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Want to grow your local rankings? Want to gain press for your business? Want more business not just one-time, but permanently? Then read on… we’ll show you how local PR effects local SEO efforts, why Local PR is necessary, the basics of local search engine optimization, and some explicit examples of how this has worked with clients in the past.
Having performed digital marketing for over 20 years now I constantly get asked (by sophisticated clients) “how can my website perform better?” Many businesses take a little bit of coaching to understand that YOUR AUDIENCE is out there… SEARCHING FOR YOUR BUSINESS. The days of drumming up business have long passed (unless you’re in a new market, or with something truly unique). Now-a-days however, MOST BUSINESSES DON’T REALIZE THERE ARE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN YOUR AREA SEARCHING FOR YOUR BUSINESS, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. Yes… right now. That’s the topic for another post entirely (one we’re working on a video for).
But this post is about those businesses that have taken it upon themselves to understand the web and they completely want to dominate. Do you want to get more business? Are you looking for tips to increase your local SEO or ranking for particular searches? Well… keep reading, because this blog post is chock full of nuggets.
Before I get to the meat of this blog post about Local PR and it’s impact on search engine optimization (mostly local SEO) I want to ask you something…
What if there was a way for you to accomplish all of the following?…
It sounds great right? Well we’re going to dive into all of that right now with this guide on Local PR and how it affects your website’s search engine optimization and local SEO.
Public Relations (PR) plays an instrumental role in how we perform search engine optimization (most notably local SEO) at Olympia Marketing. Local PR is a strategic tool that not only enhances visibility but also drives valuable links to a website – which in turn drives rankings – which in turn drives revenue. In this blog post, we’ll delve into a real-world example from Olympia Marketing, a digital-first marketing firm, to illustrate the profound impact of local PR on SEO. We’ll focus on a case study involving the Skincare Academy of Florida, a Bonita Springs-based esthetician and massage school, to demonstrate how local PR can drive links and improve search engine rankings.
Local SEO focuses on optimizing a website to attract traffic from location-based searches. For small businesses, mastering local SEO is crucial for gaining visibility in you community. One powerful tactic within local SEO is leveraging PR to secure mentions and links from local news outlets, which can significantly enhance a business’s online presence.
Let’s go back over the points we mentioned above in terms of the large benefits of PR & Local SEO…
Let’s address these one-by-one.
Build Trust – Earned media, as PR is often referred to – is media that has been earned by your company or organization, you ARE NOT paying directly for advertising. Instead our team gets to know local/national outlets, along with their publishing schedule/calendar. We understand your business, and the unique things happening and draft a press release about select topics we believe will be picked up. We then solicit publications – getting them to publish the press release and often even more press (about ancillary topics). Here’s the best part – when readers KNOW they’re looking at an ad, they often treat it far differently. Earned media, on the other hand has the huge added benefit of not just being an “advertisement” for your company, but it’s one positioned with the authority of the news publication behind it – a massive endorsement. And this endorsement doesn’t just have a positive effect on human readers – it also has a huge effect on Google (and other search engines), but we’ll get back to that.
Build Brand Awareness – There’s no faster way to build brand awareness than by leveraging the audience and size of publications. In the case study below – for example, roughly 100,000 people in a small Southwest Florida region were able to learn about our client overnight – something that would require far more time or effort if done differently.
Increase the Number of Leads – Ok, to understand this we have to take a step back to understand SEO. Long story short though – by being mentioned in these publications you’ll both receive a LINK from many of these publications (which is like a vote of confidence in the eyes of the search engines) but you’ll also gain notoriety in Google’s Knowledge Graph system around the topics discussed in your media piece. Both have a cumulative effect on your website’s “power” in the search engines – causing you to rank higher and gain more business – often almost overnight. In the example below 3 links from local publications led to a boost in rankings to #1 for relevant searches LITERALLY OVERNIGHT.
Discount – Finally, if you were to PAY for advertising on the same scale as earned media it would literally be 2x-3x MORE to JUST BUY the ads… (and as mentioned above it doesn’t come with the same implicit weight as articles written by the publication directly).
Let’s take a quick step back before we dive into the case study let’s take a brief moment to explain one of the behemoths of Google’s search algorithim, that rarely gets mentioned these days – Google’s Knowledge Graph. As the above image illustrates Google’s Knowledge Graph consists of a number of components represented in the above “Knowledge Panels.” You’ve probably seen these panels before if you’ve ever searched for a business, a movie or tv show, a celebrity, or other “entity.” These tools provide quick, factual summaries about people, places, and things directly in search results.
The Knowledge Graph aggregates information from various sources, including open databases and licensed content, to present over 500 billion facts about five billion entities. It automatically generates panels, but users can report inaccuracies or suggest changes. On mobile, panels are integrated into search results to fit the screen size. Google emphasizes accuracy and offers ways for entities to claim their panels and update details.
Why does this concern you? Well – by performing press releases Google takes what it ALREADY knows about your business – and builds an even deeper profile on your company based on what is written in your press articles. This, individually, and over-time, can lead to a massive increase in your search presence or search rankings.
Now with all of this said, let’s address a recent client scenario in which we did local PR strategically in order to help a client grow their local Search Engine Optimization.
In this case study, we’ll explore how local PR efforts for the Skincare Academy of Florida – a longtime client and Bonita Springs Based Esthetics School – resulted in substantial SEO benefits, including improved rankings and increased traffic.
First a background on the discussions that took place… The Skincare Academy of Florida has recently launched two new initiatives: an esthetician school and a massage school. To promote these new offerings, we implemented a multi-faceted PR strategy, focusing on both local and national levels. For local businesses like Skincare Academy, local PR is essential for targeting relevant audiences and obtaining valuable local backlinks.
One key component of our strategy was issuing a press release to announce the launch of the new massage school. This press release was distributed to various local news outlets, aiming to generate buzz and drive links back to the Skincare Academy’s website.
To measure the impact of our local PR efforts, we closely monitored the Skincare Academy’s search engine rankings, website traffic as well as leads – through a number of systems (semrush, analytics, webmaster tools/search console and finally through their website form tracking software).
The results have been impressive.
Within a week of the press release, we observed a significant boost in rankings for relevant keywords such as “Bonita Springs massage school” and “Naples beauty school.”
Using tools like Google Search Console and SEMrush, we tracked keyword positions, impressions, and clicks. The data revealed that the Skincare Academy experienced substantial improvements in organic search rankings, thanks to the backlinks obtained through local PR.
Within approximately 1 month (although we were monitoring day-to-day to create this analysis) we saw an increase in organic traffic of approximately 13%+ or around 300 new users. Based on our current contact form submission rate and our total value/lead that means THIS SINGLE PRESS RELEASE which was approximately $1500 brought in $270,000 in potential income. In fact, based on our tracking and analysis we were able to unseat a long time competitor and steal around a half-dozen customers. And this is ONLY THE FIRST MONTH. These trends will continue to move the organic rankings of the site up over time, and if we’re able to implement bi-monthly press releases as planned, we’re going to help our client completely corner the digital market – at which time we’ll work with them to spread geographically, as well as offering online services, and finally implement a more conventional marketing, advertising and branding approach to stir up the most business.
Local PR is not just a short-term tactic; it offers long-lasting benefits for SEO. The links and mentions obtained through PR efforts continue to provide value over time, contributing to sustained improvements in search rankings and website traffic.
For the Skincare Academy, the initial boost in rankings and traffic from the press release is just the beginning. As the business continues to grow and receive more mentions and backlinks, its online presence will strengthen, leading to even greater visibility and success.
Based on our experience with the Skincare Academy, here are some practical tips for leveraging local PR to drive links and improve SEO:
In conclusion, local PR is a powerful tool for driving links and improving SEO for small businesses. The case study of the Skincare Academy of Florida demonstrates how strategic PR efforts can lead to significant improvements in search rankings and online visibility. By leveraging local PR, businesses can enhance their digital presence, attract more traffic, and ultimately achieve greater success.
At Olympia Marketing, we specialize in helping businesses like the Skincare Academy of Florida unlock the full potential of local PR and SEO. If you’re interested in learning more about how local PR can benefit your business, feel free to reach out to us at zach@olympiamarketing.com. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for our follow-up analysis on the long-term impact of our PR efforts.