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Digital PR and Link Building: The Strategy Hack You Should Know

With new technologies and ever-changing algorithms, digital marketing is constantly evolving.  This requires continuous adaptation and recalibration of strategy, helping keep pace with the demands these changes bring. 

The growth of PR is no different and has evolved greatly from the traditional PR practices of yesteryear. In today’s online landscape, the practice of PR has shifted with emphasis placed on digital PR channels. Although securing traditional media coverage in newspapers, magazines and print publications remains a factor, the opportunities provided by digital channels have usurped traditional methods, paving the way for the new era of digital PR. These are some of the Topics our MD Luke Tobin Recently discussed on RankWatch – you can watch the full interview below, and read on for some interesting take aways. 

Digital PR for marketing

In marketing, Digital PR is an incredibly important tool in elevating channels to achieve a greater online presence and visibility. The rise in digitisation means we now shop for products online and communicate on social networks. Therefore our initial contact with brands usually takes place within an online environment. Potential touchpoints for people include Google searches, social media platforms, forums, blogs, and review sites.

Marketing agencies and PR practitioners are no longer able to rely upon securing space in a print publication for a glitzy advert to convey their messages effectively. To cut through and really solidify the impact of your brand, building brand awareness is pivotal. Maximising the reach of your brand requires a positive presence across digital channels that are relevant to a brand’s target audience. 

SEO and Digital PR work hand in hand

It is difficult to categorise Digital PR within one particular branch of a marketing strategy, as it bleeds into several areas. The strategies that should be embedded within any great digital PR campaign are SEO, content marketing, social media and influencer marketing. 

The combination of SEO and PR is essential to a strong marketing strategy. Developing and securing backlinks are the fulcrum of a successful digital PR campaign. Digital PR leads by deploying campaigns and tactics that are the likeliest to achieve those strong backlinks to your website and your content. It is where SEO and PR intertwine as backlinks are major ranking factors for SEO, and have a big impact on how well your website ranks when your prospects use search engines. 

“you have to utilise every potential network you have because ultimately it is an advantage”

Speaking to RankWatch, Luke Tobin, CEO and founder of Digital Ethos outlined the Digital Ethose approach to digital PR. 

“If medium-sized enterprises are not investing in the fundamentals of digital PR or don’t have a personal brand approach in 2022, then they will be lost. It’s about building out that network, building out credibility and using what you start with. If you’re a start-up business, firstly, you need to ask who you have got within your network, and who can be potential ambassadors for you and your business. 

“There are people that know you and can connect with you. Even if it is someone who is a connection on LinkedIn, you have to utilise every potential network you have, because ultimately it is an advantage”. 

Link Building for effective SEO

You have probably heard that backlinks are great for SEO benefits, but integral to link building is developing quality content that is useful within the online community. CEO and founder Luke Tobin explained to RankWatch the Digital Ethos approach around what makes successful link building and the strategies that define the process.

“Link building is a real skill if you can do it. It’s about having genuine, useful content that people will want to link with. Journalists are very keen on trend-driven communications, so by jumping on a trend, or newsjacking, be it through the sharing of an image or a meme, you can gain huge exposure very quickly. Most success is generally found in content-driven newsjacking stories that gain fast traction. 

“For example, let’s say you create a shareable blueprint or such as a white paper based on marketing with useful charts, facts and statistics that is genuinely usable. If we put this out to open source, we know people will link to this and use it. 

“Some of the content we have delivered have reached six hundred to seven hundred links, increasing the domain authority of the content.”

“Some of the content we have delivered have reached six hundred to seven hundred links, increasing the domain authority of the content. Google can then see that a quality piece of content is being shared, liked and linked to, which in turn, drives really good authority back to the host site and this works very effectively. You can still sponsor content as that does have a sense of weighting, but having a mix of links and domain authorities really makes a huge difference. 

“At Digital Ethos, we work with tools looking at link quality and link data, and they allow us to look at potential opportunities that may have been missed. Lots of SEO agencies don’t do much link-building today, despite good ratings in the algorithm. Having a mix of both strategies makes sense in the digital PR era, as people move away from the traditional strategies”.

Ultimately, if authoritative websites link to your resource, it tells Google that your page displays valuable information and your website is trustworthy. Backlinks can be thought of as like votes, whereby an increased number of high-quality links to your website drives up your ranking on Google. which will help you drive more organic traffic to your website. In marketing, positivity breeds positivity and link building is critical in assisting other areas of your business to flourish.  

The Modern Approach to PR

At Digital Ethos, we pride ourselves on offering a flexible, modern approach to PR. Our ability to constantly adapt to the changing digital landscape keeps us ahead of the curve. 

We have a dedicated PR team that can help you build your brand awareness and gain vital exposure through our fluid PR strategies and strong link-building experience. We have built and maintained effective and transparent relationships with journalists, so we are their first port of call when an unmissable story needs broadcasting. 

If you need help with your digital PR strategy, please get in touch, and we will assist you in elevating your digital PR strategy to the next level.