1. SEOs and PRs have traditionally operated in separate spheres but are increasingly converging as both recognize the importance of the other's metrics and tactics. 2. For integration to fully happen, both groups need to learn each other's languages and expand their skills - SEOs need to consider brand and reputation metrics while PRs must understand search engine factors. 3. Specific action steps include PRs learning about search and link building, SEOs focusing on outcomes over tactics, and both measuring a broader set of metrics beyond their comfort zones.

1. SEOs are from Venus and PRs
are from Mars - will the
planets ever collide?
A presentation for SAScon
17th May 2012

2. FIRSTLY, LET’S
GET OVER THE
BASICS...

3. INDUSTRY ANALYSTS
HAVE BEEN SAYING
FOR YEARS THAT PR
AND SEO WILL CONVERGE...

4. PR WHY IS SEO AND PR
PR CONVERGING? PR
PR PR
CAN INFLUENCE ALL
PR
PR THESE SEARCH ENGINE
RANKING FACTORS...

5. WHY IS SEO AND PR
CONVERGING? TAKE
A LOOK AT THE LINK
EQUITY OF THESE
BIG ONLINE BRANDS

6. SOME OF THE HIGHEST VALUE LINKS TO EXPEDIA AND MONEYSUPERMARKET ARE ALL PR LINKS
SEE BELOW

7. SO PR IS GOOD FOR
BUILDING LINKS
FROM AUTHORITY
DOMAINS...
AN SEO DREAM

8. SO WHY HAVEN’T
SEO AND PR JUMPED
INTO BED ALREADY...

9. CREATIVE
OPINIONATED
EGOTISTICAL
IS IT OUR PRs
EXTROVERT
PERSONALiTIES?
OR DO OPPOSITES ANALYTICAL
ATTRACT? SEOs TECHNICAL
PRACTICAL
COMMERCIAL

10. IN MY OPINION, THERE
ARE TWO DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN PRs and seos:
is gro unded the
seo y and skill
in tang ibilit gap s
surea bility.
mea
pr le ss so.

11. although intangible, ‘pr outcomes’, such
as brand building and reputation, have a
high perceived value with shareholders
and boards of directors

12. for prs, brand and
reputation is big business
billion
the size of the
uk pr industry

13. however, inbound links sadly mean
nothing to many prs. most don’t even
report the links that they generate
they lack the skills /
knowledge to do this

14. FOR MANY SEOs, measuring
reputation and brand
is outside their web
analytics’ comfort zone
but measuring brand and
reputation can be done.
it is just expensive

15. SO how can seos
and prs get it on
13 actionable insights

16. Actionable insight
1. prs: if you don’t understand search yet
then start learning now.
innovate or die
(if you really are a beginner see appendix 1 for suggested
links and further reading)

17. Actionable insight
2. seos: forget pr tactics and start by
talking the language of ‘outcomes’
for brand, reputation, profile and
measurement (tactics will follow)
(see appendix 2 for some useful links)

18. Actionable insight
3. a new set of metrics needs to be created
for seos and prs to really integrate
- track search metrics, opinions,
brand, reputation metrics and the
impact of these on shareholder value

19. Actionable insight
4. at the very least, learn to measure the basics
SEOs need to measure
End user opinions and sen-ment
PRs need to measure
Branded search traffic
and the impact on brand and
reputa-on
Real world metrics, e.g. foo<all Domain authority
Key messaging In bound links / link equity
Share of voice Search results / conversions
Referral traffic
SERPs

20. Actionable insight
5. as well as focusing on measurement, prs
and seos need to get more aware of each
other’s tactics

21. Actionable insight
6. seos need to think less about press
releases and think more broadly
about a range of tactics that can
generate links

22. Actionable insight
7. be news-worthy (link-worthy)
create news-worthy content which has:
- proximity
- timeliness
- human interest / novelty
- conflict
- eminence and prominence
- consequence and impact
- visuals (press photos, video footage)

23. Actionable insight
8. seos: understand appropriate
messaging and use of controversy
Good Bad

24. Actionable insight
9. it is not just press releases
that generate links
Consumer media Trade / B2B
News and features Thought leadership
Stunts Guest posts
Features Research
Product reviews Content marke>ng
Compe>>ons News and features
Advertorials Market reports
Research

25. Actionable insight
10. provide a reason to link back to the
website. link to further information /
source of research in your release
train your spokesperson to mention
the resource and link in interviews

26. Actionable insight
11. as well as using anchor text, write the
url out in full
journalists often don’t cut and paste
anchor text so the link is lost

27. Actionable insight
12. Less can be more. Don’t write 20 blog
posts, instead spend the same amount
of time turning this original content
into one definitive industry report
(link bait)
Then PR the content. (You can turn it
into 20 blog posts later)

28. Actionable insight
13. PRs: don’t just be ‘white hat’. Manual
link building works! A website which
is visible to search brings traffic,
aids social sharing and discovery
by journalists

29. CONCLUSION
Let’s broaden our skills, the
strategies that we deploy and
what we measure

30. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Crawford is the Managing Director of
PR Agency One and has a keen interest in the
space where SEO and PR meet.
For more information about James and his
business visit www.pragencyone.co.uk
Call him on 07793 441 6986
Twitter: @jamescrawford

31. thank you

32. appendix 1
PR beginners guide to SEO
How to create compelling content that ranks
in search engines
Link building lessons for PR
SEGMENT SOCIAL MEDIA TRAFFIC USING GOOGLE
ANALYTICS

33. appendix 2
Some good PR basics are in here
(a bit basic in parts)
Link building lessons from PR
COI’s guide to PR measurement
AMEC guide to PR evaluation (A bit academic)
Why reputation matters
How to measure reputation