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Media Relations Guide to SEO

Posted by Lee Odden on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 - 1 Comment »

This post is a preview to the presentation that TopRank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden will be giving at the upcoming Media Relations Summit, New York, NY May 17-19 on Search Engine Optimization Tips for Media Relations.

Many public relations practitioners have warmed in recent years to the power of search engine optimization for growing the impact of pull based PR efforts.

Journalists, bloggers and industry influentials use search engines to find subject matter experts, research companies, locate past media coverage and track topical trends. In fact, a recent survey on journalists’ use of search by TopRank reports that 91% of those journalists, reporters and editors surveyed use search engines to do their jobs.

Traditionally, search engine optimization efforts have been managed by corporate marketing departments

9 Steps to Leveraging SEO and Social Media for PR

PR budgets have been affected just as much as marketing and Public Relations departments in every industry are trying to figure out the  mechanics of how to improve PR effectiveness through social media. At the same time, optimizing news content for search engines is fast becoming an established part of the mix for many PR programs.

On their own, SEO and social media channels offer attractive opportunities for reaching industry influentials as well as end consumers through push and pull PR. Together, SEO and social media combine to create a competitive edge that can boost online PR results.

Why is this so? Changes in the way the media and end consumers discover, consume and share content illustrate the intersection of opportunity for search and the social web. Today’s increasingly social savvy content consumer not only expects to find what they’re looking for on search engines, but to interact with the results. Those interactions take many forms including: commenting, voting and sharing. As a result, social media can affect search engine visibility in numerous ways, creating new promotion opportunities for public and media relations efforts.

Of course, throwing keywords at social media tactics isn’t quite the same thing as developing and implementing a plan to reach specific goals. Dropping links to news being promoted on social networks can have impact but is difficult to sustain. For long term value from effort with SEO and social media, PR professionals should follow best practices as well as the fundamentals:

Implement a listening program using social media monitoring, search engine ranking and keyword research tools.Identify the specific audience to reach. What are their behaviors and preferences for content, sharing, media types, etc? What keywords are used in a social AND search context?Set specific goals and objectives that can be measured. Mentions, comments, links, rankings, traffic, media coverage or other

Measuring the ROI of Online Public Relations

Posted by Lee Odden on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 - Comments »

Measuring the return on investment from online marketing and PR efforts is essential as an indication of success as well as a feedback mechanism to guide subsequent efforts.

Determining the effectiveness of SEO for Public Relations starts with clearly identified objectives. Matching the purpose for the effort with specific metrics is essential.  For example, if improving brand visibility is a goal, then documenting brand mentions in connection with news & PR content at regular intervals can demonstrate the effect of content promotion and link building.

Online PR metrics and tools often include:

News wire service metrics (see screen capture below)Web analytics for landing pages and web siteGoogle and Yahoo alertsMonitor blog search engines (via RSS)Press release landing page conversion trackingSocial media monitoringInbound linksPickups on blogsPickups on other web sites & online publicationsNews and Standard Search Engine RankingsConversions: Less likely sales, more likely white paper downloads, webinar signups, newsletter subscriptions, demos, etc

A press release that is keyword optimized and announcing a promotional offer of some kind, should have tracking codes added to the links embedded in the release. Those links should point to landing pages designed to convert visitors from the press release to the desired outcome. Ranking is not a worthwhile metric in this case but conversions are.

Capturing various measures and key performance indicators isn’t enough to gain support for optimizing news content in many organizations.  These efforts belong within the Public Relations effort and should emphasize goals consistent with PR objectives. Sometimes it takes a little creative packaging of analytics to help other departments or upstream executives “get” the value of  optimizing PR content for search.

Here are a few tactics to use in order to sell the value of SEO within a PR effort:

Show competitor social search visibility vs client/companyShow competitor’s optimized news content ranking in various types of search engines where the company/client is not (and probably should be)Research a keyword glossary and run a ranking report on those phrases. Show the lack of search visibility for what search audiences are actually looking for, relevant to the businessRun a test of a few news items, whether they be blog posts, press releases or a digital asset like video. Take a benchmark measurement first and then show progress.Set keyword ranking goals for news content and estimate the cost to achieve the same goals with PPC advertising over time. Demonstrate the cost of organic search traffic vs PPC traffic.

If you can’t get budget approval for an overall search campaign as part of specific PR efforts, then using a competitive example or a small scale test might be enough to demonstrate the value of incorporating SEO with Public Relations.

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Tags: digital pr,Online PR,PR Measurement,ROI
This entry was postedon Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 8:14 pmand is filed under Online PR, PR Measurement.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a comment below.

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New Webinar: Optimized Public Relations

Photo Credit: Andy Beal

On Thursday, January 28th 1PM EST TopRank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden and Bulldog Reporter will be offering a high impact webinar for Public Relations and Communications professionals on using search engine optimization to increase online visibility and placements. Details are below, but you can register here:

Optimized Public Relations: 10 Easy SEO Tactics PR Can Use to Increase Digital and Traditional Media Pickup in 2010 Bulldog Reporter’s PR University Presents a New Webcast Tutorial Thursday, January 28, 2010

PR pros looking for the latest SEO tools and know-how to build brand and buzz should attend this new webcast tutorial from Bulldog Reporter’s PR University titled: “Optimized Public Relations: 10 SEO Tactics PR Can Use to Increase Digital and Traditional Media Pickup in 2010.” :

This PR University webcast takes place on Thursday, January 28, at 1PM EST (noon CST, 11AM MST, 10AM PST).

In just 90 minutes, this PR University webcast tutorial will give PR professionals the tools and step-by-step instruction they need to positively impact their company or brand’s perception, positioning and coverage. They will learn how to find their keyword sweet spot, how to use those words and phrases to boost the number of people who visit their site and how to write optimized copy to drive greater results and return on investment.

Key takeaways from this webinar:

The opportunity Google’s Universal Search offers PR for news and other digital assetsSEO Primer: Common myths, essential concepts and key definitions PR must understand how search engines workHow to conduct keyword research-plus online tools and new techniques for finding their company or brand’s keyword sweet spotWord counts, hyperlinks, headline writing rules and other SEO guidelinesHow to use keywords to optimize your online newsroom, website, press releases — and virtually any PR communiquéSEO Distribution: Smart press releases, social media releases and other emerging distribution tools that leverage optimized PR copy for wider reach onlineActionable tips for incorporating SEO and Social Media into an optimized PR programHow to optimize press releases, websites and PR communiqués by integrating keywords and phrases

Register for the Optimized Public Relations webinar here.

Attendance at Bulldog Reporter’s PR University : audio conference costs $299 per dial-in site. Participants in the 90-minute conference will be able to pose specific questions for the presenter at several junctures during the discussion. Attendees of PR University conferences receive one credit toward PRSA accreditation maintenance.
Registration also includes an up-to-the-minute conference manual and a full transcript. For more information on taking part in the event, go here : or for personalized service and special offers please contact our client satisfaction representatives toll free at: 1-800-959-1059.

About Lee Odden:

Lee Odden is CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, a Minnesota based digital marketing agency with experience providing Search Engine Optimization and Social Media PR consulting services to organizations including PRSA, PRWeb, McKesson and Marketo. Odden’s SEO advice is featured in a chapter of

OMB Search Marketing Roundup 123006

  Posted by blog - Saturday, December 30, 2006 Here is a roundup of posts from Online Marketing Blog this week:

Blogs Rock for SEO, SMO and PR

Lowdown on Spamming Social Media

Will Google Squash Digg?

Happy Birthday Online Marketing Blog!

Dan Thies Calls it Quits

ReviewMe Owner Sells Performancing Assets to PayPerPost

Top TopRank Blog Posts for 2006

SEO Strategy: Zone or Man to Man?

Playstation 3 Baby!

Next week starts a whole new year! Happy New Year!

ags: toprank, online marketing blog
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Best SEO Blog of 2006 Award

  Posted by blog - Wednesday, January 03, 2007 Search Engine Journal has announced the winner of the 2006 Best SEO Blog voting and the winner is SEOmoz. I would have to agree. I have mentioned over at Online Marketing Blog that I think SEOmoz is the best SEO blog on the planet. Apparently, quite a few people agree. :)

Congratulations Rand!!!

Tags: seo blogs, seomoz
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