• Podcast: Share your research about the podcasts your audience is listening to.

Hint: Try to anticipate trends instead of just riding on them. We uncover issues that people are having that are not covered by the media. People want to know more about serious pain points.

Influence and recognition in the field

Influence and awareness are how your expertise changes the behavior of others and causes them to take some action.

Actions can take the following forms:

• Share links to research, content, products/services, brands, or individuals.
• Mention your brand, research, products, customer stories, etc.
• Buying or talking about a product or service.

These shares typically come from seven areas:

• journalist
• podcast host
• blogger
• influencer
• content marketer
• customer
• Awards

Influence and visibility must be within a specific and relevant audience.

Relevance to the audience

Digital PR requires you to target specific audiences to whom your expertise is most relevant.

• What are specific audience segments?
• What is your persona in that segment?
• What are the archetypes of these personas?

Journalists, editors, and content creators are always trying to create something useful for their audiences.

These audiences have specific touchpoints where they learn about problems and solutions. The viewer takes a buyer’s journey.

it’s the buyer’s journey

A buyer’s journey map is a buyer’s journey map, no matter what you call it. Some call this a customer journey map, some an influence map, and still others an experience map.

A buyer’s journey map is a visual map of an individual’s workflow and actions when buying from or engaging with a company.

A typical journey has three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. However, with digital PR for SEO, we have found the following to be helpful:

• Consciousness: Understand the existence of a problem and the internal triggers for finding a solution. This is a unique value proposition.
• Identify: Identify all possible solutions to the problem, including indirect competitors, such as sticking with the status quo.
• Consider: Consider solutions for problems similar to yours.
• Further considerations: Consider solutions and research about them.
• Decision: Deciding to purchase a solution

As customers move through these stages in unique ways, different touchpoints arise in the investigation. People can acquire information passively or actively by searching for it.

I use six categories to explore specific touchpoints from my audience.

• Search engine: What keywords and intent do people have when actively searching on Google or Bing?
• Podcast: What podcasts or hosts are your viewers listening to?
• blog: What blogs rank on Google or have active readers discussing problems and solutions?
• press: Which journalists and news outlets does your audience read?
• Newsletter: What newsletters are relevant to your audience or discuss your competitors?
• Socializing: Are your audience or competitors paying attention to specific social media like LinkedIn, Reddit, X, or other new social media?

Using these touchpoints in the customer journey creates an integrated SEO and PR funnel. Search for audience touchpoints that are interested in your competitor’s brand name.

another view

To conclude this article, this graphic provides another way to frame digital PR for SEO.

The above discussion can be easily summarized into four buckets:

• what you are making.
• How to choose a site.
• Techniques for reaching the site.
• Type of media.

Digital PR is very different from link building and is a powerful alternative to link building.

Dig deeper: How SEO and digital PR can maximize brand awareness