A regularly updated, SEO-optimised website with pages that appear at or near the top of Google search rankings can not just fuel lead generation campaigns, but ignite them
According to MOZ, the first page of Google captures around 70% of all search traffic clicks, while second-page results create around 6% of all website clicks.
Getting to this stage isn’t easy however.
Only one business can reach the top spot, and it takes a committed, fully optimised SEO strategy in order to get the better of your competition vying for the same position.
Although there are hundreds of factors that search engines look at when deciding which results should rank above each other, they all operate to provide users with the most relevant and accurate information on the Internet.
Domain Authority is important, but this is just one of these many factors required to increase the power of your website.
One of the most powerful ways to let Google know that your website is more credible than the competition is to get other websites to validate your own pages.
This is done by gaining backlinks, a hyperlink from one website to your own site, something which has become an important part of a good SEO strategy.
Also called inbound links, these essentially act as an approved vote of confidence to show Google and its users that you provide valuable and credible information.
Over time, by gaining backlinks from several sites to the same website or webpage, search engines learn your content is worthy of ranking higher up on search results pages.
It’s quite literally the job of top tier media publications to provide valuable and credible information to its readership, so these should be a prime target for backlinking strategies.
However, done badly, and it could actually end up hurting your website.
Backlinks can be more or less valuable than others, depending on the state of the other websites and it’s Google ‘reputation’.
The most desired links will be from highly trusted websites that drive huge amounts of traffic and have strong Domain Authorities.
Backlinks earned from sites with a low Domain Authority and have been flagged as harmful or spam could see Google penalise your website as being part of the same chain.
Also be wary of agencies 'guaranteeing’ you a significant number of backlinks, as these are usually paid for arrangements with backlinking networks where supposedly credible websites exist purely to generate backlinks.
This is a ‘blackhat’ SEO tactic and if Google believes your website is part of this network, then they will also penalise you which could destroy all of your good ‘whitehat’ SEO hard work.
However, tactics such as keyword targeting, creating unique content for your website, and earning media coverage and with backlinks included from high authority online publications, will enable you to start increasing the relevance and ranking of your website.
SEO PR is becoming more and more important in the digital age, as the chances are your SEO team isn't trained in building media relations to secure online coverage.
Blending the traditional relationship building skills of a PR programme with the technical skills of SEO can work wonders.
But be warned - it’s entirely up to the specific publication or editor whether they provide a backlink or not.
Many have editorial guidelines not to include external links, despite it also benefiting their own website. Others have paid for arrangements to include backlinks as part of their Advertising packages.
Of course, there is no harm in asking. We find the typical hit rate is around 33% for including backlinks in pieces of coverage.
Building a sustained SEO PR programme with a variety of content is key to success. Without it, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Read more on how to integrate SEO into your PR campaign here