New Media & PR: Search engines become a key media to target as Internet grows  Published February - March 2007 The new frontier for public relations is about writing and publishing content that is specifically focused on the habits and needs of those using search engines on the internet, extending traditional media programs to include a web media element, reaching social media and embracing a recently developed technique called search engine optimization. New Media PR, as it is often called, is becoming increasingly relevant and important to most organisations as print readership and broadcast audiences continue to decline and ‘getting found on the web’ becomes a desirable - and in some cases, essential - marketing and corporate imperative. To better understand why most organisations who currently engage in marketing or corporate communications, or who use traditional pr techniques, should be broadening their horizons to embrace new media public relations read why:        Search engines have evolved into an another media 1.      Most Australians cannot remember, or choose not to access directly, the URL of organisations; in fact 85 percent of Australians say they use a search engine to find information on the web. 2.      Australians expect that a search engine will sort, organise and prioritise items on any given subject they choose to search for much like their traditional media does - in an assumed order of importance or relevance. 3.      Search engine pages are evolving like a traditional print page - natural/organic search listings (editorial/news) in the centre with sponsored links (advertising) down the right hand side (and increasingly across the top). 4.      Therefore to make natural or organic search results more topical and relevant, search engines are increasingly behaving more like traditional media editors and ranking items on their content (rather than on esoteric technical factors which was the case some years ago). 5.      The overwhelming majority of online Australians (around 90%) believe that natural search (editorial/news) to be either more relevant, more trusted or more likely to influence them than sponsored links (advertising) on search engines.  Getting found on a search engine is increasingly powerful 6.      Around 80 percent of online Australians claim they are more likely to use the web than traditional media as a source of information; and around 96 percent of online Australians use the web as a source of information about specific products and services. 7.      Getting found on search engines means you are reaching those with a specific interest in your product, service or issue - because you have been found in response to a specific search.  Contrast this with traditional media where the numbers reading, watching or listening may be very high, but the numbers actually interested are often only a fraction of these. 8.      As with traditional media placement or positioning is critical. Where you are seen in the natural search listings is vital.  If you rank in the first page you have a very high chance of being clicked. On the second page a reasonably high chance.  Beyond that it’s unlikely. 9.      An advantage of web over traditional media is that once your prospect has an interest in your product or service he/she can instantly and seamlessly click through to further information, and in some cases can actually trial or buy the product.  With traditional media it’s necessary to take further steps. 10.  A high ranking in natural search brings a strong degree of credibility. As with traditional news and editorial media it can’t be guaranteed - it has to meet the editor’s criteria (in this case the search engine).  That’s why traditional PR techniques are one way of succeeding.  If you to guarantee a position on a search engine page as with traditional media you must pay for it - as advertising.          Getting ranked on search engines requires a coordinated approach 11.  The key is researching what search phrases are being used by searchers currently using natural search in a given product or service category.  Correctly identifying the search phrases is the pre-requisite to developing a web communication program. 12.  An organisations web site is the prime repository of information that a search engine uses to identify and rank.  The key to being ranked high is having strong and relevant content and being linked with reputable external third parties.  PR skills, which are based around writing, are a key to making a web site more search engine friendly. 13.  An ongoing media release program aimed at traditional media needs to be replicated for search engines.  The content, style and format of the releases has to be altered to specifically relate to priority search phrases; furthermore the releases need to be distributed to online news sources and aggregators read by search engines. 14.  A web media program has more chance of being successful if it goes beyond search optimising the web site and releasing search engine friendly media releases.  A proper new media PR campaign will embrace the use of devices such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, del.icio.us and the like.       New media pr and search engine optimization should be used 15.  If your brand is not well enough known for external audiences to know your URL. 16.  If you don’t have the budget to undertake an extensive advertising program to drive people to your website. 17.  If your product is ‘feature rich’ ie requires potential customers to research or understand its attributes.     18.  If your current PR is confined to working with traditional media. 19.  If you want to bypass traditional media and reach potential buyers direct. 20.  If you want to be found on the web, but you would prefer not to be seen as trying to push your product by buying sponsored links or ad words. New media PR is about telling your story through content - which search engines find and rank in natural search.  PR has always specialised in researching and developing content that media will want to publish as news or editorial.  Search engines have simply become another form of media for whom content and messages have to be crafted. To access information about the relevance of the Internet to Australians, and how they are using search engines to research and evaluate products and services, download ‘Australian Online Search Habits 2006’.  To see other previous articles in PR Influences on this topic see the following: New Media Staying Visible in the Internet Age PR and the Web New Strategies Network PR, the publisher of ‘PR Influences’, specialises in business, technology and digital communication and is the first Australian PR agency to apply research-based web content, media, publishing and distribution strategies to give organisations the optimum ranking in ‘natural’ listings on key search engines.  View Network PR’s web site to find out more about PR and new media. Enquire direct about how Network PR can help your organisation get higher rankings in natural search appearing on Google and other search engines.

PR Influences:New media & PR: Search engines become a key media to target as Internet grows written by Sydney based online pr company Network PR specialising in business pr and tech pr