Impressing Google is not the Goal: How Search Engine Optimization Utilizes

Traditional Public Relations Techniques to Build Relationships

By: Monique Medina, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism Class of 2019

Teaching Assistant to Professor Richard Clancy, Fall 2018

ABSTRACT: This independent research study aims to explore the relationships between Search

Engine Optimization, traditional public relations techniques, and the creation of the internet. It

aims to answer whether SEO has come to fruition from the creation of the online space alone,

and if SEO should stand for simply optimizing to rank highly on a search engine or should more

fully encompass techniques worthy of being called digital public relations practice. Ultimately,

by exploring both pro-SEO and pro-user experience but anti-engine ranking opinions, this paper

aims to show the importance of approaching SEO as an evolution and parallel to traditional

public relations techniques.

Introduction

There are largely two types of public relations agencies that prevail today. While an

internet user can read an infinite number of articles promising to help them “Rank first on

Google, today!” without ever running across a discussion on traditional public relations, each of

the Search Engine Optimization practices they find stand as an evolved form of previously

implemented traditional PR techniques. This is because simply “optimizing” a webpage to rank

first on a search engine can be done almost automatically. But consistently ranking high on

search engines? Now that requires properly translated, traditional public relations techniques that

aim to offer value and build relationships beyond de facto optimization for your search engine of

choice. This paper serves to explore how the full-fledged value of “SEO” lies not in the creation

of the digital realm or engine rankings, but as a natural evolution from traditional public relations

practices that cannot survive without its foundation of traditional PR techniques, and even

expands them to further build relationships and brand recognition.

A. Internet Keywords for Engines and Users

The first way web content can be optimized for search engines is through keyword

research and targeting. With tools such as SEMRush or Moz’s Keyword Explorer, relevant

words and phrases a target audience or consumer needs can be identified and a business,

webpage or blog owner can better include those words and phrases within content with the hope

of appearing in search engines to the correct audience members.

Organic traffic, or traffic gained to a webpage through a user search engine inquiry, is

often seen as the “holy grail” of traffic. It would be great for your shoe company to be the first

result from searching “shoes” on Google or Bing, as this could lead to instant sales. But keyword

phrase targeting can also be profitable if your page can rank highly. On Google, the average

click-through rates for a result ranking first is 30 percent. For a second ranking, CTR is 14

percent and for third, 10 percent, (Chaffey, Smart Insights).

Brandon Gaille, CEO of Gaille Media and creator of TheBlogMillionaire.com, a small

business and marketing blog that receives over one million visitors per month, contributes a huge

portion of his success to keyword research. “Most amateur bloggers fail miserably in this area,

and it is because they do not spend enough time mastering the art of keyword research...keyword

research is where the Google rankings battle is won,” (Gaille, How to Build a Blog to Over 1

Million Monthly Visitors).

However, Gaille specifies within his podcast, The Blogging Millionaire, that achieving

search engine rankings requires more than robotic keyword inclusion and numbers games. While

creating a blog post with a higher word count than the currently ranked number one post for your

topic can help you climb the rankings, if the content is not informational or readable, your

ranking will instead suffer, (Gaille, The Blogging Millionaire).

Chaffey is similarly pro-technical SEO but aware of the importance of approaching

content with the searcher’s intent in mind. He specifies four types of search intent types:

commercial, informational, location, and specific intent, (Chaffey, Smart Insights). Again, while

using technical SEO tools to specify target keywords and even word counts can be essential to

ranking on search engines, both Gaille and Chaffey are aware that the ultimate goal is to build a

relationship with both the search engine and the person behind the search engine query-much

like traditional public relations relationship-building.

Ranking vs. AIDA Model

In a straightforward article titled “Why You Shouldn’t Do Keyword Research for Your

Blog Posts (And What to Do Instead),” Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and Wall

Street Journal-named top influencer on the web, argues that while keyword research isn’t dead,

“Unless your website has a domain authority of 90, you can’t target the best keywords.” He

supports this claim with step-by-step screenshots from Moz’s Keyword Explorer.

With a ranking “difficulty” level through the roof and a lower click-through-rate

potential, Patel implores his readers to “Focus on searcher intent instead...In everything we do

online, we should always be focused on fulfilling the needs, wants, and desires of the customer.”

In an interview on SemRush, Lee Odden, creator of TopRankBlog and accomplished

author and SEO industry professional, gave three tips to help website owners do better with their

content and promotion. These were to focus on content that attracts, engages and converts the

audience. Keywords are mentioned only once in this model, within the attraction stage. Odden

asks, “How will this content attract the right audience and on the most relevant channels?

Included search keywords, social network topics, forums...any relevant venue for information

discovery that is relevant to the customer and their goals,” (Nathan, 5 SEO Questions with Lee

Oden). He emphasizes keywords as a way to attract an audience, but points to three consecutive

points together as the recommended tips for content creators.

Similar to Patel’s insistence on focusing on customer needs and wants, Odden’s steps go

beyond a numbered rank on a search engine and even greatly mirror the traditional AIDA public

relations model as specified in Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns: A Strategic

Approach. The AIDA model consists of making individuals 1) Aware of a product or service, 2)

Interested in seeking more information, 3) Have a Desire to buy said product or service, and 4)

taking Action to actually purchase said service or item (Gregory, 100). Odden’s steps to attract,

engage and convert an audience directly parallel the traditional awareness, interest, desire and

action steps in the AIDA model, showing the importance of going beyond ranking keyword

research and viewing SEO as an extended, digital version of traditional public relations.

Google on For-Human Content

Google employs search quality raters to “give us [Google] feedback on if our algorithms

seem to be providing good results, a way to help confirm our changes are working well,”

(GoogleSearchLiason, Oct 2018). While these raters do not directly contribute to where pages

rank, they have a hand through feedback on Google’s search algorithm. Quality raters are told to

watch for “keyword stuffing” which consists of webpages “not meant to be read by a human,”

and instead consisting of mainly targeted keywords in order to rank higher, (Search Quality

Evaluator Guidelines, July 2018).

Google instead asks their search quality raters to give good marks for algorithms that

promote or highly-rank content that has a clear purpose and is helpful to the reader. Here’s an

excerpt from Google’s 164-page Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines manual:

2.2 What is the Purpose of a Webpage?

The goal of PQ rating is to determine how well a page achieves its purpose. In

order to assign a rating, you must understand the purpose of the page and sometimes the

website.

• By understanding the purpose of the page, you'll better understand what

criteria are important to consider when evaluating that particular page.

• Websites and pages should be created to help users. Websites and pages

that are created with intent to harm users, deceive users, or make money

with no attempt to help users, should receive the lowest PQ rating.

By emphasizing that web content should have a purpose that is identifiable by humans

and helpful to the reader, Google’s search quality rater position supports the notion that good

SEO requires more than keywords across the digital web.

Keywords for Brand and Word Association

Word association goes beyond trivia games. As New York State’s Department of Labor

suggests, some companies may use automated programs to search for industry keywords on

resumes, (New York State, Industry Keywords). Thus, this government agency suggest including

relevant keywords on your resume.

Creating a resume to market an employable individual is very similar to branding a

company. Dan Gauss, senior public relations account executive at Koroberi, Inc. in Raleigh,

touched on the importance of using industry keywords in press releases during a “lunch and

learn” session last week. “Using key terms such as IoT in the headlines of press releases helps

establish our client as a leader in their industry. Then, when someone hears IoT, they know to

think of [Client 1],” said Gauss. Thus, while keyword ranking is measurable in the digital world,

the use of keywords has roots within traditional public relations and branding as well.

As a current intern at Koroberi, I am responsible for compiling coverage reports for two

of our largest clients using Meltwater reporting software. The majority of earned coverage within

each month consists of reprints of Koroberi-created press releases for our clients, written by

Gauss and Sarah Keener, public relations and social media coordinator. This can result in as few

as five and as many as 200 articles with the identical, keyword-inclusive title, providing even

more industry-specific gusto for our clients.

B. SEO as an Expansion of Two-Way Communication

With the rise of digital public relations and specifically online search engines, one-way

communication techniques are becoming extinct. According to Jade Rattan on Zazzle Media,

traditional PR practices aim to “convey information to a wide audience, without much

feedback,” (Rattan). However in today’s world of increased connectivity online through email

and social media and even offline with improved delivery speeds of goods, letters and packages,

every individual is equipped with the tools necessary to respond to information quickly and with

ease, and traditional PR’s goal of widespread communication can be met with feedback easily.

Despite the fact that a traditional medium of communication may not have provided room

for feedback, the Zazzle Media reference above does not mean that traditional PR practitioners

did not wish for feedback. The goal of conveying ideas to a large audience remains the same and

even easier to achieve in the world of online communication and through SEO tactics. “While

many marketing tactics rely on you reaching out to your audience, SEO gives you the power to

reach people when they are actively searching out information related to your products and

services,” (Paquet, Constant Contact). Thus, SEO tactics in the form of optimizing webpage

content, loading times, and format to better rank in search engines continue to evolve to better

reach a wide array of human audiences and go beyond achieving rank for numerical success.

Primary Research Groups: Never Singular

Research is an important step to any advertising or public relations campaign. According

to Advertising and Public Relations Research, “Quantitative research is largely done by

telephone...however, the rise of online panels has provided a popular alternative in fielding

quantitative studies,” ( Jugenheimer, 51). With the growing popularity of online surveys and

research groups as well as online survey sites willing to pay users for their input (Keefe, Money

Saving Expert), attaining primary research has never been easier. This is especially true for those

with large social media followings, or even those with optimized webpages looking for research

conversions.

Primary research data collected online is not limited to quantitative methods alone. “You

may feel that online is not suited for qualitative research. However, with technological advances

in both video and voice over Internet, there is the opportunity to have a discussion with a

respondent face to face,” (Jugenheimer, 52). UserTesting is one survey site known to pair its

survey-takers with researchers for live-chat survey sessions. By requiring surveyors to provide

demographics and complete pre-survey qualifying questions, UserTesting ensures that the

researchers reach the target population they are targeting.

Using SEO as an evolved form of digital PR to better optimize webpages, specifically

ones with survey call-to-actions, can easily result in increased data and easy two-way

communication. According to Jenny Keefe writing for MoneySavingExpert.com, “Using long-

tail phrases or addressing users' queries with long-tail keywords will help you boost brand

loyalty over a period of time and thus can increase conversions,” (Barker, Forbes). Barker again

refers to the technique of keyword research, but emphasizes the boost in brand loyalty that comes

with associating your brand or webpage with industry keywords. This further pushes SEO as an

evolved form of traditional public relations techniques for research and idea creation.

Barker also refers to measuring conversions with a conversion rate optimization. Moz

specifies CRO as “not necessarily directly related to attracting organic website traffic or ranking

on a search engine results page (SERP), [but having] distinct benefits for SEO, (Moz,

Conversion Rate Optimization). These benefits include enhanced customer insights, better ROI,

better scalability, a more enjoyable user experience, and enhanced visitor trust. However, in

order to maximize conversion rates, SEO practice is also essential to get initial traffic to your

webpage. In these ways, SEO and CRO are interconnected and mutually beneficial expansions of

traditional public relations tactics to build relationships with potential consumers.

C. Link-Building as a Digital Media List

Traditional and digital public relations don’t only aim to create stakeholder relationships:

they rely on them. Without journalist and media contact lists, the PR professional would be very

limited in creating coverage and opportunities for a client. “If a public relations practitioner

sends out a media release, the targeted journalists and bloggers perform the role of opinion

leaders and interpret the information on behalf of their readers, (Gregory, 96). Thus, media

contacts act as a liaison between the PR professional’s client and their intended audience, often

offering their own thoughts and kudos through coverage.

When it comes to SEO, the world of media lists has evolved into the technique of link-

building. Targeting keywords, providing quality content and receiving input are all quality PR-

informed techniques to good SEO. Once search engines have crawled pages on the web...they

can decide if they feel a page is of sufficient quality to be ranked well for relevant

keywords...generally speaking, the more high-quality websites that link to you, the more likely

you are to rank well in search results,” (Moogan, Moz) Without online trust or “link juice,” your

site could still rank low on search engines, and needed relationships might be hard to create.

These links provide in turn “link juice” to websites, which largely contribute to a site’s

domain authority. According to Shout Me Loud and Moz, “Domain authority is a metric which

was created by Moz (SaaS company) for the purpose of rating a website on a scale of 1 to 100,

(100 being the best and 1 being the worst)...if you compare your website’s DA score with that of

your competitor’s site, the site with the higher DA score is likely to rank higher in search engine

searches,” (Agrawal, Shout Me Loud). Thus, friendly favors in exchanged interviews and

coverage directly impacts visibility online.

Traditionally created media contacts and relationships thus convert extremely well into

the world of SEO and ranking. “Reporters from this journal interviewed our client last year,”

said Gauss, concerning Pack Expo preparations for 2018. Koroberi Inc. usually attends Pack

Expo, a packaging trade show each year, and helps run booths and press conferences for multiple

clients. “Let’s reach out to these reporters and offer them one-on-one interviews.” This past

October, I compiled a report of over 200 articles concerning client coverage from Pack Expo

alone on reputable industry websites and online magazines.

As Moogan from Moz states, “A common goal of outreach is to get a link, but there is

much more to it than just this. Outreach can help you build long-term relationships with key

influencers in your industry, and these relationships can mean that your business becomes highly

regarded and trusted.” This has been especially evident at Koroberi, where reporter relationships

continue throughout the year and are neatly listed in convention preparation guidelines. These

relationships help PR practitioners and aid us in showing our clients the value of earned coverage

compared to their ad spend or ROI. By expanding PR practice of creating relationships with

stakeholders into link-building to aid client ranking, Koroberi Inc., as well as other digital PR

practitioners, take full advantage of SEO techniques.

Is Evolved SEO Essential?

Although many search algorithm updates cite that content should focus on quality over

keyword or link-building techniques to rank, there are a few SEO practitioners heavyset in the

belief that quality comes after technical methods. As an article from Pyxl states, “Keywords are

as relevant as they’ve ever been, there’s just a list of additional factors that Google now takes

into consideration in synthesis with your keyword strategy,” (Pyxl, 2018). Although search

engine categorization changes are essential to consider, Pyxl insists that keyword inclusion is just

as relevant as a separate entity, and not an evolved one aimed at better customer experience.

The emphasis on minimal changes to keyword technique accentuates an emphasis on

technical engine results instead of a transition to people-first thinking. “Essentially, keywords

must be placed a bit more carefully, and the overall quality of your content has to be strong on

several different dimensions to be ranked at the top of the search results page,” (Pyxl, 2018).

While keywords are still relevant and essential today, their relevance along with link-building

and two-way communication is increasingly more effective on a personable format.

Conclusions

The term Search Engine

Optimization can be misleading. SEO as

a whole would not continue to be

profitable or an employable field if it

consisted only of gaining top rankings

on search engines. SEO techniques, such

as keyword targeting, online feedback

and survey forms and link-building

reach-outs, parallel traditional public

relations practice of industry keyword association, research groups and media lists. Thus, SEO

should be viewed and applied as an extended online form of traditional public relations

techniques and goals.

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