Why SEO works best as part of an integrated PR campaign
Over the past five years, the most noticeable change to happen in the world of PR is that SEO has become an integral part of our remit.
Gone are the days when you needed real ‘techies’ with all sorts of tricks up their sleeves to do your SEO. These days, thanks to Google’s algorithm updates, content is key, rather than black hat techniques. Those websites that generate good quality, authentic and regularly updated content rank more highly with Google.
Back in February 2011 when the Panda algorithm first came into play, it meant that a lot of the ‘black hat’ SEO became redundant. Instead the ‘white hat’ SEO techniques that we have always practised became much more important. It meant that if you were a good content generator, such as Dragonfly PR, and had connections with other bloggers, websites and authoritative sources, such as news media, you could achieve a better, more sustainable search engine ranking for a website.
As a result of the Panda algorithm and its later updates, SEO has fallen very firmly within the capabilities and strengths of PR agency like Dragonfly Ltd. As a business-to-business PR agency working with construction companies and manufacturers, we have over 15 years’ experience in generating good quality content. During this time, we have been generating content for online channels too. So, if we say to a client, ‘we’re going to design a content calendar and write 2-3 blogs per month on a relevant topic’ then our clients can be confident that we have the in-house skills and capabilities to do this.
What’s the difference between our service and working with a pure SEO company?
When we write a blog, clients see it
When we write a blog or an authoritative online news article, we always send it to the client for approval. We then post it to the client’s website and adapt and redraft it for other websites and blogs that we feel are relevant, also securing good back links in the process. Pure SEO companies often draft blogs using content from various sources and post it, under the name of a client, but without the client having the opportunity to approve it. This means that inaccurate content (or straightforward cut and paste) could be being posted which is actually harming the client’s business and reputation.
SEO becomes part of the overall integrated marketing/PR strategy
In the case when we manage both the PR campaign and the SEO for our clients, it means we always have relevant, interesting content to draw on for digital use. We create a PR and Content Calendar that includes relevant information from various sources: building regulations, HSE legislation, industry issues, topical news, company news, community activities, plus lots more. This gives us a vast array of content to drawn upon from which to draft online articles, blogs and authoritative articles. This increases the chance of being published on high value sites. As a dedicated B2B PR company that specialises in PR for building products, construction and manufacturing, we pride ourselves on having the ability in-house to write authoritative content. We do not copy and paste blogs off other sites, all the content we post on blogs is original, authentic and delivered by our in-house copywriting team.
We are trusted by the media (who run many of the blog sites)
If you have ever carried out Google searches for bloggers and blog sites on a specific topic, you will probably have found that most of the best blog sites are run by the media. Most magazines these days run their own online versions and blogs, which generate valuable content and the possibility of high value links. Securing news stories on these sites, with back links, can significantly enhance your ranking.
A great benefit of a PR company like Dragonfly PR taking care of your SEO is that we have enjoyed 15 year relationships with many key media, such as Construction News and The Engineer. This means they can trust our content and we have a greater chance of securing inclusion on their websites. As a result, we have an excellent track record of success in securing content on high value sites.
We don’t talk techno-jargon, just plain English
Here is an extract from an SEO company’s monthly report to a client.
‘…you should be leveraging large, corporate content for own gain…’
This is just a fancy way of saying, in this specific example: Post more tweets about the company.
In our book, we always say it in plain English! Always have done and always will do!
Our philosophy is the plainer the English, the better, whereas some of our SEO competitors attempt to ‘blind the client with science’ as a way to disguise their inactivity or lack of success in delivering an SEO campaign.
We work to a specific set of outcomes per month
When we embark on an integrated PR/SEO campaign, we agree on objectives and outcomes each month. For example, we agree how many blogs we will write, how many online news articles and have targets for how many relevant back links we will secure. We report back on these monthly so the client is 100% aware of the success of the campaign. This ensures that they are always able to monitor how we are performing and what objectives have been achieved.
Would you like a free review of your SEO requirements? Please drop our team a line at hello@dragonflypr.co.uk or call 01709 300130.