There’s no denying that backlinks help your site’s authority, relevance, and in turn, search rankings. But, how you build the right backlinks varies and is often overcomplicated by many webmasters. It doesn’t have to involve reaching out to strangers and asking for a favor in the form of a backlink, or paying someone to add a link to their webpage.
Digital PR is probably the safest and most effective link-building strategy, but making it work can be a real challenge, especially when you don’t know how to do effective PR. In this blog post, we’ll talk about digital PR as a powerful link-building tool. It’s the only resource you need to read to understand digital PR and use it for consistent, high-quality backlinks for your website. Let’s dive in.
Digital PR vs. Traditional Link-Building
To understand the difference between the two, let’s start with their basic definitions.
- Public Relations (PR): Using media platforms and news outlets to build industry relationships
- Link-building: Using different outbound and inbound strategies to build links to a website
Digital PR link-building is an SEO concept where you actively build links to your website using digital PR strategies. Digital PR, as the name suggests, is a combination of efforts to build online relationships. Although digital PR is a separate marketing concept, it helps webmasters and SEOs build links in a safe and effective manner. Moreover, while strategies like guest posting, broken link-building, and niche edits still work, they can be tricky to implement successfully.
Why Digital PR Link-Building Works?
Still not sold on the idea of leveraging digital PR for link-building? Here are its benefits:
Builds Brand Authority
A powerful way to do digital PR is by creating high-value content on popular topics in your niche. By doing that, you also position yourself as an authority within the industry. When people trust your word, your brand gets an authority boost.
Generates Inbound Leads
When you’re an authority in your industry, people will start sharing your content with their audiences. As a result, you’ll attract inbound leads and discover new link-building opportunities.
Attracts Backlinks on Autopilot
The best part about positioning yourself as an authority through digital PR is that it generates long-term business. Once people know who you are, you won’t have to beg or even ask for links. People will start linking your site on autopilot, boosting its search rankings.
Related: How to Choose a Good Digital PR Agency?
Digital PR Strategies to Build Authority Links
Now that you know why digital PR works for link-building, let’s get to the practical part: Building links with digital PR.
Identify the Right Platforms
Start by identifying the platforms your target audience spends its time on. Find niche communities, podcasts, conferences, news publications, etc. News outlets can be a great place to boost your visibility quickly, but they can be hard to get featured on. Therefore, work with a variety of outlets, including the small and new ones. As your brand grows, you can start working with larger publications. Note that journalists typically receive over 100 pitches every week, which makes it hard to stand out and get noticed. Your pitch needs to be compelling and relevant enough to grab their attention.
Content Creation
Content is the heart and soul of your website business. Digital PR or not, you need high-quality content to establish your website in the space. The problem is most website owners settle for generic blog posts. You want to create the type of content journalists and media outlets will love. The goal is to get maximum, relevant eyeballs on your content.
Start by identifying your strengths and topics of expertise. Before you reach out to a publication or a journalist, brainstorm topic ideas that are relevant to their platform and audience. While the goal is to feature your website, the way you achieve that goal is by helping people with your content. Remember that when your content stands out, it’s more likely to generate backlinks.
Generate Leads and Backlinks
Publishing quality content on third-party platforms consistently is probably the best way to build social proof and credibility with your audience. When people find you an authority, they’ll be tempted to contact you whenever they need any help. This helps you build a long-term lead generation system. Other brands and website owners will reach out to you, so you’ll no longer have to pitch.
Related: PR Reputation Management: Building Reputation with PR
Digital PR Link-Building: FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about digital PR link-building.
What is Digital PR Link-Building?
Digital PR link-building combines the power of digital PR and link-building. It invovles using content creation, networking, and outreach to get media coverage and build links to your website, boosting its organic rankings and traffic.
What is a PR Link?
A PR (Public Relations) link is a link you get with digital PR efforts. It’s usually a link from an authoritative news outlet or a website. To create a PR link, you need to reach out to journalists and website owners or create the type of content that attracts links naturally.
What are High PR Backlinks?
High-PR backlinks are links that come from authoritative websites and news outlets. These backlinks pass a significant amount of link juice to your website, boosting its search engine rankings.
What is PR Used for?
Public relations or PR is the process of managing how people or consumers perceive your business. It involves fostering relationships with industry professionals, shaping public opinion, and building your visibility through outreach.
Conclusion
Digital PR involves collaborating with influencers, journalists, and website owners. When the effort is targeted toward building links, it’s referred to as digital PR link-building. You can approach it in two ways: The inbound way and the outbound way. To attract inbound leads, you can create unique, original, and high-quality content and position yourself as an authority. It’s a longer-term approach but can be super powerful. The other way is reaching out to media outlets, journalists, and infuencers for collaboration and build realtionships. An effective digital PR link-building campaign involves a good mix of both.
Related: What is a Digital PR Agency?
