4 Tactics PR, Content Marketing and Journalism Pros Should Use to Improve Digital Message Visibility

NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Content quality is playing a central role in Google's search rank algorithm, along with user actions such as click-through rates and social sharing, according to the newly-published 2014 Ranking Factors Study from Searchmetrics.  Communicators charged with creating and publishing online content can improve message visibility and campaign results by keeping the key search rank factors identified in the study top of mind when developing messages slated for digital publication.

Key tactics for better campaign results

Many of the top signals Google takes into account are derived from the actions an audience takes upon consuming digital content, such as the number of times they follow links served up in a message, or the number of times they share it with their social networks.  Search engines interpret user actions as important indicators of content quality, working on the assumption that people won't like, share, post or click on content they don't consider useful or interesting.

The opportunity for communicators is clear.  Developing quality content that inspires audience interactions will improve results for the publisher.  Using top search rank factors to guide content tactics is an important first step.  Four tactics almost anyone charged with authoring blog posts, articles, press releases or other digital content can use to generate more message visibility and interaction include:

1. Encourage click-throughs by embedding a clear and prominent call to action ("CTA") in your content.  While this is old hat for marketers, many PR pros don't think about embedding CTAs in the press releases they issue.  They should, because when they distribute a press release online via a network like PR Newswire's, that message will appears on hundreds if not thousands of third party web sites, exposing it to public audiences.  Embedding a call to action in the form of a link toward the top of the page (right after the first or second paragraph) effectively creates a distributed portal directly back to the web site the release is promoting.
2. Employ multiple visuals:  Multiple visuals capture more attention for the message and increase the potential for additional message amplification when people share individual visual elements socially (thus creating pathways back to the core message.)  (Related reading: http://prn.to/XVaLpX)
3. Write naturally, using a mix of keywords, key phrases and related acronyms.  Don't repeat the same word or phrase over and over – doing so is boring for your readers, and can make the content look like spam to search engines.
4. Go long.  Goggle is placing a premium on long-form content, giving brands permission (and incentive) to explore and expand upon ideas in depth.  One important note – just because a piece of content is longer doesn't automatically mean that it's going to generate more visibility.  Length means nothing if the content isn't robust.

For more details, tactics and analysis, as well as a slide deck offering examples, see the original post "Content Quality Drives Search Rank & Visibility," here: http://prn.to/2014PRSEO 

Quality content can produce the signals that help will drive the website to the top of the search results page and, along the way, generate earned media, influence buyer journeys and drive the sort of social sharing and user actions that amplify messages and drive brand stories deep into new audiences. The result?  Lasting visibility for the message and better return on the PR and marketing investment for the brand.

About PR Newswire

PR Newswire (www.prnewswire.com) is the premier global provider of multimedia platforms that enable marketers, corporate communicators, sustainability officers, public affairs and investor relations officers to leverage content to engage with all their key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry 60 years ago, PR Newswire today provides end-to-end solutions to produce, optimize and target content -- from rich media to online video to multimedia -- and then distribute content and measure results across traditional, digital, mobile and social channels. Combining the world's largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the world's enterprises to engage opportunity everywhere it exists. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and is a UBM plc company.

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