Online PR and SEO go hand in hand

I recently came across Lee Odden being interviewed about the comlementary role of online public relations and search engine optimization. Odden is President of TopRank Online Marketing, a search marketing agency specialising in search engine optimisation, online PR and blog marketing.

A recognised industry expert, Lee publishes MarketingBlog.com and has been cited by major publications including U.S. News and The Economist and speaks at numerous industry conferences. Here's a snippet of this interview...

Marketers seem to finally be realising that online PR and SEO go hand in hand. Can you sum up the opportunities?

Public relations and search engine optimisation are intertwined in many ways. A common crossover is with linking. The best links which are most often editorial in nature are often the most difficult. Coveted link sources include major online publications, educational or government web sites. The pitching of stories to journalists common to media relations is directly related to pitching for linking opportunities on some of the more difficult sites. Getting a contributed article into a prominent online publication can drive traffic, build credibility and associate link popularity.

Another crossover point deals with press releases, their distribution and the syndication of content. A press release is a document like any other that can be indexed and algorithmically categorised and ranked. Optimising press releases for keywords as well as for the people that will read them allows the release additional exposure from search queries on news search engines. Press releases that are easier to find get picked up more often and when those releases contain links to the company web site, it can send traffic and link popularity.

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