SEO and PR for small businesses are not words we’re used to hearing together. But I believe they are an important part of a whole-business marketing strategy that no business (of any size) can afford to be without.
SEO is the perfect PR partner because words and word choice are really important to both. After all words make up your stories and keywords, like PR, help to get your business seen - so of course they belong together.
Boosting your brand
The keywords that a digital magazine article uses, for example, will increase your website traffic. And depending on the link locations and the type of story this will be a short spike in traffic, a seasonal spike or it will have an impact every month.
Every time that article is read, shared or included in a newsletter it is another opportunity to read about you or your business and for someone new to discover your website. This is a big boost for your brand SEO & a big leg-up for your PR as it boosts visibility and of it is engaging, readable content you may even be shared or bookmarked for a repeat visit.
High-quality coverage from magazines with robust circulation provides backlinks (clicks to your website), which Google likes to see. This isn’t always about magazines with huge circulation, sometimes the best quality links can come from niche or fan publications where readers are knowledgeable - and thus likely to be more receptive to subtle brand PR and marketing.
Depending on the keywords the magazines choose you may find your brand mention from this magazine becomes part of a rich snippet. You may find your business shows up in image search or an enhanced listing. And all of this is fancier than a standard headline & link… good news for SEO & PR because these better-looking links are more likely to be clicked.
Keywords for PR
Understanding keyword intent (the motivation behind the words we type or speak into search bars) is crucial to your content planning. This is why it’s really important to think about more than brand keywords. So, what are these different keywords?
Transactional keywords are the words we type when we are ready to buy. Think ‘Vegan chocolate maker Cornwall’ or ‘gift shop near me’.
Informational keywords are important, too. These words relate to broader topics but these are great to use in your long-form blog & social media posts: Recently I’ve used ‘Jamaican Christmas cake recipe’, ‘simple SEO advice’ and ‘benefits of pilates for back health’ in content strategies.
Navigational keywords work well when we’re nudging customers to find a specific website or location that is familiar. ‘French brasserie near Beak Street.’ ‘Chelsea Market Brownie Bakery’ and ‘Coffee takeaway by Truro cinema’ are
all excellent examples of navigational words. These can be overlooked in social media content but can add huge value if you use them in a post that includes the article which contains your backlink.
Keywords and content strategy
Imagine how much attention you can attract for your business with these digital opportunities for clicks. And if you’ve thought about the keywords enough to build content around them (basic keyword strategy) they will work so well together.
SEO and PR tends to look at these high intent keywords because they are most likely to nudge customers along a sales funnel or drive that click which is a conversion. But low intent keywords are an important part of your keyword and your content strategy: someone looking for information is rarely ready to buy.
And when this content sits at the top of the funnel, if it answers questions and is in a readable format it will more likely be bookmarked or read a second time. This content may not be the news article or the press release, but this kind of digital PR will bring new traffic to your website and expose your business, shop or service to brand new customers.
And it’s these new customers who will browse your website and if they find some they want to read not only will they stick around… they are likely to visit again.
So, have I convinced you? You’re probably thinking about PR if you have plans for business growth in 2022. But is it SEO you’re looking for? The two really do belong together.
If you’re looking for coaching to bring your SEO in-house or you need a fresh Keyword Strategy review, book a Power Hour with Rachel to kickstart your 2022 plans. Drop me a message or email hello@thehammondagency.co.uk
