Planning Your SEO Campaign

This just in! Journalists use search engines!  According to Top Rank, 91% of journalists and editors use search engines to do their jobs, so the higher your website ranks on search results, the easier it will be for a journalist to reach and use your content. And it would be safe to say that many bloggers use search engines to get their information too as 35% of bloggers still do or used to work for the traditional media.

Making a website more visible on search engines is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This kind of strategy can be critical for your media and blogger relations.

SEO can work for an assortment of different PR content like press releases, online newsrooms, blogs, newsletters, and everything else an organization puts online because if you can search for it, you can optimize it.

But before you start trying to optimize everything, there are strategies you need to know before you go according to SEO.com.

• Have specific objectives for implementing SEO. Don’t just do it because you think you should, do it because it accomplishes goals specific to your company and is tied in to your marketing strategy.

• Keep time in mind. Know when there’s increased activity regarding your industry. You don’t want to launch your SEO strategy when nobody’s searching. Google Insight, which I’ll highlight below, is a great tool to figure some of this out. Also, if you think you need to redesign your site, do that first before undertaking an SEO campaign. A new site affects SEO and can delay results during SEO implementation.

• Be realistic. SEO won’t solve all of your issues overnight. You may have to wait anywhere from 6-18 months to see solid results.

• Have a flexible Web developer. SEO requires constant management, attention, and adjustment. If you have a Web developer, make sure he or she is aware of this and is willing to work with you to make any changes to run an effective SEO campaign.

• Have a trusting relationship with your SEO company. SEO companies are paid for a reason, it’s because they (hopefully) know more than you, so let them do their jobs! Trust them. Let them execute their plans in their entirety. Not letting them do so may hinder their success. In the same vein, give them the information they need to do their jobs well. Tell them your goals, marketing experiences, and other relevant information. Be open and honest, and because SEO is a full time obligation, stay in constant contact with your SEO company.

It’s also important to be aware of various tools that will help you research and measure your SEO campaign. There is a litany of them, but here are a few to help get you started.

• Google Insight – This 4th tip from a great Mashable article on SEO is a great tool for your campaign as you can see what terms are popular in searches.  Type in whatever terms you want to search and compare, and you will find out which one people use more to search with.  Google Insight’s bread and butter is its search index map which shows the particular regions where specific terms are being searched. Categorize and put up parameters on the search to hone in on the words your company wants to use to help meet your SEO goals.

Google Insight Map Index shows regional search hot spots

 

 

 

 

 

 

• GoogleAdwords: Keyword Tool – This tool suggested by Creare Communications lets you search terms and shows not only the number of searches for the keywords your are looking up, but the number of searches for similar keywords and phrases. This is great as it really helps you pick the exact words or phrases your campaign can focus on before plunging in. There are plenty of other uses Google Adwords has, so don’t be afraid to check it out and seeing how it can benefit your business.

Google Adwords helps you pick the perfect keywords

• Rank Checker – Before you jump into SEO, you need to know how effective it will be. Using this tool will tell you where your website ranks in the top 100 says Grant Simmons of iMediaConnection. Finding out where you rank before and after your campaign is essential in assessing the success of it.

• Google Analytics – Another bountiful resource offered by Google, Google Analytics tells you how many click’s you’ve gotten, measures your SEO effectiveness, trends, and a plethora of different tidbits of information you want to know for your business.  There are far too many “how to’s” for Google Analytics to list here as Grant contends, so take some time to explore this tool to take full advantage of it.

The great thing about a lot of these tool is that they are FREE!

So there you go. We have seen that search engine optimization can be a crucial part of getting in touch with bloggers and journalists. But of course, launching an SEO campaign takes time to implement effectively. Understand your goals, your environment, who you’re working with, and possible tools you can use to help you plan an SEO campaign.