It’s no secret that most every consumer fires up their browser and starts off with a Google search. Heck, even your sainted grandma knows about “the Google.”
That’s why so many companies pay so much attention to SEO and SEM. That’s why Google is minting money.
But don’t forget that there is yet another reason for PR pros to care about Google: journalists use it, too, for their research.
And that doesn’t just mean, “they’ll Google your client” in researching a story. It also means that whenever the reporter searches for terms related to your client, you want the client’s name/content to crop up frequently.
Don’t forget that while you are doing PR for Client X, somebody else is doing PR for Client Z – their competitor. Every now and then, despite your canny communications skills, Client Z’s agency is going to create an opportunity that you know nothing about. (We’ve all gotten that call, eh?) … But if you’ve done your job right, every Google search on Client Z (and related terms) will also prominently expose content on good ol’ Client X.
SEO is not necessarily “PR’s job” but the savvy PR pro knows that they ignore basic SEO tenets at their peril. At the very least, use free tools like PressReleaseGrader to optimize clients’ news releases.
And give strong consideration to Social Media Optimization principles, too. The more noteworthy, shareable and embeddable content your client is pumping into the web-o-sphere, the more likely they are to be “found” by Google, by journalists, and by random surfers.
Basic stuff? Maybe for loyal PR-Squared readers. But, worth a reminder.
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