Search Engine PR - an underrated skill set
- Posted by Ephraim Cohen on January 3rd, 2006 filed in Business of PR, General
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 I don’t think the traditional skills sets are outdated, but, rather, a whole new set of skills appropriate to conversations taking place online is required of agency and PR departments (there is a great podcast on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.
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January 3rd, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Hi Ephraim,
First off, thanks for the trackback. Just to clarify, the name of the blog is “Much Ado About Marketing” and the name of my company is Brand Central Station - the guys at Marketing Central (in Atlanta) like me to try and help keep that straight whenever possible.
More importantly, though, I think you’ve brought up two important points with this post:
1) PR people are wrestling with the implied conflict between mass media (i.e. television, radio, etc.) and social media (i.e. blogs, etc.). Interestingly enough, I’m not sure anyone knows where to put search engine PR yet. Certainly, search engines are a channel frequent by huge numbers of people, but the people drive the search (with their search terms) making the actual configuration of the message viewer dependent.
The reason all this is important gets back to the basic skill sets PR’s and journalists have been developing for the past few generations - they research and tell stories, allowing the public to reach their own decision. This skill set is ideal for the social media channels but the nature of that medium precludes the huge numbers we’ve been conditioned to expect through mass media.
By putting an emphasis on “quality” of audience over “quantity”, social media forces PR’s to re-think their discipline in order to justify it to clients and the like. A
Advertising agencies are running into this same problem. But for them, the problem is even worse. The ability of the medium to monitor discreet transactions is completely re-defining how agencies can expect to get paid in the future.
2) You suggest that PR people should learn how search engines optimize content, how news trackers pick up press releases, etc. I’m a bit of a geek and get into this, but most PR people are not. And, frankly, I’m not sure they should have to.
PR people should continue to learn and understand how people learn about subjects and make decisions. PR people have to learn how to be persuasive while remaining fair and (relatively) impartial. That’s not as easy as it sounds.
Should PR folks understand the technology? Maybe more important than understanding the technology is knowing where to go to learn what they need and keep up on the changes that could take their clients out of the public’s eye.
Again, great post. Thanks a million for the link.
Regards,
Mike Bawden
Brand Central Station
January 3rd, 2006 at 3:20 pm
SEO And PR: When Worlds Collide
I’ve just left a relatively lengthy response to blogger Ephraim Cohen’s most recent post on PR and search engine optimization.
January 3rd, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Strong points, Mike.
I agree with you about quality over quantity but quite often, the audience is of such a large quantity, that search engine PR may be appropriate. BP, for example, seems to be trying to tell all audiences that it is the energy company that is looking at all alternatives beyond petroleum. While a blog would be appropriate for their higher quality audience (e.g., activists who follow them closely), search engine PR may be appropriate to let the broader audiences know that BP is closely engaged in this topic. I’m not saying this is absolutely the proper tactical approach, but one that should be considered.
And I agree that PR people do not need to be technology people. I think I should focus my comments to say that PR people should understand the mediums with which they are working. Just as the best media people have a good understanding the the media business, search engine PR people should understand how search engines work (not in technical jargin but as an information delivery mechanism).
You make an important high level point in that “PR people should continue to learn and understand how people learn about subjects and make decisions.” I see this as fitting directly into search engine PR as search engines are the first stop for many trying to learn in order to make a decision.
That said, perhaps only *some* PR people should specialize in search engine PR just as some special in media relations, analysts etc. I do think there is, or should be, demand, but I’m not sure that it needs to be a skill set required of all.
P.S. And apologies for not properly identifying your blog and company (as a PR person, it’s a double timeout for me). I’m fixing the post.
January 5th, 2006 at 9:09 am
intersting discussion…i mostly agree on Mr. Cohen, you both have strong points.this is getting intersting…
January 11th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
[...] - PR profession hasn’t “served” it’s purpose as this de. It “serves” a purpose. The challenge is not making PR relevant, it is. The challenge is finding qualified candidates that can do the serving. For example, how many professionals have learned how to use search engines in appropriate PR programs. [...]