To start, SEO stands for search engine optimization. Therefore, SEO keywords are the words or phrases consumers often type into browsers to satisfy their searching needs- to find information. When people search for something in your industry, you want to rise to the top of the list. This is why it is valuable to identify your company’s SEO keywords to reach potential customers. You need to know the most relevant terms to your content and what people most frequently search. 

The understanding and effective use of SEO keywords is becoming essential to public relations (PR) because it is one of the best ways to make the most of a brand’s message and reach the largest possible audiences. Today, many common inquiries can be solved online, and it is often the consumers’ first place of action. 93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine (Business Upside). Therefore, it is crucial to have specific SEO to help your brand. Here are a few reasons why PR professionals should focus on SEO:

• Brand Awareness

Generally, people tend to choose what is familiar and trusted to them. Much of this comes from consistent exposure to a brand or product. In a tech-savvy era, this is where SEO and digital PR work together. A strong SEO strategy helps PR specialists assist their clients in achieving their desired recognition goals. Also, with the right strategy, you can boost brand visibility, generate more traffic, and meet several brand signals such as news mentions or branded searches. 

• Social Sharing

SEO and Public Relations work together to ensure that a brand’s message reaches the right audience. Effective SEO strategies encourage audiences to engage in a brand’s content. Therefore, people will be driven to share that content to achieve even greater audiences.

• Reach a Larger Audience

Reaching larger audiences is a significant benefit of SEO. So, a brand’s message is more likely to reach its target audience and inspire them to complete their desired action, such as clicking on a link or joining a newsletter. In addition, search engine results pages (SERPs) can help a brand identify where they stand in search engine results, which may help further which words work best for larger audiences and keep track of the audiences that the content is reaching.

• Manage a Brand’s Reputation

An essential task in Public Relations is creating messaging that is true to the brand and gives them a positive image. The goal of SEO teams is to make sure that audiences actually see the messages online. A good message can only go so far if the SEO strategy is weak. Hitting the mark with the SEO strategy will help your organization become top of mind and appear at the top of search results.

• Trust and Authority

Another essential task in Public Relations is creating a blog on a company’s website. A blog gives a company a platform to update their audience on what is new or is just a space to put engaging content. SEO tools can help a blog gain credibility and climb the ranks in SERPs. This can be done by focusing on calculated keywords and creating headings to lead to the best possible Google results.