Search Engine Optimization

Introduction

Search has become integrated into the fabric of our society (Battelle, 2009).

There are hundreds of search engines that people use to find Web sites, from Bing to Yahoo and many more. However, none come close to Google in terms of success, usability and relevancy. Microsoft’s Bing is growing fractionally, however Google still has the lion's share of the UK search engine market with a staggering 90.36 per cent (Perrin, 2011) (see Figure 1). The phrase “Google it” is known to pretty much everybody who has used the Internet, and even holds a place inside the Oxford English Dictionary (2011). People have become used to having information at their fingertips and company’s need to take advantage of this surge in Internet use, by implementing search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.

Figure 1:

During July 2009, it was noted over 1 billion searches were being performed each month (Lipsman, 2009), a communicative channel which certainly requires attention from public relations (PR) professionals. However, what are the methods available? How can practitioners increase clientele reputation and ultimately drive Web site traffic? SEO holds the secret.

SEO is the method by which Web sites can gain prominence in the organic listings - the results found on the left of the search results page in major search engines (Phillips and Young, 2009). To be successful, an SEO strategy must have a long-term approach, as it requires patience and investment. Organic search is essentially free – you don’t pay for clicks, but companies will need to invest in other areas (for example website improvements, content and copywriting, link building and PR) to get to the top of the search engines (Econsultancy, 2011).

Battelle (2009) describes Google as a new, technologically mediated economy of conversation between those who are looking for products, services, and information, and those who might provide them. Thus, PR professionals have a responsibility to unite clients with relevant users, ones whom are interested in their content, services or products. SEO practices can achieve this goal when they are implemented correctly.

What can SEO achieve?

- Higher visibility
- Achieve business goals
- Advantage over competitors
- To help people find a site
- Measurable results

First of all, it is important to optimize Web content though the use of keywords. Keywords are essentially words that are searched most frequently by Internet users. Thus, Web site managers and PR professionals need to use keywords in all of their online content, to maximise outreach. Google has a free keyword tool that provides search results for any word necessary along with words associated around the subject matter.

However, link building is arguably the best method of SEO which has the potential to provide astronomical results (McGaffin, 2007). Hence, this is what we will be focusing on. Link building is an external form of SEO which only takes place after content has been optimised.

PR agencies and communications professionals must own the skills to improve client visibility, in a way that is measureable. Thus, link building is ideal because you can track how many external links you have and contrast this figure to Web site activity.

Relationship between link building and PR

Goodall (2009) comprises that “SEO PR is the use of genuine and ethical dialogue-driven PR strategies to improve a brand’s organic search engine rankings”.

Having lots of links to a Web site tells search engines that it is an important site, one that people want to view. Therefore, Google is a form of peer recognition, as it counts the number of sites that links to another, on the assumption that if lots of people link to it, it must have some added value (Phillips and Young, 2009).
Link popularity is the main factor that major search engines use to rank Web sites. This makes link building an integral part of any effective search engine optimization strategy (SEO, 2009) because incoming links will help a Web site to rise in the search engine rankings. However, how does PR relate to SEO and how can it contribute to effective link building?

PR is the practice of shaping and projecting a company’s reputation, largely through the use of positive media coverage.

Link building is the process of building a web site’s ‘reputation’ by getting links from relevant and respected web sites (McGraffin, 2007).

Thus, PR and the online practice of link building are naturally suited. Both demand similar dynamics and when implemented together and with keywords in mind, they can produce excellent results. PR is seen as the practice to generate hundreds if not thousands of quality links, due to its communicative nature. A link must firstly be accepted by a reporter and then secondly by an editor. Who better to get such valuable links than PR professionals?

In conclusion, SEO is an important tool for today’s PR practitioner. The online world is crowded and highly competitive. If people can easily find a Web site using search it enhances reputation and increases usability. It is clear SEO holds the potential to unleash staggering results in terms of Web site activity however 41 per cent of firms are still failing to recognise this, according to Fasthosts (2011). For those PR practitioners who are unfamiliar with the powers of SEO, I recommend they dedicate time for research and even consider a workshop on the subject.

Lastly, I did try searching for my blog in Google but unfortunately couldn't find it. Looks like I better start putting into practice what I have learnt on SEO.

Seamless Branding

This house believes that brands are about people.

For this weeks post, we have been asked to write about seamless branding, a marketing concept that relies on the continuity and consistency of brand messages and values across all platforms of communication. Up until now, deeper meaning of the subject has been unfamiliar to me - I understood the idea behind the term but lacked the knowledge of how to apply it to a product or service.

Defining a brand

As I am a public relations (PR) student, I thought it would be fitting to briefly explain what the term ‘brand’ actually means because I had not studied it prior to this task.

Kotler et al (2002) offer a basic definition of a brand, describing it as “a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or combination of these which is used to identify the goods or services of a seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors”. However, from conducting research, I believe this is a very distanced and under developed explanation of what a brand stands for. It lacks deeper meaning and the role in which the public play in brand composition. Graphics, logo and the image associated with the brand do not create the brand (Sterne, 1999); they merely help to accelerate recognition.

Keller (1998) on the other hand says “A brand is a set of mental associations, held by the consumer, which add to the perceived value of a product or service”. Therefore, a brand is defined by individual perceptions. Brand designers can only ‘shape’ a product or service into what they see most fitting. The consumer will decide the external meaning of a brand, making it crucially important to be “real” in order to be believed (Maxwell, 2010). Ries and Ries (2002) reiterate this notion saying, “The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity”. Numerous tactics from video content to language tone are being used to achieve public acceptance and brand genuineness, as you will discover later on.

Brand configuration

Brand building is becoming increasingly important in providing continuity and customer commitment in a fast moving marketplace (Rowley, 2004). In other words, a brand that is ‘seamless’ and ‘customer focused’ will positively stand out from rivals and as a result attract more business.

The current economic climate is restrictive and poorly suited to retail. Moreover, we live inside a ‘digitally dense’ environment, crowded by a mass of online material. Therefore, a brand’s unique selling point must be attractive and recognisable, but so must its messages and values. De Chernatony and McDonald (1998) emphasise this notion by describing a brand as, “an identifiable product augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant unique added values which match their needs most closely. Furthermore, its success results from it being able to sustain these added values in face of competition”.

Rowely (2004) identifies three key aspects of a successful brand:

1) A brand is dependent on customer perception.
2) Perception is influenced by the added-value characteristics of the product.
3) The added value characteristics need to be sustainable.

Online branding – Web Sites

Web sites communicate messages about the brand through both their design and functionality.

The logo is shorthand for everything the brand stands for. It is displayed on the homepage as well as any other place where it adds value.

Graphics such as pictures and background images help to indicate the nature of the service.

Text and copy sets the tone of voice, and determines whether a message is intelligent, comprehensible and relevant. Text helps to define the brand's personality and to reinforce brand values consistently.

Currency must be shown in the form of regularity. If a Web site is not updated frequently it will devalue the brand and act as a traffic deterrent.

Colour theme can communicate a range of meanings from brand personality to reason for existence.

All of the characteristics listed above should be communicated ‘seamlessly’ in conjunction with a robust, multi channel strategy, so that the brand remains consistent in what it has always stood for, offline.

Seamless practice

“An organization can only ‘walk the talk' when its managers deliberately shape its internal reality to align with its brand promise…(the brand's) values must be internalized by the organization, shaping its instinctive attitudes, behaviours, priorities, etc.” (Mitchell, 1999).


Some argue that in the online world of information overload, a strong and consistent brand becomes ever more important, because it saves the customer time, by reducing their search efforts. A brand that is vivid and seamlessly concurrent will succeed more than one that is not, especially whilst online. Ward and Lee (2000) confirm this idea as they found that consumers used brand names as substitutes for product information when they made online purchase decisions.

The mass economy has been replaced by a “customer economy” which calls for customer-to-customer communications built on trust. PR plays a very powerful role in harnessing such a relationship (Brand Channel, 2003).

Therefore, a PR practitioner must understand their client’s values inside out if he/she is to succeed in seamless communication. To do this, they must always adhere to a brand’s ethos and personality, whether it is writing a press release or a piece of Web site copy. Remember, every interaction held with publics either builds or damages a brand.

The way people perceive a brand is strongly affected by how it appears on the Internet. For example, 60 per cent of Americans say they can judge a company’s values by it’s online presence (WebMetricsGuru, 2008).

Internet video is on the rise. PR pracitioners are able to develop brand personality and authenticity as senior executives have the opportunity to reveal themselves to their publics, instead of remaining behind closed doors. Yes this will lead to an increase in transparency however, will we witness the ‘dumbing down’ effect that is well known within the political industry?

A fantastic example of a brand using Internet video to great effect is Blendtec. It introduced a viral marketing campaign in 2006 called “Will it Blend?” Here is the founder of the company Tom Dickerson testing his product out on the iPad 2.



We can argue that the campaign idea is a mild form of “design driven innovation” (Verganti, 2009) because it has utilized a product in a way that nobody else has. Yes it was implemented purely for promotional value however one can say the reason behind its success and popularity is due to the unfamiliar nature.

Web pages must be designed to accommodate different generations of technology if they are to promote seamless branding. Download speed, screen resolutions, number of colours and mobile screen compatibility should all be catered for.

Finally, here are some key brand qualities that are a must for online success:

- A unique brand name will make searching much easier for customers.

- Search engine optimization will help to create a 'seamless' connection between online users and a brand. Rising in the search engine rankings can reduce competitive 'noise'. Thus, include key words wherever possible, in headings and text. This will maximize reach and drive traffic to content.

- Buy a domain name that is the same as the brand name, no abbreviations, no extras.

- Ensure that even your 404 error page fits ‘seamlessly’ with brand values and messages.