Also called PR link building, the PR backlinks refer to an approach consisting of public relations to acquire high-quality backlinks for your site.
This technique brings several benefits for your branding. Being cited in several media allows you to gain popularity and credibility
PR link-building is part of a brand content strategy, focusing on generating advertising around your products and services specifically. In contrast to traditional PR (TV, PR, magazines), Digital PR addresses content creation, bloggers, influencers, and specialized media.
PR Link Building allows you to acquire mentions and performant backlinks for your site, different from buying backlinks.
Proven Strategies to Get PR Backlinks
Create high-quality content and reach out to your journalists
The key to a successful PR SEO Strategy consists of creating high-quality content. Here are some of the most effective content:
- Surveys and exclusive studies: Survey-based content is ideal for creating original media angles and serves as a goldmine for PR link-building. The data should be fresh and provided by real people’s responses. The journalists will want to implement this data into their content. To acquire this data, you need to launch a survey, then ask your targeted audience thought-provoking questions, and gather a significant number of respondents. From this survey, you can highlight the most significant takeaways and insights to implement into your article.
- Data-driven content: Showcase your data to build more credible PR communication. If you conduct a large-scale research project and identify compelling angles from your data, high-authority sites will appreciate it and provide you with high-quality backlinks.
- Viral infographics: Key visual elements to attract more backlinks. Infographics are captivating visual tools that draw the attention of users and industry experts. By condensing large amounts of data into an appealing visual representation, they make information more accessible and engaging. This ability to make content go viral helps secure multiple high-quality backlinks, which are essential for improving your website’s visibility and rankings in search engines.
Every publication should target a well-defined audience and be designed for online distribution.
To press content with an SEO focus, you need to identify a societal and industry issue that’s relevant and newsworthy for the press. Unique data produced, either via in-house tools or through a polling/research institute, can also be a good material for your article. After that, you should write a press release optimized for Google’s search engine. To enhance the trustworthiness of your website, you should integrate quotes from experts into your article. To finish, include an SEO link to a target page on your site (with an optimized anchor text, if possible)
Once your content is ready, it’s time to distribute your press release. Here are some steps to reach out to the journalist
- Build a press list with journalists targeted by topic/beat.
- Personalize your emails with a data-driven, impact-focused pitch.
- Plan for recurring news opportunities to reach out to them (back-to-school, Christmas, annual trends).
- Provides quotes from experts, because this approach might catch their eye.
Once your content is distributed, stay proactive to monitor coverage using Google Alerts or Mention. If the link is set to nofollow, request an update from the journalist. You should share this link on social media to create tier-2 backlinks.
The goal is to improve touchpoints on your website and improve your search engine results. You can also further strengthen the links you’ve earned by boosting them with high-quality backlinks that you purchase.
Use HARO to Respond to Journalists’ Queries
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an effective and mutually beneficial way to create backlinks. HARO connects journalists to content sources. And if a journalist uses your content as a source, there is a high chance that they will provide a backlink. HARO is free, but there are several paid options providing more functions. Once registered, you will receive emails 3 times per day, from Monday to Friday.
Keep an eye out for information sources requests related to your industry. When you find a good request, reply with an introductory email. Being thorough. Provide good answers to journalists’ questions, links to your relevant pages that you think they might use (and possibly link back to), as well as your contact details.
The advantage of this link creation tactic is that journalists from all niches need legitimate citations and sources. By providing useful information, you will acquire a high-authority backlink. This means that you can reinforce your site’s credibility and acquire a better position on search engines:
Hiring a PR Agency
SEO professionals don’t always have the time and capability to build relations with journalists. In addition, a press release often has errors and keyword stuffing, especially when you overuse keywords. That’s why it’s important to hire a public relations firm that runs these campaigns for you. You can rely on netlinking specialists who connect you with the media. Press releases, newsjacking, and reactive PR are the most effective link-building techniques in a PR agency.
They can ace your press release or reactive PR content, and help you secure links from authoritative websites
Newsjacking
Sometimes, newsjacking can be a powerful PR link-building tactic that relies on catching current events and trending news.
You should keep track of breaking news on Google Trends, Twitter, or BuzzSumo and develop a sharp opinion about it. Your sharp angle should be insightful enough to attract journalists to implement it into their outlets. When done right, it’s a secret way to ensure high-authority backlinks and high organic traffic to your site
The Benefits of PR Backlinks
Boost search rankings
One of the best-known benefits of backlinks is their ability to improve a website’s SEO performance. Google and other search engines view backlinks as a signal of a site’s credibility and trustworthiness. The more high-quality PR backlinks a site has, the more likely it is to rank well in search results.
Increase brand visibility and drive referral traffic
When your brand is featured in a reputable outlet or online publication, you not only gain a backlink—you also reach a wider audience. This can lead to more traffic, greater awareness, and more leads.
Build trust and credibility.
PR backlinks originate from reputable sources, thereby carrying more weight than standard backlinks. When your website is featured in recognized media, it signals to search engines and consumers that your business is reputable and worthy of their attention.
Drive referral traffic. A strong PR backlink can send direct traffic to your site. This traffic is often highly targeted because the audience following that outlet or journalist is likely interested in your niche.
Google appreciates experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness when choosing which websites to display in its search engine results pages (SERPs)
To build your authority on Google, you should build high-quality backlinks. Many PR backlinks will boost your E-E-A-T, making your website rank first for your most important keywords.
