SEO PR Efforts DO Get Results!

The use of Internet search engines has become so pervasive, so matter-of-fact, that top public relations and communications professionals are blending Search Engine Optimization strategies and tactics with PR efforts.

Successfully deployed, these SEO PR tactics help create greater relevance for a product, service and/or company within the proprietary algorithms used by search engines (Google and Yahoo! being the most prominent) and produce a higher “organic” ranking for the particular words, terms and/topics. (In this context, organic ranking refers to a non-paid ranking or listing that occurs naturally.)

Hence, the savvy PR pro will sprinkle critical SEO terms and words within news releases and other PR materials. And just to be clear about this, this concept is just one SEO PR tactic that will help increase one’s results/rankings on the Internet.

Does it work? You bet.

How do I know?

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Getting the Most Out of Your Keywords

There’s been a big to-do lately about the power keywords hold in keeping businesses noticed. Falling into the realm of search engine optimization (SEO), the proper use of good keywords are a powerful way to keep your Web page at the top of the search engine results.

For those who aren’t as familiar with SEO, it is “the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a Web site from search engines via ‘natural’ — sometimes call ‘organic’ — search results for targeted keywords.” So as you can see, keywords play a huge part in driving traffic to a Web site.

So how can we make them more effective? There are a couple best practices that help generate the best keywords. They include:

1. Make them relevant to customers. It may be an obvious observation. But in practice, some people are still not using the keywords their customers are searching. If you’re not sure what they’re searching, ask them. Mr Beldin had a great suggestion. Gather a few family members or friends, and ask them what terms they would search for after you describe what you’re doing. Sometimes you’re too close to what you’re doing to realize that the keywords you’re using aren’t matching the keywords your customers are looking for.
2. Along with making it relevant to customers, think about misspellings, too. Customers aren’t typically spelling bee champions, so there’s a high probability that from time to time they will spell a word or two wrong. Including misspellings in your keywords will help you still reach the customers who can’t spell.
3. Use phrases. It used to be that searchers would only use one term when searching for something in a search engine. But people have realized that using only one keyword will give you too broad of results, and as search engines have advanced, so to have the number of words people use to search for the right Web site. So use phrases as your keywords, too.
4. Don’t limit yourself to a few keywords. There’s a popular saying, “Go big or go home.” That applies to keywords, too. Generate a large database of keywords you can use and you’re more likely to attract Web traffic. Keep in mind rule #1, and keep your keywords relevant. But don’t limit it to a certain few.
5. Localize the search. As much as the Internet enables global connectivity, people still want to use it for local searches. Therefore, make your search applicable to the local market. Use terms like, “PR firm in Draper, Utah” — hopefully that brings up Politis Communications.

As in all things, keep tabs on your keywords to make sure they are working for you. Review them regularly to avoid letting your Web site slip in the rankings. It requires a watchful recognition of what’s happening in your particular market, but doing it right can bring tons of benefits.

Blogs Proving Their Mettle in Marketing and on Wall Street

As regular readers of the Betty Factor know, we’ve been involved in a grand experiment since mid-November 2007: an effort to see if “eating our own dog food” worked for us.

Specifically, if we truly believe that simple, direct, to-the-point and uncomplicated marketing communications efforts for our clients will be successful, then shouldn’t we undertake similar efforts for the various POLITIS LLC companies? Ya’d think so, right?

So . . . we officially launched TheBettyFactor.com on 11-11-07 with no fanfare whatsoever. And as reported here on February 18th, I think we’ve made pretty good progress (so far) with this blogging/marketing effort with the Betty Factor. (We have a ways to go yet, but so far, so good.)

Now comes an interesting video report from Yahoo!’s Tech-Ticker about “Media’s MVBs: Most Valuable Blogs.” Driven by a recent article from 24/7 Wall Street that ranked the 25 most valuable blogs or blog media networks, I think Henry Blodgett (the face behind No. 12-ranked Silicon Alley Insider) provides some good insights into the initial transformation of some blogs/blog-networks into professional media companies, companies with real valuations.

Here’s the Blodgett interview:

TIP: 

What does all of this mean for the average marketer considering blogging as a marketing communications tool? In two words: Do it!

I know that it will take lots of time and it will involve real effort, but in the end, blogging is only going to become more and more critical as a vehicle for companies, brands and people to create and sustain a two-way dialogue with current and prospective customers, partners, investors and more.Besides, if you don’t blog, you risk becoming irrelevant, particularly in our hyper-connected, always-on, on-the-go Web 2.0 world.

So what are you waiting for? Get blogging!!!!!

Blogging Can Work for Any Company, Not Just Small Firms

In Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal (3-17-08), Shelly Banjo wrote a powerful piece on the benefits of blogging for small businesses entitled “Attention, Bloggers.”

It’s a good read, one that I recommend to anyone connected (even remotely) to any aspect of marketing. I particularly liked this paragraph from her story:

“Businesses of all types and sizes are focusing on the power of bloggers as opinion shapers. But harnessing that power is particularly important for small-business owners who don’t have the money to create name recognition with big marketing campaigns. By connecting with the right blogs, small businesses can generate buzz around their products and services and increase sales dramatically.”

“Attention, Bloggers,” Shelly Banjo, WSJ, March 17, 2008

My one point of contention with Banjo’s article, if any, is that readers might leave her piece and incorrectly believe that blogs are only designed for small businesses.

This is NOT the case, and for the record, I don’t believe this is what she was communicating in the first place.

Rather, I believe it’s becoming quite clear that the ongoing explosive growth of the Internet and the tools/services tied to the World Wide Web have empowered consumers, corporations and organizations in ways never before imagined. One of the most crucial ways that this rising tide of advancing technology has changed our lives forever is the ability it gives individuals to connect directly with corporations and organizations in one-to-one digital dialogues.If such dialogues are conducted in the transparent light of the blogosphere, they can (and in fact, often do) invite expansion into Web-based conversations that can experience exponential viral growth, either the benefit or detriment of the original participants.

BusinessWeek: Social Media Will Change Your Business

We in the Politis universe have grown to understand the importance of having a blog, while a few clients remain iffy about this wonderful world of blogging. If that statement rings true for you and yours, as well, you might think about sending them this this quote from BusinessWeek.

Sure, most blogs are painfully primitive. That’s not the point. They represent power. Look at it this way: In the age of mass media, publications like [BusinessWeek] print the news. Sources try to get quoted, but the decision is ours. Ditto with letters to the editor. Now instead of just speaking through us, they can blog. And if they master the ins and outs of this new art - like how to get other bloggers to link to them - they reach a huge audience.

A few weeks ago BusinessWeek.com’s Technology section featured an article written by the team of senior writer Stephen Baker and associate editor Heather Green, simply and appropriately titled Social Media Will Change Your Business: Look past the yakkers, hobbyists and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up… or catch you later.

Baker and Green draw examples of blogging successes and mishaps from major corporations and smaller alike. The article talks about the current state of blogging, warns against talkin’ trash about the company you work for (the boss is more than likely going to stumble across that blog post), dishes on the evolving world of creating revenue on blog sites and what all this blogging really means for the future of print media.

To read the full article, go ahead and click here. And if you think that BusinessWeek doesn’t practice what it preaches, it’ll be the first to tell you about its plans.

We’ve done our research on blogs, made our dire pronouncements. Pretty soon, someone in production will press the button. But this story should go on, as a conversation. And it will, starting on Apr. 22. We’re launching our own blog to cover the business drama ahead, as blogging spreads into companies and redefines media. The blog’s name? Blogspotting.net. See you there.

See me there? Yes you will.

Times Change … So Should Tactics

For years, the standard communication from a PR professional has been the press release, and as the profession grows, more and more press releases are being distributed, most of them into thin air. Meanwhile, the news media and consumers have changed their approach to receiving information. So should PR professionals.

We’re in a profession that constantly changes. It used to be that the standard practice was to try to get your story in the local newspaper or on the broadcast waves and knowing that most of your audience would receive the message. Although those are still great tactics, audiences seem to be shifting away from receiving their information from those venues. Much of today’s society is demanding more interactive communications, and they’re searching for what they want to read, making RSS feeds a very popular tool.

I read a recent story on how one religious organization has reacted to the change in how people receive information. They’ve always been experts at including a call to action, as Bacon so eloquently wrote about not too long ago. But they’ve changed how they ask. Instead of asking a viewer to call them, they simply include their Web site and allow for their audience to do their own research. They’ve been able to understand the direction of the information age and apply their PR tactics to keep in step.

The bottom line is PR is changing with the times. Don’t get stuck relying on tactics that used to work. All of them eventually lose their appeal and if PR pros don’t keep up, no one will listen anymore.

What You Were Searching For in 2007

Google recently released its Zeitgest 2007, a look back at the top news stories, must-have gadgets and big events of the year that made the world’s collective Internet population sit down at its computer and search, search, search.

According to Google, the Zeitgest pulls “together interesting search trends and patterns that require both computing power and human power. Search statistics are automatically generated based on the billions of searches conducted on Google. With some help from humans, and a pigeon or two when they have time, these statistics and trends make their way from the depths of Google’s hard drives to become the Google Zeitgeist findings.”

I really wanted to write a post about the interesting Google statistics, and in talking to Ms. Lansford about the Zeitgeist she quickly remarked, “Marketing is research, and this is research.” Can’t argue with that.

The 2007 Year-End Zeitgeist displays research on top searches ranging from presidential candidates (Ron Paul) to TV shows (Heroes) and hot song lyrics (Rihanna’s Umbrella) to famous deaths (Anna Nicole Smith). It displays search trends broken up by month and reveals the fastest falling trends. Basically, it covers almost anything you’d want to know about Google search trends in 2007.

So go ahead and click the following link to take a look at what we all were searching for in 2007 (aside from the last few weeks of the year, it was released mid-December after all): Google 2007 Year-End Zeitgeist.

Establish, Nurture and Protect Your Brand

First, Merry Christmas to all the readers reading this post today or around this time of year! If you don’t celebrate Christmas, happy holidays as you’re probably enjoying some time off at this time of year regardless of the holiday you celebrate. Like most of you I’m enjoying some time off work to spend some time with my family and in-laws. Fortunately for me (and my passion for the great outdoors… and by that I mean golf), they live in Palm Springs, Calif. For a Canadian boy like me, heading south for the winter is a welcome change to the white Christmas’ I enjoyed as a child.

It is from this idilic setting that I would like to share a simple lesson about marketing that I’ve learned during this time of year: Product names are a very important feature for brand identity. So now that you’re thinking, “no duh?” let me elaborate based on a couple examples of gifts either given or received today. (more…)

How Journalists Use Web 2.0 and How We Should Respond

The Bulldog Report and TEKgroup International, Inc. recently released their 2007 Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices: Executive Summary for free download through TEK’s web site.

The survey, conducted Oct. 4 - 10, 2007, generated more than 2,000 valid responses from journalists with the objective to “establish benchmarks for journalists who use the Internet to research, follow and report news and features materials.”

The survey produced some interesting results including

• Journalists report the single greatest change in journalism practices due to Internet technology is the ability to research corporate and other news 24 hours a day, as well as access media contact information
• Nearly half of all journalists visit a corporate Web site or online newsroom at least once a week, with more than 85% visiting at least once a month
• More than a quarter of journalists regularly read 5+ blogs to keep up with subject matter they cover
• More than half (51.5%) of journalists never seek audio or video material from corporate sites, while nearly 20% seek such material at least once a month
• 76.9% of journalists use their local newspapers to follow the news (followed by The New York Times at nearly 63%)
• 64% of journalists report using either Google or Yahoo! online news services to follow the news

Click here to view the full executive summary.

21st Century Churches: LDS Urged to Go Online

I have to tip my hat to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) for understanding the role of new media and its ability to disseminate information to a large audience (Disclosure: I am a member of the LDS faith).

In a recent discourse given by Elder Russell M. Ballard, an LDS apostle, at graduation ceremonies at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, students and those in attendance were urged to use “new media” (such as blogs, chat rooms, social media, etc.) in order to “contribute to a national conversation about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” His request to LDS around the world is a smart move for the church as it may help to shed more light on a faith that is often regarded as peculiar or obscure. By having members (also known as “Mormons”) speak out, the church hopes many of the half-truths or misinformation will be addressed or cleared up.

Here some additional lessons to take away from the speech for anyone considering the use of “new media” as part of their marketing communications campaign:

• It benefits SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rankings for your Web site, provided links to the site are provided in the text
• New media is more conversational than older forms of media, it allows for an exchange of ideas
• Misinformation can often be corrected, most handily through a corporate blog
• It helps create awareness through another channel
• It is relatively inexpensive (at least for now), which helps it fit in almost any marketing communications campaign

I recognize there are several other reasons to include new media in a campaign. Please feel free to leave your thoughts or additions to the list in the comments section.