FIGARODIGITAL.CO.UK
t used to be commonplace to think of PR and SEO as two very separate worlds: one was upfront and fully involved in driving brand interest and awareness, while the other stayed out of the limelight and
focused on links. But the digital landscape is continually changing and, says Stephen Kenwright, Head of Search at Branded3, these two sectors need to start talking to each other. This is not, he notes, entirely new
news. Commentators have been tracking the interface between SEO, PR and content marketing for a while. And yet there aren’t many companies who’ve ditched their PR agency and replaced with them an SEO or content team. The key is to understand that these previously distinct disciplines must now be much more closely aligned within your overall digital strategy. In the past, points out Kenwright, PR and advertising agencies were responsible for what happened above-the-line, while the SEO team delivered a spreadsheet with a bunch of links at the end of each month. But
unclicked links on unvisited pages are unlikely to drive brand awareness and, crucially, link-building as a tactic doesn’t help consumers.
WHAT GOOGLE WANTS In deciding how a site’s going to rank, explains Kenwright, Google moves down the purchase funnel from awareness through to consideration, conversion and loyalty. SEO, however, moves up the funnel from loyalty through to
36 issue 23 january 2015
Stephen Kenwright, Head of Search at
Branded3, tells us why SEO and PR teams should start talking to each other
SEO is the NEW PR
awareness. “No one can rank on awareness alone,” he says. “Even the most trusted brands can fail to rank for something that might actually drive traffic.”
As an illustration of how SEO needs to
work now, Kenwright cites the following example. City Index are a spread betting provider. If you’re thinking about buying shares in Tesco, your research might involve scanning an industry publication like The Grocer, which is exactly where Branded3 seek to place City Index’s products and content. The approach combines traditional PR – getting the message in front of the relevant audience – with a strong search strategy. Having an intricate knowledge of what Google wants means that SEO agencies can deduce the best course of action for a brand.
“Google only really cares about two things. It cares about site popularity, which has always been the realm of PR and
above-the- line advertising. And it cares about site health, which has always
been the SEO team’s
problem.” One thing that neither Google nor PRs
care about anymore, he says, is advertising value equivalency; now that SEO agencies can track
the movements of users with pinpoint accuracy, merely counting impressions is a thing of the past. This is where SEO and PR come together to deliver the holy trinity of content, awareness and measurement. And since it’s the SEO
ARTICLE BY ESTELLE HAKNER AND JON FORTGANG
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