PR vs SEOGoogle’s long-running effort to remove much of the technical aspect from search engine optimization (SEO) presents PR a superb opportunity to increase the reach, readership and engagement of its output including news releases and content marketing communications.
Google’s updates to its search engine algorithm in recent years sought to end black-hat SEO techniques and place a premium on legitimate backlinks from authoritative sources. Observers predicted PR’s traditional skills of relationship building and content creation would become preeminent. PR would become more valuable or even become the new SEO.

Has that happened? “The PR industry hasn’t exactly lunged for the SEO bandwagon,” writes PR veteran Lou Hoffman of the Hoffman Agency. PR interest in SEO is subdued, judging from PR agency submissions to SEO-related awards and infrequent articles in industry publications.

On the other hand, SEO websites now often run articles on PR-related topics like storytelling, Hoffman points out. That indicates SEO pros are trying to learn about typical PR skills. “On the surface, the attempt might appear clumsy,” he says. “Still, it would be a mistake to assume that the SEO consultancies can’t achieve some form of PR fluency over time.” Many SEO agencies, especially agencies based in the U.S., can apply profits from their pay-per-click clients to accelerate their PR learning curve through new hires and agency acquisitions.

A Fear of Technical Aspects

Paul Sutton, an independent digital marketing and social media consultant, also noticed that PR pros are generally slow to embrace SEO. Fear of technical aspects of SEO like its coding, meta data and automated tools hamper adoption, but the biggest shortcoming of PR in employing SEO is the resistance to change, he observes. Meanwhile, SEO agencies tend to accept change. They now focus more on content creation and submitting guest posts to gain quality backlinks and less on the technical aspects of SEO.

SEO agencies are the single biggest threat to PR, Sutton warns. Public relations must wake up to the threat from SEO agencies or suffer dire consequences.

Time to Learn About SEO

PR still has an opportunity to learn more about SEO and hire analytical talent with the necessary technical skills. Both agencies and corporate public relations departments can improve their standing with clients and their corporate superiors by learning about researching keywords, PR measurement, social media, link-building strategies, and other digital marketing strategies. Seasoned PR and media relations pros who gain command of SEO techniques can achieve greater influence in building natural backlinks, generating website traffic and producing sales leads.

In addition, PR pros have media pitching skills that are an enormous asset for link-building and influencer marketing. By comparison, SEO agencies remain clumsy.

Despite ongoing competition, more than a few experts say the lines between PR and SEO are blurring as they become more integrated. The two disciplines are more alike than many realize. They share essentially the same goals and, by working in concert, can improve marketing results and corporate reputation. Blending traditional PR and owned media has the potential to deliver “PR gold,” Hoffman says.

Bottom Line: Following multiple Google search engine algorithm changes that emphasize substantive backlinks, PR has been slow to press its advantage in optimizing search engine results, providing an opening for SEO agencies to win their clients. SEO agencies, on the other hand, are trying to learn more about traditional PR skills such as media pitching. It’s not too late for PR agencies and corporate departments to beef up their SEO abilities to provide clients with what today has become a must-have service.

Is PR losing winning the competition against SEO agencies? Please comment below.