Is there a difference between online PR and other PR services ? Now, especially since Covid-19, there is even more digital media than before. This means that the difference between online PR and what we traditionally thought of as “PR” is less clear. The technology sector’s media were quick to move online, and the broader PR world had already embraced digital media a few years ago, so to a certain extent, they now overlap.
About Online PR
Online PR tends to place a high priority on link-building. This is “PR” in the context of search engine optimisation (SEO). It is popular because high quality inbound links help to enhance search engine rankings. An article published online can bring traffic and clicks to your website, and SEO firepower. This means that any articles you can publish online are hugely valuable.
About PR Consultancy
I have never liked the term “ Traditional PR”. PR is a challenging, creative occupation and it is an important part of many companies’ marketing and communications. It involves a lot more than just getting articles posted online – it’s about working with editors and influencers in an informed and sensitive way, and it can embrace activities in the real world too – when those eventually return. It uses the sharing of news, stories, comments and photos to achieve broader business objectives. For example, to enhance visibility for a brand, or showcase a business in its marketplace.
Done well, PR consultancy can build high credibility. In the UK technology sectors, some of the most trusted titles are Electronics Weekly, Computer Weekly and channelweb.co.uk, all of which reach wide audiences. Featuring in publications like these supports sales and marketing and helps build reputations. The visibility is particularly important for growing companies whose owners want a high profile in their sector. Done well, smaller firms can build visibility in their market that is expensive to achieve other ways.
Have PR and Online PR merged?
Things have changed. The line between online PR and other PR consultancy work is not as distinct as it was and the same consultancy can provide both. A PR consultant will now work with online publications, bloggers and social media influencers. Our work is shared on Linkedin and Twitter. We monitor keywords and MOZ scores and write content for social media.
Online PR will suit you if:
- SEO is a high priority for your business
- Your “content” is more evergreen than news based, i.e. it will not go out of date too fast.
- Your business sells a lot online, i.e. your marketing revolves mostly around your website.
However, publishers are very well aware of the SEO industry’s activities and sometimes their site structures are designed so that they don’t provide a direct click-through to the author’s website, or they may not provide a live link at all. But even so, the presence of an article online is still an “event” that could cause fresh traffic to visit a website.
Your business could benefit from working with a PR consultant if:
- Your company has lots of genuine news. But strangely, some of my most interesting work has been with companies who had little or no news they could place in the public domain.
- You operate in competitive markets and want to enhance brand recognition
- You have a charismatic CEO with lots to say about your industry
- There are very few internet searches for your goods or services, and you need another way to create awareness of what you do, beyond your existing contacts
- Your company works in markets where the leading publications are still produced in print, for example certain technical markets in Germany
- Your company is a “rising star” in its industry, and you want to showcase it for strategic reasons
There is no clear line between online PR, digital PR and any other kind of PR, but generally a PR consultancy can provide broader communications support than the SEO specialists in your digital agency. A PR consultant will care about communications, messages, visibility and reputation, and will know how to work closely work with all kinds of editors and journalists. The technology industries were quick to work with online news, and editors are naturally at home on social media. My own work has been a blend of both for quite a few years and I currently have both kinds of clients.
An offer
If you found this article interesting, I offer a free, no-obligation 30-minute consultation by Zoom or Teams. This would be a chance to get to know each other, explore how PR and communications might benefit your business, and what you could reasonably expect to achieve. Contact me at anna.wood@technologypr.co.uk.
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