Search Engine PR – an underrated skill set
In a comment on Mike Bawden's Much Ado About Marketing blogI outlined what might be an appropriate set of skills for today’s PR professional. I don’t think the traditional skills sets are outdated, but, rather, a whole new set of skills appropriate to conversations taking place online is required of agency and PR departments (there is a great podcast on this topic by The Hobson Holtz Reprot.
However, while much of the conversation around the online world and public relations centers on the blogging, I think the greater share should focus on search engine public relations (which does include the tracking of blogs).
As influential as it is, blogging still has both a limited audience and limited number of topics (I work with a client in the wine management industry – not a blog hotspot…yet).
Search engines are still the first stop for most audiences in search of information (from your end consumer to your highly influential reporter or, yes, blogger). PR professionals need to know how to get the right information to the right people in the right context. Search engines are the first places people look for information in the right context. PR professionals should be meeting their audiences there.
Yet, few PR people I know seem to know much about search engine optimization, how the news tracker functions pick up press releases, the development of blog search functions and how to integrate keyword search functions (e.g., keyword ads are a perfect way to link back to in-depth information about issues of interest to audiences we know are looking for that information).
For example, I see a ton of content on the BP (www.bp.com) web site about environmental issues and alternative fuels. But why don’t they advertise using related keywords? They have a whole section on how to reduce carbon emissions, but when I did a Google search, nothing came up. Even if they can’t rank higher (and they probably can), why not buy the keyword advertisements? I would not be surprised if the answer is simply that PR professionals don’t think about search engine public relations.
In the future, some other areas I may look into is the importance of understanding all the features and functions of specific modes of audience conversations (e.g., tagging for blogs, podcasting distribution techniques etc) as a way of ensuring a communications functions is being properly implemented. I would welcome other suggestions for skill set areas that should be considered.
