Unlock the potential of seamless integration between full-funnel SEO and PR. Discover strategies to shape audience behavior and attain prominent search engine rankings.
Combining digital PR and SEO within a comprehensive full-funnel approach shapes audience behavior and secures top-tier rankings in search engines.
In my recent webinar hosted by Search Engine Journal, which focused on mastering link acquisition through digital PR, I needed help to delve into the crucial aspects of the audience journey and a holistic full-funnel strategy. This article aims to fill that gap.
Have you noticed the increasing challenge of achieving high search engine rankings lately? Or are your link-building efforts no longer yielding the coveted top-three positions they once did?
What Does It Mean?
The ultimate goal is to rank highly in search engines and gain visibility in high-traffic areas, such as Google’s SERP features.
A full-funnel PR and SEO strategy focuses on integrating link-building and brand mentions into the audience’s online journey, enhancing their off-page user experience.
Key takeaways from the article include:
- Understanding Audience Journey: Recognizing that audiences engage with various content across platforms before they even start searching, shaping their perceptions and decision-making process.
- Case Study: Illustrated by Lectric eBikes, aligning content with the customer journey and obtaining authoritative links and mentions can significantly improve SEO performance, enhance brand trust, and drive sales.
- Strategy Blueprint: The guide provides a structured approach for businesses to navigate digital marketing complexities efficiently, guiding audiences from initial awareness to conversion.
- Integration of Digital PR and SEO: Combining digital PR and SEO efforts creates a cohesive journey that leads the audience from awareness to decision-making, influencing audience behavior and search engine rankings.
- Digital PR for SEO: It emphasizes that digital PR efforts, including securing links and brand mentions, must strategically align with the audience journey to achieve top rankings in search engines, particularly within the top three positions.
The Importance of Off-Page Audience Engagement with Your Brand
Google emphasizes the importance of providing valuable assistance to your audience and showcasing Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E-A-T) within your industry to achieve high rankings.
Your audience actively seeks solutions to problems or opportunities and relies on trustworthy sources to navigate their decision-making process.
Often, they identify these issues or solutions well before they turn to search engines for assistance.
The following chart highlights the websites that attract the most visits versus those that generate the most referral traffic.
This data suggests that while search engines drive significant website traffic, audiences also spend considerable time engaging with content on other platforms and exploring various topics.
Case Study: Integrating Digital PR and SEO for Lectric eBike’s Full-Funnel Success
This case study exemplifies the synergy between digital PR and SEO, showcasing how their integration can forge a unified and impactful full-funnel marketing strategy.
At the core of this success lies the meticulous alignment of content with every stage of the customer journey. Each piece of content was crafted to bolster awareness, foster trust, and culminate in confident decision-making. By acquiring authoritative links and mentions, Lectric eBikes not only elevated its SEO performance but also solidified its reputation as a brand in the eyes of the consumers and search engines.
The resultant surge in organic visibility and brand searches directly fueled an overall uptick in website traffic and sales.
This case is a testament to the potency of a comprehensive digital marketing approach, where PR and SEO synergize to shepherd customers seamlessly from awareness to conversion.
Understanding Full-Funnel PR & SEO: Mapping the Audience Journey
At its core, a full-funnel strategy entails tailoring content to cater to each stage of the audience’s journey and the touchpoints where they seek relevant information.
The audience journey typically encompasses several vital stages:
- The awareness Stage marks the initial phase where customers recognize a need, opportunity, or challenge and seek solutions.
- Consideration Stage: Customers weigh various options and alternatives to address their identified needs or challenges in this phase.
- Decision Stage: Here, customers finalize their choice, opting for the most suitable solution and taking definitive action, such as purchasing.
By implementing a full-funnel strategy, businesses craft content tailored to meet the needs of each stage in the audience journey, facilitating engagement and progression towards conversion.
Crafting a Comprehensive Full-Funnel Strategy
Designing a strategy involves creating a well-defined roadmap for businesses to adeptly steer their target audience from initial awareness to decisive action.
I’m a proponent of templates that streamline processes. As part of my Digital PR for SEO Mini MBA course, I’ve developed the React Workbook. This tool aids in crafting an audience journey map, identifying assets, and devising an integrated PR and SEO strategy. Below are screenshots demonstrating its utility.
1. Mapping the Audience Journey
Commence by charting your audience’s journey and pinpointing crucial stages, touchpoints, and content requisites. This serves as the cornerstone of your strategy.
Visualize how your audience progresses from recognizing a need or issue to purchasing.
2. Crafting Owned Assets for Each Stage
Generate diverse assets and resources tailored to each stage of the audience journey, intended to captivate, inform, and convert your target demographic. These assets serve the dual purpose of bolstering digital PR and SEO efforts.
Instead of churning out endless blog posts, focus on creating assets that are both linkable and shareable:
- Expert Commentary: Harness the insights of internal experts and C-suite personnel to provide commentary on prevailing media trends.
- Unique Data: Conduct research to uncover exclusive data and insights into industry trends or the company’s growth trajectory.
- Expert Resources: Enlist internal subject matter experts to identify resources beneficial to the audience.
- Guides: Develop user-friendly guides that assist your audience in achieving specific milestones along their journey.
During my webinar with SEJ, I illustrated how my digital PR team garnered links by analyzing publicly available manufacturing data about outsourcing production overseas due to escalating labor costs in the US. This initiative stemmed from ongoing media discourse suggesting a potential recession in US manufacturing and was executed for a CFO consultancy specializing in the manufacturing sector. These assets demonstrate your expertise within a particular domain.
Armed with these assets, kickstart an integrated digital PR and SEO initiative.
Harnessing the Strength of Digital PR and SEO for a Robust Online Presence
Executing this full-funnel approach demands continuous coordination among your PR, SEO, and content teams to guarantee cohesive efforts to steer the audience toward conversion.
Through methodical mapping of the audience journey, crafting compelling content for each stage, and harnessing the combined potential of digital PR and SEO, enterprises can forge a commanding online presence, secure top-three rankings, and stimulate brand searches. If navigating this process feels overwhelming, consider exploring our monthly SEO packages and enlisting the assistance of seasoned experts.
