When it comes to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), the term PR link is bandied around a lot in the industry.
However, if you’re new to SEO in general, what exactly are PR links in SEO?
PR links, short for press links, are a type of backlink that can come from an array of sources, including journalists, magazines, and newspapers.
Before the internet, PR campaigns revolved around positive media mentions of services, products, and people.
With the rise of digital PR, the aim now revolves around getting those mentions online, as a mention from a top publication can be a lot more valuable than exposing your brand to new people: it can boost your SEO.
This leads us to our next point quite nicely.
What Is PR Link Building & Does It Help Your SEO?
PR link building is the process of using public relations and journalists in order to earn high value backlinks to your website.
The answer to this question is yes, PR link building can help your SEO in that it can help you establish credibility and trust and build brand authority among an array of other benefits.
As top publications tend to be high in domain authority, having a PR link-building strategy in place is key to building an online presence.
The Benefits Of PR Links
Mastering digital PR is crucial to enhancing your SEO efforts. Benefits of PR links include, but are not limited to:
They Boost Your E-E-A-T Score
A significant benefit of PR links is that they boost your E-E-A-T score.
Google’s E-E-A-T score stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness and is what Google uses to determine what content is high quality.
High quality PR links can give your E-E-A-T score a boost, resulting in a higher ranking on search results as well as improved visibility.
They Provide More Clicks
A benefit of PR links is that they provide more clicks.
If the website linking to you is relevant to your industry and niche, you will likely see a significant boost in traffic from a PR link, boosting your visibility as a brand.
They Build Audience Trust
Positive mentions on reputable publications and websites help to build audience trust.
In some circumstances, one positive mention from a third-party publication can be seen as more trustworthy than multiple positive reviews on your own website.
How To Maximise Your SEO Through PR Link Building
There are numerous ways to maximise your SEO through PR link building.
These include:
1. Guest Posts
Guest posting is the process of creating a specific piece of content to generate traffic to a website and earn high quality backlinks.
Guest posts remain a highly popular PR link building technique, evidenced by the fact that ‘3% of blogs write over 100 guest posts per month’.
That said, when writing guest posts, it’s crucial to write for websites within a similar industry as your own or content that relates to that industry. Once the content has been written, you can pitch this valuable content to relevant websites with a higher authority than your own.
To learn more about guest posts and whether you should allow guest posts on your blog, check out this article.
2. Journalist Requests
Another way to maximise your SEO through PR link building is to reply to journalist requests.
A journalist request is when a journalist is writing a piece or story and is searching for insights or comments from professionals in an industry they’re covering.
In order to find out more information, journalists put these requests on forums or specialised platforms.
How To Find Journalist Requests
There are numerous ways to find journalist requests in order to achieve PR links.
Platforms such as Connectively (formerly Help A Reporter Out or HARO) and Qwoted are great examples of websites you can sign up for in order to find journalist requests.
When a journalist requires information from an expert and uses you as their resource, you will earn a PR link in the process.
3. Press Releases
Although many traditional PR activities now take place digitally, a press release is a great way to achieve backlinks.
A best practice to remember is to make it as easy as possible for a journalist to write a story using the information you’ve given them in your press release.
Be sure to inform them of the story around your news and why it’s important, instead of simply providing an update about your company, as this will generate interest and resonate with your readers more.
4. Linkable Content
Linkable content is content that you create ‘with the intention of attracting backlinks’.
If you’ve created a useful infographic, entertaining post, or informative resource, then more people are likely to see the value in sharing it or quoting it as a reputable source of information.
In turn, this can earn you high quality backlinks from journalists or magazines that share it.
5. Brand Monitoring
Unlinked brand mentions are when a website mentions your brand name without linking to your website.
This highlights a missed opportunity for a PR link, which is where brand monitoring can come into play.
There are many ways you can find unlinked brand mentions, from Google search to tools like Semrush, which can generate a list of pages that mention your brand but don’t link to it.
By doing this, you can capitalise on these missed opportunities, and in turn, improve your SEO.
How We Can Help
If you want to invest in PR link building but don’t have the time, Lumen SEO can help.
Our team has years of experience achieving high-quality PR links for our clients. If you’d like to learn more about PR links or the SEO services we provide at Lumen SEO, contact us today.
Alternatively, you can message us on either our LinkedIn or Instagram pages.
Written by Jemima for Lumen SEO.
