In this blog we look at what digital PR is and how it can boost brand awareness, authority and website rankings. Digital PR and content creation has evolved from being a ‘nice-to-have’ into an invaluable part of any SEO strategy.
What is digital PR?
Digital PR involves generating authentic online media coverage through trade journals, magazines and websites to drive brand awareness and generate links.
Over the years, digital PR has created a fundamental shift in the way brands communicate with their audiences. Unlike traditional advertising, digital PR can create valuable content that journalists, influencers and other audiences actively want to share.
Digital PR is renowned for its powerful approach to brand building. It is capable of stimulating brand discussions and positioning a business as one with E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness). However, it can also directly drive awareness, referral traffic and sales. Through an effective digital PR campaign, we can increase a client’s online visibility and reach their target audiences in ways that traditional marketing simply cannot match.
Digital PR is made up of four key stages.
Firstly, we come up with an idea for a client for an article that is topical, relevant to the audience and newsworthy. Secondly, we turn that idea into a piece of content, that provides genuine insights into a problem and how to solve it.
Thirdly, we outreach this to journalists, influencers or podcasters. Our success in this area is based on our good relationships with the media over the past 20 years.
Fourth and finally is the evaluation stage. Here we measure the results, assess what worked and what didn’t and prepare for the next campaign.
Why has digital PR has risen in importance?
The media landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented. Fewer people read magazines in printed format and many more read them online and as e-newsletters. Digital PR is a great way of generating visibility across multiple platforms at once in the way that suits them best.
When it comes to a business’ SEO strategy, digital PR is one of the most effective ways of generating backlinks. Google’s algorithm increasingly prioritises content that demonstrates genuine authority and trustworthiness—which is exactly what our thought leadership articles for clients do!
Google’s John Mueller has even praised it, saying: “digital PR is just as critical as technical SEO.”
The term digital PR usually refers to earned media ie that which goes on external news and industry websites. Inclusion on Google News means you can gain extra visibility from Google, too.
What is the relationship between link building and PR?
Digital PR can—and should—be used as a form of link building. Backlinks are probably the most valuable SEO outcome of a digital PR campaign.
Mentions of your brand are important, too, but relevant and high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites are an essential part of good SEO.
Although search is changing and increasingly searches are being done through AI, backlinks are still important. Most people wouldn’t link to a site they thought was low quality or unhelpful, so backlinks are seen as an endorsement of the quality of the website. There is a correlation between the number of backlinks a website has (or the number of linking domains) and its position in the search results.
For example, a study from Internet Marketing Ninjas showed that 96.3% of websites in the top ten positions in the search results had more than 1,000 linking domains. If you earn more links from more sites, it’s likely your site will appear higher in the search results, generating more organic search traffic.
It’s often said that high-authority sites are those with a domain authority of 70 or more. But in reality, any site with an authority that’s higher than your own can be of value for SEO—particularly if it’s highly relevant.
High-profile blog, newspaper, or magazine sites will often have high authority themselves, making them great sources of backlinks. Digital PR is a great way to earn links from those sites, because editors are often happy to include them when writing about your brand.
So, why are brand mentions important?
Brand mentions, also known as citations, help to build up Google’s overall picture of an organisation. And that picture can help you rank for the keyword themes that are relevant to your goals.
What really matters to the search engines is:
- How frequently you’re mentioned
- Where you’re mentioned
- The context in which you’re mentioned – this is where semantic relevance comes in.
If you’re a manufacturer of automotives parts, for example, and you’re quoted in a number of highly relevant articles in the automotive press about innovation and reducing emissions, then there are semantic links between yourself and the car industry.
That’s a clear signal to Google that both the person and the automotive industry are linked and they can therefore be seen experts in the field.
Digital PR allows you to build up brand mentions and gives you some control over the context in which those mentions appear. That way, you can maximise semantic relevance and enhance your brand’s SEO.
So as demonstrated in this blog, digital PR is more valuable than ever in helping a construction or manufacturing company or brand to reach its audience.
If you are looking for help to improve your public relations, brand awareness and digital PR, why not give our expert team a call on 0114 349 5341 or email hello@dragonflypr.co.uk.
