Proof of the value PR adds to SEO

If you’re sceptical about how big an impact PR has on SEO — read on. I hope to change your mind.We’ve recently been on a journey with a client that has built SEO into all its marketing activities and it’s having one hell of an effect.The story of that journey is interesting because the client we do PR for is a relatively small, cybersecurity software provider based in France. In its market, it’s up against some serious big boys and household brands you’ll no doubt know of.Our challenge as PRs has always been to do a better job than the big players in the market. And what we have done has worked. Our campaigns over the past few years have pricked up the ears of the IT and security media’s best journalists — and because these journos are interested, so too is Google.Our targeted approach to link building within authoritative media publications, along with the client’s own digital marketing activities have, slowly but surely, raised Google’s estimations of the client’s website considerably. In the first year of our start date, we succeeded in getting the client ranked on the first page of Google for its number one keyword, which has in turn contributed to a marked upturn of trial downloads for the company’s products. Now, a serious consideration for PR with this client isn’t just about generating mass awareness of the company or its products, or positioning the company as a credible expert in its field — it’s about how PR can affect search rankings.And it’s all come at a time when, thanks to thousands of changes to Google’s search algorithm, PR is now essential for search rankings. Google has cracked down on giving SEO value to poor-quality content and link farms in favour of high-quality engaging content and authoritative backlinks (among others).According to Andrey Lipattsev, search quality senior strategist at Google, high-quality content and link building are the two most important signals used by Google to rank your website. To find out how we can help you with your SEO efforts, have a flick through our new SEO guide and give us a call.