A guide to SEO for PR

A Guide to SEO for PR
How your PR Agency can Prove Interaction, Engagement and
the Impact on your Client’s Web Presence & Search Rankings
using SEO Software

gShiftLabs.com | @gShiftLabs | facebook.com/gShiftLabs | sales@gShiftLabs.com

A Guide to SEO for PR

How your PR Agency can Prove Interaction, Engagement and the Impact on your Client’s
Web Presence & Search Rankings using SEO Software
The purpose of this guide is to demonstrate the power that PR Agencies hold when it comes to positively
impacting a client’s web presence for organic search results.

You will learn how your public relations efforts are the key to your client’s search engine optimization (SEO)
strategies, and how a strong PR campaign can positively impact your client’s entire web presence for organic
search both immediately and over time.

Through a real-world example you will see how a company goes from not being found for a keyword phrase
to dominating in the search engines and converting traffic – all from a carefully optimized and executed press
release.

Find out how more and more PR Agencies are proving their value to end clients by using gShift’s SEO software,
Web Presence OptimizerTM.

Overview

This SEO for PR Guide includes the following sections:

1. The Importance of SEO in the Digital Marketing Mix

2. The Significance of Public Relations in the SEO Ecosystem

3. What Google Wants: The 3Fs
4. Google’s Freshness Update

5. Closing the Keyword Gap: Optimizing for Keyword Phrases

6. How To Track, Manage & Measure the Impact of a Press Release on Your Web Presence

7. Prove Interaction and Engagement to Your Clients - gShift’s Impact ReportTM


1. The Importance of SEO in the Digital Marketing Mix

Search engine optimization (SEO) has been around since the beginning of digital marketing (circa 1997). It
has also evolved significantly over the past 15 years and continues to evolve every day. Today, an organization’s
digital footprint is a living, breathing entity. The strength of its pulse indicates its relevance to search engines
and searchers and ultimately the likelihood of your organization being found online by prospects.

And SEO is a significant part of a digital marketer’s toolbox because it is the #1 lead conversion tactic
outranking both email marketing and paid search. (Source: Forbes Advertising Effectiveness Study)

SEO today has evolved into WPO or Web Presence Optimization. The practice of SEO is now about optimizing
your entire web presence for organic search every single day – a challenge that many of us find daunting. It
doesn’t have to be.

Your Web Presence in 1997

Your Web Presence Today

But while there are fundamentals to SEO that can’t be ignored, the secret to winning at SEO over the long term
is exceptional content. Publishing and distributing this content into the various streams that make up your web
presence or digital footprint is key. PR Agencies hold that key.


2. The Significance of Public Relations in the SEO Ecosystem

What is the role and significance of public relations and press releases in the digital marketing mix and
specifically SEO?

Content. Plain and simple. A PR Agency (however big or small) holds the key to the most important, oftentimes
overlooked and most difficult stage of the SEO process – content creation and publishing.

Let’s back up for a moment. At gShift, all of our clients go through three stages of SEO:

{A PR Agency} Stage #1: Understanding that SEO is important in the digital marketing
mix and committing to it.
is the secret
Stage #2: Taking inventory of their digital footprint, understanding what
weapon to exists and fixing what’s there. This includes website structure, existing
content, backlinks, blogs, social accounts, etc.

dominating Stage #3: Ongoing commitment to creating great content. Once the
Keyword Gap (see next section) has been closed, a content strategy
organic search can be executed in the form of blogs, press releases, social media, etc.
rankings. Enter the PR Agency.

A PR Agency is the secret weapon to dominating organic search rankings. Using the example of a press release
issued over a newswire, a PR Agency has instantly addressed three of the most important aspects that Google
looks for to rank content:

• Fresh, relevant content
• Backlinks 3 of the most important
aspects that Google looks for
• Social signals

to rank content.


3. What Google Wants: The 3Fs

The one thing that matters the most to Google’s organic search algorithm is “relevance”. Google is obsessed
with ensuring that it is ranking web content in the most relevant order to the person who is doing the search.

When it comes to content, Google wants what gShift calls the “3Fs”:

• Fresh
• Frequent
• Finessed

One major objective of SEO is proving to Google that you are serious about the keyword phrases you are
attempting to rank for. Don’t simply publish a singular piece of content - you must drip it out on a regular
content schedule. The finesse is the art and science of writing engaging content that has been optimized
around a keyword phrase.

..............................................................................................

4. Google’s Freshness Update

In early November 2011, Google made a significant change to its
algorithm that greatly favors PR. Called the “Freshness Update”,
In early November Google says that it “impacts roughly 6-10% percent of searches and
better determines when to give you more up-to-date relevant results for
2011, Google these varying degrees of freshness.”

made a This update is a significant opportunity for PR to influence an
organization’s web presence, organic search results and overall
significant competitiveness online.

change to its For example, a press release optimized for keyword phrases that you
algorithm want to be found for gets a big checkmark from Google for fresh,

that greatly relevant content.

favors PR. Read more about some of Google’s recent changes on the official
Google Search blog:

http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2011/11/ten-recent-algorithm-
changes.html


5. Closing the Keyword Gap: Optimizing for Keyword Phrases

To win at SEO a solid content strategy is paramount. It is important to understand, however, that at the core of a
great content strategy are keyword phrases and it’s those same keyword phrases that will rank in Google.

At gShift we describe the Keyword Gap to our clients. Oftentimes a client will list words that they believe they
should be ranking for. But what’s more important are the keywords that prospects are actually using to try to find
them. The difference between these two lists is what we call the Keyword Gap.

As a PR professional you have control over helping your client close their Keyword Gap and tell their story
using high-worth keyword phrases. This keyword research can be achieved using gShift Labs’ Web Presence
OptimizerTM.

Once you have closed your client’s Keyword Gap, you can then story tell using these keyword phrases. Here are
some additional tips for content optimization:

1. Focus on unbranded (as opposed to branded) keyword phrases.
2. Pick one or two keyword phrases per press release and/or blog.
3. The frequency of the keyword phrase has to be normal. In other words, keyword stuffing won’t get you
anywhere.
4. The positioning of the keyword phrase in the press release is important. Try to make the selected
keyword phrase the first phrase in the title of the press release as well as the first phrase in the first
sentence.
5. Create backlinks. Support your press release by linking to a page on the website that further supports
and uses the keyword phrase.
6. Plan your social content to include the same keyword phrase - Socialize it!

Image #1 - Press Release Image #2 - Supporting Page on Website


6. How To Track, Manage & Measure the Impact of a Press
Release on Your Web Presence
Once you have closed your client’s keyword gap and developed a strong content strategy, get ready to prove to your
client that you can positively impact their web presence.

In our real-world example explained step-by-step below, gShift Labs did not rank in the top 50 Google search engine
results for the keyword phrase “YouTube rankings” prior to a PR event. Post PR event, the ranking settles at position #4
in Google.

Like every PR event, there has to be a purpose and a goal. In this example, it was to publicly announce that YouTube
rankings are now available in Web Presence OptimizerTM, and drive targeted traffic and conversions on an ongoing basis.

Step #1: Use Web Presence OptimizerTM to uncover important keyword phrases for which your client does not currently
rank. gShift was not ranking for the keyword phrase “YouTube rankings”, and there was a competitive opportunity to do so.

Step #2: Set up a campaign in Web Presence OptimizerTM including the keyword phrases for which you want to optimize
the press release. Use the Content Optimizer to help optimize the content of the press release for those keyword
phrases before publishing.

Step #3: Compose and publish a supporting web page on the client’s corporate website that the press release can link
to. In this case it is: http://www.gshiftlabs.com/product/features/youtube-rankings.

Step #4: Publish the keyword optimized press release on the client’s corporate website. The gShift press release was
published on October 19, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET here:
http://www.gshiftlabs.com/seo-technology-software-provider-gshift-labs-first-to-deliver-youtube-rankings

Step#5: Publish the press release via PRWeb. In the gShift example, note the positioning of the keyword phrase
“YouTube rankings”. Note also the link from the press release to the supporting web page on the corporate website
described in Step #3.

The gShift press release was published via PRWeb on October 19, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET. [See Image #3 below]

Image #3 - Publish Press Release via PRWeb


Step#6: Socialize the Content via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

{ Socialize }


Step #7: Watch the results! Track and measure the impact of the press release on your client’s web presence in gShift’s
Web Presence OptimizerTM software.

By 9:00 AM ET on October 19, 2011(30 minutes later) – In Google.ca the press release on the corporate website is
ranked #8. In Google.com it is ranked #9.

{ #8 in Google.ca by 9am } { #9 in Google.com by 9am }

..............................................................................................

October 20, 2011 (one day later) Google.ca - Two top-ten listings: Press release is ranked #10 for “YouTube Rankings”;
Supporting web page is ranked #6.

{ Google.ca one day later }
Supporting Page #6

Press Release #10


Beyond October 21st – SEO Ranking Report within gShift’s Web Presence OptimizerTM.

..............................................................................................

7. Prove Interaction and Engagement to Your Clients - gShift’s
Impact ReportTM

PR Agencies have the power to positively influence organic search rankings, interaction, engagement and even
conversion rates.

gShift’s SEO software helps prove the impact of PR through its Impact ReportTM. By focusing the report on the PR event,
it demonstrates the impact the press release has had on:

• Traffic to the website
• SEO rankings
• Backlinks
• Social activity
• Page performance

The Impact ReoprtTM is white-labeled for you and your client.


Impact ReportTM: Proving Interaction & Engagement to Your Clients

About gShift Labs

gShift Labs provides SEO software for non-SEO professionals by giving SMBs and agencies control over their
organic search campaigns. Companies across North America are achieving top organic rankings in search
engines using gShift’s Web Presence Optimizer™ (WPO), which simplifies, demystifies and standardizes
the way a website gets found on the internet. Organizations of all sizes benefit by reducing the time and
resources required to analyze and improve organic search optimization.

For more information, please contact us at 1-866-743-5960 or sales@gShiftLabs.com.


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