Judith lewis - LAC 2017 - Walking hand in hand: Combining PR and SEO

@JudithLewis

Wa lk ing ha nd in ha nd : C om b in ing PR a nd SEO

@JudithLewis

@JudithLewis

➡ Run DeCabbit Consultancy doing SEO, PPC, Social Media and integrated

marketing campaigns & working with bloggers for link building

➡ Got on the Internet in 1986 at my school lab

➡ Working online with search since 1996

➡ Worked in-house within e-Commerce, Publishing & High Tech

➡ Have worked with Google (SEO for product sites), Orange, COI,

NatWest/RBS, National Gallery, CIPD, Fidelity, GalaCoral, NBC Universal,

Readers Digest, Bayer, Family Search, Amadeus, AMD, AmEx, TotalJobs,

Virgin.com, Virgin Startup, Zopa, GE, Blue Cross, Vapemate & more

➡ Chosen as a founding Modern Muse, contributed to book “Pimp My Site”,

judge of the MENA, UK, US & European Search Awards, one of the SEO

Chicks, blog on Huffington Post & run MostlyAboutChocolate.com

AM I

WhoObligatory slide !

Judith Lewis

@JudithLewis

I give

chocolate for

*relevant*

questions

@JudithLewis

Walking hand in hand: Combining PR and SEO

A joint PR and SEO strategy can help your website strike gold. Having a strong online brand reputation will only ever grow your link acquisition without introducing any black-hat tactics. However, many affiliates can ignore PR as a “nice to have” rather than a “need to have” which instantly rules out some effective wins for your SEO goals and the opportunity to grow your business from a website to a brand.

What kind of campaigns work (ideas and themes)

How you can fast track the volume of links

How you can compete with bigger brands

Take away of 10 practical tips

@JudithLewis@deCabbit DeCabbit Presentation 5

PR is about

relationships,

influence and

communicating a

positive story to an

audience for the client

aka BRAND

@JudithLewis 6

Non-keyword optimised domain

Unique design/logo

Unique voice

Actual press coverage, not just spun

PRs

Focus on mentions of name, not links

Offline advertising (think regional radio

advertising or print ads rather than TV)

Blogger attention from *clean* blogs,

not networks

Think research, not regurgitation, which

adds value

Make a 3 year plan, not a 3 month plan

Steps: Qualities of a Brand

@JudithLewis

Which Looks Like A Brand?

@JudithLewis

SEOs build links

to help increase

visibility in

search engines

by ranking

pages higher

@JudithLewis

Key elements to consider

There is no point in doing any work if you don’t

understand needs – whether it is lead generation

or brand awareness (which leads to visits which

lead to conversions), money underpins everything

You cannot just do things in a random order –

strategy is understanding not only core elements

but how they best play together

PRs think paying for links is cheating – and it is

@JudithLewis

Yes…. I cheat

@JudithLewis

Cheating at link

building for fun

and profit can’t

exclude PR

though

@JudithLewis

When Cheating Goes Well

@JudithLewis

@JudithLewis 14

It Wasn’t

Just Bought

Links

@JudithLewis

Traditional Link Building aka PR Worked

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@JudithLewis

What Kind of Campaigns Could Work

Innovative research or ideas

Find research on a topic and find a different angle to promote

Look at the data behind weak infographics and find a better angle

Repurpose research in other areas but make it relevant to your niche

Creative twists on news

Find a different angle to a popular news story

Be a recognised voice of commentary or expert tips

Add value to the news being reported elsewhere

@JudithLewis

But Cheating Doesn’t Last

@JudithLewis

Sometimes People Build Bad Links

@JudithLewis

Bad Links Result in Bad Penalties

@JudithLewis

Sometimes PRs Get Outreach Wrong

Bloggers share: they share PR/SEO contact details and

pitches and payments - they know what you paid and to

whom

@JudithLewis

Facebook Outreach Groups

@JudithLewis

SEO

is a part of Online

Marketing which

includes PR

whether we like it

or not

@JudithLewis

Some SEO Approaches Gone Wrong

The following are approaches and the blogger reactions from a

closed blogger group (all spelling is theirs, not mine!)

“Repeated demands that I publish their great (great =generic) post immediately with a do follow

link”

“…those that pay for a sponsored post and then when publish demand a do follow link even though

we state no follow links”

“Offering content written by them, on the basis that 'it will help our traffic‘”

“Then a company who thinks it's ok to ask for 3/4 follow links to pages that have nothing to do with

the product being reviewed”

“One company asked me to change all my links to 'follow' links and remove the disclosure because

'they could get penalised and her boss was worried'. I explained that I couldn't do that (for obvious

reasons) - still insisted”

“…were contacted by a SEO wanting links removed (pretty normal) but this one blamed us for the

companies penalty and then threatened to report us to google if we didn't remove the link”

@JudithLewis

Chat with

your targets

on the phone

after initial

email contact

The way I pitch things

is carefully worded

but I make it clear

what I expect within

the law & guidelines

@JudithLewis

@JudithLewis

Changes to the Law & Google Guidelines

Google guidelines against “Link Schemes”: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356

ASA Reminder to bloggers about their responsibilities: http://www.asa.org.uk/News-resources/Media-Centre/2013/Blurring-advertising-and-blogs.aspx

CAP Guidance on the ASA guidelines: http://www.cap.org.uk/News-reports/Media-Centre/2014/New-words-on-the-blog.aspx

The LAW the ASA guidelines are based on: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2008/9780110811574/contents

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@JudithLewis 27

Outreach

@JudithLewis

Find Influencers

@JudithLewis

Research Other Sites

@JudithLewis

Research Other Sites

@JudithLewis

Research Other Sites

@JudithLewis

Check Their Stats

@JudithLewis

10 Link Attraction Ideas

Be Controversial

Be The Font of All Knowledge

Take a Stand

Be a Personality

Share/Curate

Be Funny

Be Prolific

Be Mysterious

Offer something unique

@JudithLewis@JudithLewis @MostlyAboutChoc

?

Questions?

@JudithLewis

You Can Stalk Me OnlineTwitter: @JudithLewis

@MostlyAboutChoc

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/judithlewis

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+JudithLewis

Web: http://www.decabbit.com

Blog: http://MostlyAboutChocolate.com

SEO Blog: http://www.SEO-Chicks.com

HuffPost: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/judith-lewis

...and the list goes on

@JudithLewis

T H AN K YOU FOR YOU R T I ME

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