SEO PR TIPS

It is important for agency account managers to get together with internal teams to discuss client objectives, from SEO, to PPC, to PR and web development.
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Public Relations or PR helps build a profile or image which is maintained in public through various forms of communication and is otherwise known as communications, or reputation management. The aim is to promote / provide exposure of your business to various audiences and to build relationships to enhance the brand.
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A social search engine is very much like a ‘traditional’ search engine in that well written, SEO friendly content is indexed in traditional ways in Google, Yahoo and Bing.

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Did you know…

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As social media is playing a more active part in many organisations, WebCertain MD, Andy Atkins-Kruger decided to hold a Twitter Training session, the idea being to maximise website traffic and to enhance company engagement with their audience. After all, social media is a cost-effective marketing solution with real time search benefits.

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Internet PR and Marketing investment continually rises, while offline spend is in decline, marketers are continually looking for new methods and approaches to suit business needs. The current climate of the economy has forced many companies to re-strategise in many areas, where spend is minimalistic and productivity potentially maximised.

With virtual social networking taking the world by storm it’s no wonder marketers have already jumped on the band wagon promoting their businesses and colleagues, for example, the use of Twitter has totally entranced our colleagues here @ WebCertain, follow: @globalppc @starbuck8 @jennysimpson @davidsegal @davidecorradi @ballueder @WebCertain @J__9 @YorkSEO @globalseo @andyatkinskruge @seoprtips @newscertain @WebCertain_DE @AnaVLeckenby @oscarcarreras, for updated information on specialised areas of multilingual search!

Promoting the latest international search summit, general information about PR, SEO, link building, PPC etc… has developed a wider knowledge on each subject, by sharing and re-tweeting relevant data to enhance the specialised knowledge arena WebCertain hold.

Many businesses and organisations are using online facilities and companies such as WebCertain not only for English articles, as we are multilingual; multiple languages from across the globe play a large part in how they operate, especially for clients. Online PR is a great way of getting your company, news / press releases / data, relayed around the world, especially using press release sites with an overseas domain, rather than the traditional offline methods. This however, does vary upon client needs; everyone wants something different and to be unique, so be adaptable and knowledgeable on your subject arena to create the best possible service for your company and your clients!

Lee Odden of Top Rank log has posted the latest list of the top blogs about search marketing.

They promise “a mix of new and old, funny and serious” and there are over 400 blogs included on the list.

You won’t find us there, but WebCertain’s Managing Director has been on the list for some time with his news site about international search marketing, Multilingual Search.

Other favourites of mine include -

Mikkel deMib Svendsen:  Mikkel is one of the most recognisable people on the conference circuit (he’s the guy in the orange suit!) and more than that is one of the most knowledgeable people around on Reputation Management issues.

Forrester Blog for Interactive Marketing:  Forrester are the market leaders on digital research.

Hubspot:  Home to some of the best tools in the industry

Some basic SEO tips for PR’s who are venturing into the online world:
Search engine rankings are an important factor to consider when building or developing a website, as well as the use of links, keywords and content. The need to use such information is to ensure the site achieves high rankings, for example, a good selection of links and the more links you have related to your site equals more traffic, plus, search engines are more likely to like the site.

Many larger corporations and anyone who can afford to use SEO companies and/or multilingual SEO organistions, are there to improve or enhance your site in order to gain better search rankings, however there is no guarantee that an SEO company will improve your site rankings. Search engines tend to keep you in the best position for your site, and unless you suddenly produce the best possible site there is a limited possibility that you will drop your position.

Consider the following factors to enhance your search results:
• Content – ensure the quality is good and contains plenty of keywords to maintain visitor numbers, to further your content make the use of niche words. Also bullet points in content will always be picked upon, try to add them in your content.
• Design of the site and software used to build it can also make a difference as to where you rank. Text is important in helping the visitor get to the information they have searched for, whether the content is written on your page or there is a link to whatever the visitor is looking for. If you have any images on the pages, ensure they have alt tags and title tags. Important Note: alt and title tags should always differ.
• Title of your site should contain no more than 12-14 words (include keywords in the website title). The header of the post must contain keywords also in order to attain higher page rank.
• Navigations should always be created using text, the use of images will deplete any page rankings you have. The keywords used in the navigation menu should always be the same as they are general web standards.
• Any links which are on your pages should relate to your site, to increase the chance of high search engine rankings, any external links should relate to your sites niche.
• An up-to-date site and an eye on your competitors will ensure you stay ahead, keep an eye on current SEO news and use the techniques to your advantage.

Social Media as many people are aware plays such a huge part in PR, especially for online content and sites. Travel sites are’nt necessarliy updated as frequently as they should:

“On travel companies not reviewing Web 2.0/Social Media as part of a comprehensive Internet marketing and distribution strategy, together with website re-designs and optimisations, search marketing, email marketing, strategic linking, online sponsorships and display advertising: Many travel companies don’t have the resources or confidence to think holistically.” said Scott McNeely, Director of Consumer & Affiliate Web, Viator Inc. also recommends that travel suppliers should constantly update content.

take a look..

The need to keep up-to-date with social media and business is imperative to promote the brand as much as possible…SEO, SEM, link building, web design etc

The WebCertain International Search Summit event about Social Media and International opportunities will be held in London @ the British Library on 14th May 2009… Find out more

One thing that all professional writers are taught when they are starting out is to know your audience – visualise them in your head when you sit down and write and it will make it easier to pick the right words.

This is one of the cornerstones of writing press releases and remains unchanged. You imagine the grumpy sub-editor who has a chip on his shoulder about supposedly overpaid PR types, looking for grammatical mistakes as an excuse to spike your story. You imagine the stressed out young reporter who has a target of x stories per day to write and might just be tempted to overlook the fact that this is a bloody press release, because it won’t need much re-writing and it just about comes across as a kosher news story (not that working in the media has made me cynical. Oh no…)

But now if you work in online PR, you are more than likely writing on social networking sites and imagining your audience is a much more complicated affair (ignore the hecklers shouting, “it’s easy, they’re all geeks!”).

For example:
On Facebook, my boyfriend updated his status with the esoteric statement “…is baking in the boulangerie of the mind”, which was understandable to precisely one person (me, it’s a long story).

Again on Facebook, a friend posted “…thinks 5-0 will do very nicely, thanks.” This is understandable to everyone that knows that he is a Man Utd fan.

Meanwhile on Twitter, Laure is wondering where John is (and appropriately enough in this mixed up, muddled up world, this is a reference to said John’s unexplained disappearance from Facebook). Meanwhile I’m confusing people with an oblique reply to Oscar about the mayor of London (“who’s Boris?” I’m asked by a third party).

My point is that on social networking sites you are often addressing different overlapping audiences, with different interests, and with different levels of knowledge about your subject matter. Confusing things even further is the presence of friends-of-friends who don’t actually know you at all.

It’s obvious that if your boss or clients might be reading, this isn’t the place for letting off steam at the end of a bad day at work. Correction, it should be obvious.

If you are planning on using social networks for marketing or online PR, you need to go back to basics and define who you are and who you want your audience to be.

You have the choice to be an online mate, a handy bite-sized news source, the straightforward corporate face of your company, or the knowledgeable (but human! I am human, look what I had for my lunch while I was finding you that link to the latest data on web usage in Uzbekistan!) SEO-expert networker – the latter accounting for approximately 50% of people on Twitter by my reckoning.

NB – Imagining my audience for this blog is super-easy – it’s the most intelligent and beautiful group of humans known to man – aren’t you! Do leave a comment if you have any thoughts on this.