SEO helps a search engine to do its job more effectively and Public Relations can increase the reach and influence of the brands they promote by optimizing news. Recently the good folks at Vocus interviewed TopRank  Online Marketing’s CEO on the basics of search engine optimization for public relations. The following post comes from the interview with Lee Odden of TopRank by Chris Pilbeam of Vocus.

Search engines aren’t perfect – that’s why people in SEO (Editor: like TopRank Online Marketing) are flourishing. People who write web copy often only consider one audience: customers, or analysts; maybe journalists. You should consider the extra audience of search engines.

SEO boils down to three elements: keyword research, site interactivity, and links.

1) Keyword research reveals the permutations and variations of the terms people are searching for. Start with the notion of what’s important and pop that into a keyword research tool. It comes back with multiple versions, ordered by popularity, so you can make smart choices about the words you use in your titles and press releases and articles.

2) The technical aspect of how a search engine interacts with your site is, in most cases, a job for your IT department.

3) With linking, go after quantity and quality of links, every day, for ever. You might be publishing good content, but no one will know unless you tell somebody. If you have an unpopular site – maybe because it’s new – use PRWeb (A TopRank SEO client) online news releases and amplify them through social media channels.

Don’t be scared of getting it wrong – but don’t spam.

The dangers of getting SEO wrong are no worse than the dangers of, for example, using PR software without segmenting your list and blasting people with pitches. The thing to avoid is being overly aggressive and using what might be perceived as spamming tactics. Keyword stuffing, or engaging in linking tactics that Google considers unsavory, such as buying links from a publication – that’s a big no-no for Google. Earn your links: they’re forever, there’s no risk, and they’re more valuable.

SEO will not dominate PR, but it will improve it.

Search engines will never be perfect, and social media will never be perfect. Algorithms aren’t any smarter than human beings. There will always be a combination of technology and human intuition. I’m predisposed to looking for the middle ground. When you have these emerging technologies and industries, it’s usually the middle ground that becomes practical over time.

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There aren’t many authorities in this area and recently, Maile Ohye from Google began speaking on the topic at search conferences. She’s also recently posted this video giving specific advice and insight into how Google News works.

Other useful articles on news optimization, press release optimization and integrating SEO, Social Media and PR can be found here: “Top Ten SEO Tips for Public Relations“. Scroll to the bottom of the post for 10 articles and a PowerPoint deck.

Danny Sullivan recently posted a story on Search Engine Land about a similar topic: “Under The Hood: Google News & Ranking Stories“.

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Despite company marketing and PR budgets being in a state of ambiguity, many marketing and Public Relations organizations are focusing on social media, trying to figure out “do’s and don’ts” to improve online reach. At the same time, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of news content is fast becoming an established part of the mix for many marketing and PR programs.

On their own, SEO and social media channels offer attractive opportunities for reaching industry influentials as well as end consumers through push and pull PR.  Together, SEO and social media combine to create a competitive edge that can boost online PR results.

Why is this so?  Changes in the way the media and end consumers discover, consume and share content illustrate the intersection of opportunity for search and the social web.  Today’s increasingly social savvy content consumer not only expects to find what they’re looking for on search engines, but to interact with the results. Those interactions take many forms including: commenting, voting and sharing. As a result, social media can affect search engine visibility in numerous ways, creating new promotion opportunities for public and media relations efforts.

Of course, throwing keywords at social media tactics isn’t quite the same thing as developing and implementing a plan to reach specific goals.   Dropping links to news being promoted on social networks can have impact but is difficult to sustain. For long term value from effort with SEO and social media, PR professionals should follow best practices as well as the fundamentals:

1. Identify the specific audience to reach. What are their behaviors and preferences for content, sharing, media types, etc? What keywords are used in a social AND search context?
2. Set specific goals and objectives that can be measured. Mentions, comments, links, rankings, traffic, media coverage or other “engagement” metrics.
3. Develop a strategy for reaching those goals with the intended audience.  Content creation and promotion is essential for a SEO and Social Media PR effort.
4. Figure out which mix of tactics (blog, social networks, media sharing, microblogging, etc) will support and execute the strategy.
5. Identify which specific social tools use. If social networks are the right channel, which social network? Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace or niche networks?
6. Put proper measurement tools in place and identify what events and outcomes to analyze.
7. Identify individuals and resources necessary to implement. Forecast time, internal reporting, and feedback mechanisms for participants.
8. Plan for success and what it will take to scale when you succeed. Be ready to address issues or failure as well.

For another take on creating a Social Media Roadmap, check out “Social Media Roadmap: Building a Social Media Strategy”.

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Join TopRank® Online Marketing CEO, Lee Odden, in a free webinar hosted by PRWeb, and learn how you can leverage news content to achieve SEO success!

Attend the webinar on March 18 to discover how news can be a powerful tool that directly reaches the millions of people searching for information online.

With more than 70 million people reading news online every day, news can (and should) be used for more than just attaining media visibility. For instance, news search engines like Yahoo! News and Google News offer a great way to drive traffic to your website and help generate awareness about a topic or company.

PRWeb Hosts: Using Your News To Drive SEO

The Using Your News To Drive SEO webinar will cover:

• Digital PR – Intersection of SEO and Online Public Relations
• Online News and News Search Popularity
• How Journalists Use Search
• Standard SEO vs. News SEO
• Push & Pull Public Relations
• Press Release Optimization
• Newsroom Optimization
• Digital Asset Optimization for News
• News SEO Analytics
• Newsroom Examples

Register for the Using Your News To Drive SEO webinar today to discover how you can achieve SEO success.

TopRank Online Marketing is a digital marketing and public relations agency in Minneapolis, MN, providing Fortune 500 companies with consulting, implementation and training on search, social media and online PR.

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Search Engine Strategies New York is one of, if not THE, largest Search Marketing Conference in the U.S..  TopRank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden will be presenting on 3 panels during the conference March 23-27 which has keynotes from Guy Kawasaki and author John Gerzema.  Odden will be presenting all 3 sessions on March 26th.

(Lee Odden at SES NY 2008)

10:30am-11:45am – SEO Through Blogs & Feeds

Not yet running a blog? Not syndicating your content through web feeds? Then you’re missing out on an important area that can help your overall SEO efforts. Learn more about the unique advantages blogs and feeds offer to search engine optimization.

Moderator: Rebecca Lieb, Contributing Editor, ClickZ

Speakers:
Michael Gray, Owner, Atlas Web Service
Sally Falkow, President , PRESSfeed
Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing

12:45pm-2:00pm - Brand & Reputation Management

Can you use a competitor’s trademark in your own search advertising? Or what if a competitor has an ad running on your trademarked brand name? Should you engage professional legal help or are there other options? What if bloggers are posting negative or false claims about your brands and these are spreading with viral speed through other blogs? Are there ways to get these damaging messages out of the search engines? This session will provide an exploration of these and other brand protection issues.

Moderator: Jeffrey Rohrs, VP, Marketing, ExactTarget

Speakers: 
Kristjan Mar Hauksson, Dir. Search & Online Comm./ Managing Partner, Nordic eMarketing
Mark J. Rosenberg, Of Counsel, Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.
Lela Phommasouvanh, Senior Search Marketing Consultant, FindLaw
Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing

3:45pm-5:00pm – Blogging for Business

With more than 71 million blogs currently being tracked by Technorati, the opportunities for businesses to speak with their customers is nearly unlimited. That’s why more and more companies are turning to the blogosphere to connect with consumers. Never before have businesses had such effective access to the frustrations and desires of their target audience. Learn more about harnessing the power of blogs to build buzz about a business online.

Speakers: 
Jennifer Evans Laycock, Dir. of Social Media, SiteLogic, Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Guide
Michael Gray, Owner, Atlas Web Service
Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing
Paul Woodhouse, Director of Organic Web Strategies, Direct Online Marketing

We invite you to attend Search Engine Strategies New York and visit with Lee during the conference. Contact us to set an appointment at 1-877-872-6628.

(Lee Odden, Brian Clark, Stephen Spencer, Michael Gray)

TopRank Online Marketing provides internet marketing services for Fortune 500 companies with specialties in blog marketing, social media, SEO and digital public relations.

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PRSA Workshop:  Search Engine Optimization in a Digital World
March 20, 2009 in New York City

Today’s public relations and communications professionals need to adapt and grow with the changing digital landscape just as publishers have moved to the web. Consumers and journalists alike use a variety for search tools to discover and share credible sources of news and information. Can your news be discovered where digital media are looking? Is your text, image, audio and video content optimized for search and the social web?

 
(Lee Odden – far right – at PRSA International conference)

Join Lee Odden, TopRank Marketing CEO for this one day workshop and gain a foundation for how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works for news content. Discuss the key challenges and new opportunities for producing, optimizing, promoting and tracking results for digital PR.

Attendees  will learn how to:

• Understand the new opportunities of search and SEO
• Plan and organize search engine optimization efforts for news
• Conduct keyword research
• Optimize press releases, online news room and blogs
• Identify and implement opportunities for digital asset optimization
• Implement link building tactics
• Measure and report results

Find more information on the workshop and registration at PRSA.org

TopRank Online Marketing is an industry pioneer in the field of public relations and search engine optimization working with companies including PRWeb, McKesson and the Public Relations Society of America.

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The Fifth Annual Affiliate Summit West conference is scheduled for January 11-13th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Session Details:
“Managing Your Brand”
Tuesday, January 13th, 3:15 – 4:15 (MST)
Session 9a
Location: Classroom A – Brasilia 1-3

Speakers:
Andy Beal, Founder, Trackur.com (Moderator)
Fionn Downhill, CEO, Elixir Interactive
Rob Key, CEO, Converseon Inc.
Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing

Find more information at Affiliate Summit West

TopRank Online Marketing provides a mix of digital public relations and search marketing services including online brand and reputatation management services for Fortun 500 companies nationwide. 

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Writing for the Web to Optimize Your PR & Overall Messaging
Webinar Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008

1:30-3 p.m. (EST)

If you are involved in communicating with your stakeholders online, you know that writing for the Web is different than writing for print. You know that the difference between a journalist engaging with your brand online or abandoning your site altogether is based on the content you, as communicators, post or manage online.

Now is the time to take the lead and create Web content that supports your messaging, boosts engagement and delivers to your bottom-line goals.

Join TopRank Online Marketing CEO and his co-panelists on Dec. 17 for a virtual course on how to write for the Web. This 90-minute information-packed Webinar is designed for communications teams who have some role in their Web strategy and execution.  Learn to write effectively for the Web by attending this interactive Webinar designed for you and your PR team:

This webinar will cover:
•    The type of content that appeals to journalists and what turns them away
•    Optimizing your content for Search
•    Writing highly-optimized press releases
•    Writing “active” content
•    Landing pages that work
•    Building an online newsroom that gets traction
•    How to write great headlines
•    Writing transparent text
•    Online design flaws that matter to your PR efforts
•    Understanding how people use your site and read Web pages
•    Applying scannable text to your site
•    Must-know information on word counts, graphics and video
•    Marketing copy: how to apply sparingly
•    How to use metadata to optimize your site
•    Linking: how and when to link.
•    Examples of outstanding PR Web content – plus: what not to do online.

Speakers:

• Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing
• Andrew Barnett, Vice Presidnet, Digital Strategy, Fleishman Hillard
• Brian Giesen, Vice President, Digital Strategy, 360° Digital Influence, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
• Moderator: Iris Dorbian, Group Editor, PR News

Find more information at PRNewsOnline

TopRank Online Marketing is a digital marketing and public relations agency in Minneapolis, MN providing Fortune 500 companies with consulting, implementation and training on search, social media and online PR.

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TopRank Marketing CEO, Lee Odden will join a panel of industry experts, including Sally Falkow, President of PRESSFeed, and Stephan Spencer, Founder & President of Netconcepts, on Wednesday, December 10th to discuss SEO through blogs and feeds.

In this session, Lee will present best practices for blog content optimization, including how to optimize and promote blog content to attract readers and links to increase traffic and search engine visibility. Sally will cover feeds and digital asset syndication, and Stephan will cover blog software optimization.

Session Details
10:30 am, Wednesday December 10th

SEO Through Blogs & Feeds
Not yet running a blog? Not syndicating your content through web feeds? Then you’re missing out on an important area that can help your overall SEO efforts. Learn more about the unique advantages blogs and feeds offer to search engine optimization.

Moderator:
Rebecca Lieb, Contributing Editor, ClickZ
Speakers:
Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing
Sally Falkow, President, PRESSfeed
Stephan Spencer, Founder & President, Netconcepts, LLC

Turning PR Efforts into SEO Results

Senior Account Manager, Jolina Pettice will present at a session on Tuesday, December 9th giving best practices for turning PR efforts into SEO results.

Session Details:
2:45, Tuesday December 9th

Search engine optimization is one of the most effective ways to reach target audiences. Unfortunately, most organizations are focused solely on how SEO impacts marketing and advertising and are failing to take advantage of the unique and very impactful results that are generated when SEO is applied to public relations. Organizations that capitalize on the convergence of marketing, advertising and public relations stand to benefit from more successful, less-costly campaigns, while organizations that fail to integrate PR into SEO efforts stand to miss out on a valuable opportunity.

Optimizing press releases for natural search offers organizations the opportunity to drive traffic from authoritative third party sites. It also provides another means to generate fresh content for the organization’s web site and the ability to determine whether or not an organization’s message is connecting with intended audiences. In addition, natural search optimization can generate new leads and show measurable results. These tools are often less costly than traditional advertising programs and leverage existing advertising content to communicate more directly with consumers.

This session will provide real-life examples to show how organizations can achieve maximum results for any communications campaign through natural search optimization of press releases.

Moderator:
Andy Atkins-Krüger, Managing Director, WebCertain Europe Ltd
Speakers:
Greg Jarboe, President & Co-founder, SEO-PR
Sarah Skerik, Vice President, Distribution Services, PR Newswire
Jiyan Wei, Product Manager, PR Web, Vocus
Jolina Pettice, Senior Account Manager, TopRank Marketing

TopRank Online Marketing provides internet marketing services for Fortune 500 companies with specialties in blog marketing, social media, SEO and digital public relations.

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