How to Derive Maximum Power From Search Engine Optimization

September 2008

Ensuring that your online messaging gets into the right hands is no easy feat. Whether you're looking to drive people to your website, promote brand awareness, or distribute a press release, public relations professionals like you are finding they must work hard to break through the clutter of competing content.

Increasingly, PR practitioners are discovering that search engine optimization (SEO) can make the difference between being one of the first pages a search engine returns or one of the last. And when driving traffic and increasing exposure are aims, ranking is everything. How, then, can you employ SEO effectively?

In June 2008, 11.5 billion Americans conducted core searches - of which 61.5 percent were through Google. (ComScore, Core Search Rankings, July 2008.)

The Basics of SEO: Six Tactics that help increase effectiveness

SEO focuses on increasing your free (also called "organic") listings. While 75 percent of SEO happens off your site* (the results of links to your site from other pages, for example) there's still a lot you can do to influence your search ranking.

*(Mike Volpe. "Top 5 Legitimate SEO Techniques That Will Help Your Business Get Found." MarketingProfs, 8.19.08).

Here are some tactics to help get you started:

Give careful thought to keywords. Use of the right keywords increases the odds that search engines properly position your site or content. Not only do you want to include terms commonly referred to from within your organization, but also those that the "average" person would use. To do this, you may want to consult someone outside your company, as they may provide a more authentic indication of the terms your clients, prospects, and the media may use to search. In addition, you'll want to avoid "keyword stuffing" - the practice of incorporating popular, but irrelevant, keywords just to boost search rankings. Google Insights for search (http://www.google.com/insights/search/) is a valuable tool for selecting keywords.
Include your keywords in the page title. Your title is one of the first things picked up by a search engine. The title also helps determine how the page is indexed or what information is collected and stored for retrieval in a later search.
Encourage distributors, user groups, and industry or professional associations, among others, to link to your site or content. Networking is networking, whether done on or offline. By building connections and having your content linked to other sites, you increase your exposure and solidify relationships. Whether it's your latest press release, podcast, interview, or other online content, social media provides a wealth of opportunity for linking.
Fix any broken links and html. The last thing you want is to have visitors not make it to your site or leave because they were either improperly directed or received a "page not found" message. Since you don't always know who links to your site, it might require some work on your part to track down common threads, but it is definitely well worth the effort. In any case, you'll want to make sure your corporate site and affiliate pages are maintained properly.
Customize your 404 error message. Building off point four, you may also want to create a branded message that directs visitors to pertinent areas of your site.
Educate your SEO consultants about your business. If you use an outside firm to help in your SEO endeavors, you'll want to provide insight into your business. Thus armed, they'll be better equipped to tailor your SEO strategy, including keywords, to fit your company's goals and objectives.

The Five P's of Effective SEO: The Press Release as Example
Optimizing the press release for search pays big dividends, from increasing the audience viewing of your news to improving the overall search engine ranking of your website.

Put your company's name in the headline. If the release topic doesn't lend itself to a headline mention, aim for the first paragraph or a subhead. Space permitting, you may also wish to include graphics, such as your organization's logo.
Place most or all keywords in the first 250 words of your announcement. Keywords, however, should constitute no more than two percent of the content of your release.
Provide a hyperlink to your corporate website. Insert a hyperlink at first mention of the company name, and in the release boilerplate. This is a simple, yet effective, way of driving traffic to your site.
Prepare two versions of your releases. You might consider creating a "just the facts" version for distribution to print editors, and using it as a basis for the SEO version - which should contain keywords and embedded links, as well as multimedia content.
Publish the release on your company website or press center. Besides being scoured by search engines, it's one of the first places that journalists and bloggers often turn to for information about a person or organization.

Monitor and Measure Your SEO Efforts

Once you've launched your website, online media content, or press release, you'll want to track its progress through the vast digital world. While it may take some time to build up your position, you can count on getting a bigger bang for your efforts than you did before.