SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) has evolved to become an increasingly valuable tool for PR companies. Not only does SEO increase traffic to your website, but it also improves the quality of those visits and ensures you are visible to your target audience. 

A few simple steps in-house can be taken to start the SEO process. Results will not happen instantly but with the right commitment and methods, you can enhance your brand's visibility on Google. 

Healthcare communications agency Spink has created 6 Killer Ways PR Can Benefit Your SEO to give an easy-to-digest guide on how to begin your SEO journey and boost your visibility. 

Top Tier Backlinks

Backlinks are links from one website to a page or another website. Google and other major search engines consider them as 'votes' for a specific page. Pages with a high number of backlinks tend to have a high organic search engine ranking. 

Brand Association

To build your brand you need to analyse your consumer's shopping and search habits. If you are able to place your brand in their media search (i.e. taking into account misspellings, times of most online activity, other sites they visit) then the public will associate your brand more easily. User's search habits will change to include the brand and product, leading Google to do the same.  

3rd Part SEO 

The more competitive a keyword, the harder it will be to rank your website and in some cases, it may not be possible. You can utilise PR to obtain guest posts within industry publications that focus on a specific health topic and will rank you higher for a less competitive keyword, promptly driving traffic to your site. 

Emerging Keywords

There are many words that will be associated with your brand and product and your competitors. Hone in on five and try and use these in every piece and title. This consistent use will mean that these keywords are more easily associated with your brand, pushing it further up the search engine results.

Previous PR Reclamation

For an easy and quick result, Google search websites that have mentioned your brand name. Simply reach out to these websites and request a link back to your relevant page. 

SEO Social Proof

Produce high-quality content on your site. If you have been featured in publications, feature these on your site and place their logos. 

Key points to take away 

• Understand your audience - find out how they search for you and what else they are searching for. 
• Pick key words - some relevant to product/article and others that are uniform across the brand. Attempt to get as many of these as possible in the title, picture captions and first sentence of the article. 
• Hyperlink - to third party websites and previous posts/articles on your site. 
• Update - regularly update past posts/articles. 
• URLs - be short and descriptive. 
• Track - make sure you track your success to what works and doesn't work.