The rules for both SEO (search engine optimization) and paid search advertising keep changing. But in some cases, what's old is new again - content is more critical than ever! That means PR professionals are uniquely suited to leverage search marketing strategies and squeeze more benefits out of PR tactics. Join PRSA Georgia and seminar leader Stacy Williams, founder and president of Atlanta-based Prominent Placement, to get caught up on the latest in SEM and get prepared to implement strategically sound and measurable SEM strategies in 2014. You will: - Learn how to determine what types of content and topics your audiences are looking for; then, create it and make it easy to be found online. - Find out how social engagement benefits SEO, and how to effectively use keywords in hashtags. - Hear what to do and what not to do regarding Google's new rules for links in online press releases and the best way to leverage bylined articles. - Discover how to use paid search ads in a crisis, and what to do when negative mentions of your company show up in search engine results. - Take away strategies for measuring the impact of SEM efforts. Seminar speaker Stacy Williams established Prominent Placement, a full-service, award-winning and industry leading search marketing agency, in 2001. She has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and was named the 2012 Search Engine Marketer of the Year by Technology Association of Georgia. Stacy is also past president of SEMPO Atlanta, a local chapter of the global Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization.

1. Stacy Williams, CEO
Prominent Placement, Inc.
PRSA Georgia
Search Engine Marketing for PR Professionals:
What You Need to Know for 2014
December 5, 2013
www.prominentplacement.com
blog: www.searchadvisory.net
@ProminentPlcmnt

2. Who I Am
Stacy Williams, Founder & CEO
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Degrees in Business/Marketing &
Communications Management
Doing SEO since 1998
Launched PPI in 2001
Founding Leadership Council member of SEMPO
Atlanta & Immediate Past President
“Search Engine Marketer of the Year” per TAG in
November 2012

3. Thank You to My SEO Team!
Aaron Abbott
SEO & Analytics Manager
Dionne Walker
SEO Associate
Former AP Journalist
Conor Lee,
SEO Associate

4. Who PPI Is
Search Engine Marketing Agency
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Next month is our 13th anniversary
West Midtown-based, serve clients nationwide
Primarily B2B clients, especially tech/software
Win awards for client results as well as work
environment

5. What We Do
Search Engine Optimization
(SEO)
Conversion Rate
Optimization (CRO)
Paid Search
(PPC – Pay-Per-Click)
Increased Conversions
(Analytics Service)

6. Agenda
Search Engine Marketing for PR Professionals:
What You Need to Know for 2014
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Content & SEO
Social Engagement & SEO
Press Releases, Articles & Linking
Crisis & Reputation Management
Measuring Results
Takeaways & Resources
These slides are already on Slideshare – you’ll get a handout at the end with
the URL, along with the takeaways & additional resources.

7. About You
How many of you…
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Independent practitioner?
Agency?
In-house at non-profit?
In-house at company?
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Know very little about search marketing
Know some about search marketing
Know quite a bit about search marketing

8. Content & SEO

9. 

But what kind of content?
Topic or subject
Format
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Written (web page, article, blog post, white paper,
newsletter), infographic, video, audio, etc.
Image credit: allthingslearning.wordpress.com

10. Pop Quiz!
How do you decide which topics to cover
and what type of content to create?

11. General Keyword Research
(Volume)

12. A Word About Keywords…
It’s What They’re Actually Searching For,
Not What You Wish They Were Searching For
Source: www.google.com/trends

13. A Word About Keywords…
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Common terminology,
not internal or industry
jargon
Categories & products
that exist now, not that
you’re trying to create
Target emerging or
desired keywords:
 Article comparing
different terminology
(don’t force it)
 Target via paid search
instead

14. Specific Keyword Research
Branded
Keywords
NonBranded
Keywords
(CTR & Traffic)

15. Specific Keyword Research
Use AdWords
or
Webmaster
Tools instead
(Conversions)

16. Specific Keyword Research
(Site Search)

17. Hummingbird
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Response to voice searches
Longer queries
More natural sentences
So…target “long tail” keywords
Image credit: Vertical Response

18. Hummingbird
“pizza”
“pizza 30318”
“where’s the closest
pizza place to
Georgia Tech?”
Image credits: The Guardian, Schestowitz.com, The Inquirer

19. Content Gap Analysis
Before:

20. Content Gap Analysis
After:
Addition of case
studies & video

21. Pop Quiz!
Now that you’ve done keyword research and
a content gap analysis…what do you do with
the targeted keywords?

22. Create & Optimize the Content
Written Content for the Web (HTML Pages)
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Targeted keyword in the headline & body copy – use
similar (“semantic”) words too
Targeted keyword in the web page’s title tag and
description meta tag
Structured data
Image credit: ruleranalytics.com

23. Where To Put Keywords – Web Page
Headline (yes, this is
text, not an image)
Body copy
(page text)

24. Where To Put Keywords - Code
Title tag shows up
here in Google’s listing
Description meta tag
shows up here in
Google’s listing
To see any web page’s
code: right click
anywhere on the page
& this pops up

25. Where To Put Keywords - Code
Structured Data (aka Microdata)
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Creates “rich snippets” in search engine listings
Shhhh…also increases rankings!

26. Structured Data – Sample Code
Normal HTML
w/ Structured Data
26

27. Structured Data - More
Types of Structured Data
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Blog posts
Articles (Case Studies & Whitepapers)
Organization information
Brand information
Videos
Events
Ratings & reviews
Website elements
Contact information
Much, much more

28. Where To Put Keywords –
Other Content
Video & Audio Files
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Host on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
Optimize video/audio files there
Embed into your site
Optimize web page that
video/audio files are on
Also add category & tags
Add transcript or captions
Title
Description

29. Where To Put Keywords –
Infographics & Images

Keywords in filenames, image
title tag & alt tag
To see any image’s
properties: right click
anywhere on the
image & this pops up
Filename
Alt Tag
Other Content

30. Finally…Outreach!
Broad/Popular
Narrow/Targeted
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
More eyeballs
Less qualified eyeballs
More link/social authority
Less relevant links
Image credits: contently.com & gravitateonline.com
Fewer eyeballs
More qualified eyeballs
Less link/social authority
More relevant links

31. Finally…Outreach!
Who Do You Reach Out To?
• Influential bloggers & social media folks,
industry experts, socially active journalists
How Do You Find Them?

32. Finally…Outreach!
How Do You Reach Out?
•
•
•
•
Casual and humble conversation, not an official pitch
Use a company email address, not agency
Brief and to the point
Spells out content so expectations are clear

33. And Don’t Forget…
Get links in online article placements!
Don’t waste that opportunity!

34. Recap
Content & SEO
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Keyword research & analytics analysis to determine
desired content subject & type
Create content
Optimize content (work in keywords)
Publish content & do outreach

35. Social Engagement & SEO

36. Take Up Room in Search Results

37. Pop Quiz!
Which is more important?
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Social icons that link to that company’s profile pages?
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Or social share icons?

38. Pop Quiz!
Answer: Both!
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Links to profiles:
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Keeps your brand/message in front of people who already
know you.
Go deep with fewer people.
Doesn’t help SEO.
Sharing your content:
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Puts your brand/message in front of people who may not
already know you.
Go wide with more people.
Helps SEO.

39. Rel=Author & Rel=Publisher
Connect your online
content (blog posts,
articles) to your
Google+ profile page

40. Rel=Author & Rel=Publisher
Why Bother?
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Content stands out in the search engines
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More credibility/personal branding
More clicks
Exposure to more content
Potential for higher rankings
Reputation management
Authentication & trust
More followers on Google+
How To?
http://sem4.me/author
http://sem4.me/publisher

41. Smart Hashtag Usage
Hashtags are showing up in search engine results
(in addition to social media site searches)

42. Smart Hashtag Usage
• Part of content of post
• Adds humor, cleverness
• Probably doesn’t help
people find posts
#mypersonalhell
#imnotangryjustdissapointed
#dontmindme
#mixedfeelings
#whattheheck
#justmyluck
• Metadata about post
• Factual, accurate
• Helps people find post
#marketing
#atlanta
#pr
#seo
#google
#webinar

43. Smart Hashtag Usage
How Do You Know Which Hashtags To Use?
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See what influencers in your industry are using
Regular keyword research can suggest
Online tools:

44. Press Releases,
Articles & Linking

45. The Good Old Days

46. Then…
Panda
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Targeted “thin content” sites (including article sites)
Penguin
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Tightened up rules on link-building
Low quality links discounted
Exact match anchor text discounted
Image credit: firstinternet.co.uk

47. Now

48. Press Release & Article “To Do’s”
Distributed Electronically
• Optimize the release
• You can put keywords in link
anchor text (if it makes
sense to for the reader) –
no SEO benefit
• Add a “nofollow” tag to all
links
Posted On Your Site
• Optimize the release
• Put keywords in link anchor
text – this may help organic
rankings a bit
• No need to add a
“nofollow” tag to links
• Same rules if a bylined
article is picked up “by
hand” on only one other,
quality site

49. Crisis & Reputation
Management

50. Monitor Search Engine Results

51. Pop Quiz!
What can you do if there are negative
listings in search engines?

52. Monitor Search Engine Results
What Can You Do?
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Get it taken down (difficult)
Respond appropriately to complaints
Optimize other content to push negative mentions to
second page of results or deeper

53. Take Up Room in Search Results

54. Use Paid Search
Tell Your Side of the Story
Image credit: Mediavision Interactive

55. Measuring Results

56. Pop Quiz!
Which KPI’s should
PR professionals be tracking?

57. Google Analytics
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Traditional:
Which KPI’s?
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Visits
Conversions
Engagement: bounce rate, time on site, pageviews per visit
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What are the company’s goals? Measure against that.
PR Pros may also include:
Real Answer:
Image credit: cloud4ministry.com

58. Google Analytics – Custom Dashboards

59. Campaign Tracking – Custom Variables

60. Google Analytics – Campaigns
Without Custom Variables
• Track visitors & onsite
behavior from a website as
a whole
• All visitors from PRWeb
lumped together
• PRWeb syndicates Content
X to “Site A” – those visitors
tracked as being from Site A
With Custom Variables
• Track visitors & onsite
behavior from particular
pieces of content
• Visitors from PRWeb
segregated by press release
• PRWeb syndicates Content
X to “Site A” – those visitors
tracked as being from that
Content X
• Test different releases or
distribution services against
each other

61. In Conclusion…

62. Kumbaya….
SEO/SEM & PR
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Complementary, not Competitive
Get more bang out of what you’re already doing

63. Takeaways & Resources

64. Key Takeaways
Content & SEO
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Keyword research: universe of searchers in Google
AdWords Keyword Planner
Keyword research: past behavior on your site in
Google Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, onsite
search
Content gap analysis
Create content & optimize
 Keywords in headline, body copy, title tag,
description meta tags
 Fields for images, fields for audio/video
 Structured data
Publish & do outreach – find influencers & ask
Get links in unique online placements you’re already
getting
Image credit: wpmu.org

65. Key Takeaways
Social Engagement & SEO
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Add social share buttons to content
Use rel=author and rel=publisher
Research hash tags & use them appropriately
Press Releases, Articles & Linking
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Optimize press releases & articles
Add “nofollow” tags to links on syndicated content
(not unique placements)
Image credit: wpmu.org

66. Key Takeaways
Crisis & Reputation Management
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Monitor search engine results
Have social media profiles & other content you own
so as to dominate branded searches & push down
negative mentions
Use paid search to tell your side of the story in a
crisis
Measuring Results
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Determine your KPI’s
Create custom dashboards in Google Analytics
Implement custom variables for tracking syndicated
content
Image credit: wpmu.org

67. Resources
Content & SEO
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Google AdWords Keyword Planner:
http://sem4.me/keyplan
Google Trends: www.google.com/trends
Google Webmaster Tools:
www.google.com/webmasters/tools
Google Analytics: www.google.com/analytics
About structured data: www.schema.org
Find influencers: http://technorati.com,
http://klout.com, http://followerwonk.com
About Google+ Ripples: http://sem4.me/ripples

68. Resources
Social Engagement & SEO
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Social sharing buttons: www.addthis.com
How to implement rel=author: http://sem4.me/author
How to implement rel=publisher: http://sem4.me/publisher
Research hash tags: www.hashtags.org, http://topsy.com,
http://twubs.com
Press Releases, Articles & Linking
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About nofollow tags: http://sem4.me/nofollow
Measuring Results
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About Google Analytics custom dashboards: http://sem4.me/dash
Custom variable URL builder: http://sem4.me/urlbuilder

69. More About Us
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prominentplacement.com
Blog & newsletters: searchadvisory.net
facebook.com/prominentplacement
linkedin.com/company/prominent-placement-inc.
youtube.com/user/prominentplacement
slideshare.net/stacywms
@ProminentPlcmnt
Stay in touch with Stacy:
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linkedin.com/in/stacyswilliams
@StacyWms