What is your first thought when you hear “Public Relations Expert”? I think of someone skilled in public speaking and writing.

What do you think about when you hear “Search Engine Optimization Specialist”? I picture someone who can do everything that involves technology, a tech-wiz.

These observations led me to conclude that they have nothing in common and that their jobs lie on completely different sides of the globe. The North Pole and the South Pole of jobs!

Consumers see Public Relations as a different concept than Search Engine Optimization. This is because SEO deals with technical aspects of things, while PR deals with people. But, the lines between them are blurring fast.

SEO and PR are constantly changing with the times. Because they share the same goals and values, SEO and PR are now homophones.

These homophones are PR and SEO. However, the two fields are becoming more similar as technology changes. Because they are spelled differently, PR and SEO won’t be the same thing. They are however on a track that is beginning to reveal they sound more alike.

Link Building

Both SEO and PR use link-building to increase traffic and revenue for their brands.

PR is a form of link-building that uses mentions and exposure. Public Relations agents work with consumers to promote their brand. They create awareness that drives traffic to their company by hosting events. PR uses mentions of their brand to promote it, such as having a celebrity blogger test a certain material and write about how amazing it is.

You see an influencer posting about their favorite ice cream brand on Instagram. This is most likely because they were hired by a PR agency to write about the product. Because all of their followers are exposed to the product, the influencer drives traffic to the company.

Link Building in SEO is more technical. The specialist in SEO focuses more on the brand’s website than the company name. The goal of the SEO specialist is to get the link published so that the target audience can be reached.

Both use links or mentions to promote their brands or websites. This allows them to drive traffic to their site and generate revenue. Both parties share the goal of increasing awareness about their brand.

Building Connections

Both industries have the same premise: to build relationships and establish connections with other people or websites. These connections can help drive traffic and brand exposure.

Public Relations is about building relationships with people. PR professionals reach out to celebrities and bloggers to help their cause. They make connections that help them do their job: to expose the brand.

A PR consultant may reach other bloggers but first, they must establish a relationship. You can start a relationship with them by commenting on their blog posts and following them via social media. Your goal is to be recognized and acknowledged by the person you hope to establish a relationship with. Once the connection is established, the blogger will be more open to helping and doing what the PR representative suggested.

To request a link to their site, SEO professionals must establish a relationship with the website or content writer. They will have a greater chance of getting the link if they build the relationship. A friend is better than someone who just happened to be there.

When forming relationships, both fields share the same goal. Their goal is to promote their brand or website. The result is a new contact that can increase brand awareness and traffic.

Collaboration

SEO is about using the correct keywords and inserting these across the website. An SEO team will try to promote a keyword for their brand. SEO professionals want to be the first result consumers see when they type in a keyword.

The search engine will relate a company’s content to keywords that are more frequently used by the SEO team.

If a company’s website contains the term “Female Sandals”, they increase their chances of being the first result when someone searches for “female Sandals”.

This keyword can be used by the PR representative to work with the SEO professional. Public Relations can include the keyword chosen by the SEO professional in press releases, interviews, and any other activity that will give their company exposure.

The more the search engine finds the keywords and the public relations list, the better. Their company will be the first result in search engine results pages.

Public Relations and Search Engine Optimization can work together to produce the most exposure for the company. The efforts of each can be used by the other to help drive traffic.