Public relations have always been an important aspect of marketing and advertising, and PR firms have dominated the marketing landscape in print, radio, and television. However, in the digital world, many PR agencies are clueless when it comes to online marketing. As these agencies slowly discover the importance of search engine optimization (SEO), they begin to realize how difficult online marketing really is. Unlike traditional media, the Internet has a completely different set of rules.
Search engine optimization is on the cutting edge of web marketing. Therefore, public relations are intertwined with SEO, and an SEO company is now responsible for many of the tasks that a PR agency once performed. For example, handling a press release today must be performed by an expert SEO firm who uses press release optimization techniques. Preparing press releases was a task once handled solely by a PR firm.
So how did SEO companies evolve into PR firms? The answer is fairly simple when the underlying goal of search engine optimization is analyzed. SEO is the process of organically increasing the search engine ranking of a website to increase traffic, which increases conversions. Conversions are a visitor’s actions that meet the goal of the site owners. This could be a lead, sale, phone call, or registration with the website. A conversion is the metric for success in the world of internet marketing. An SEO company has a bunch of tricks up its sleeve. Unlike a PR firm, SEO draws on a variety of professionals – from IT experts and web designers to graphic artists and content writers. More often than not, they perform the copywriting for smaller clients, creating brand imagery, catchphrases, and press releases. At the backbone of this process is the constant study of major search engines. These skilled professional must rigorously and regularly watch every change that search engines make to their algorithms so that they can keep their clients on the top of the rankings.
With the vast extent of the Internet, online businesses have the potential to cast a much wider net when reeling in customers. Search engines like Google are at the center of most Internet users’ online activities. Therefore, SEO is more than just an alternative marketing strategy. It is the marketing strategy of this 21st century.