Charley Hayes is a public relations practitioner and social media strategist at Onlinefire, says that SEO is becoming more and more important to PRs.

SEO PR or ‘Search Engine Optimisation Public Relations’ is a term which has been banded around for a number of years, but it is only recently that the PR industry has adopted the practice in earnest.

This is mainly because there’s been a lot of controversy over who should own SEO, but fundamentally, SEO and PR go hand in hand. They work together to dramatically enhance a brand’s online presence and positively influence search.

Specifically, the aim of SEO PR is to increase brand visibility and conversation when consumers search for your products or services. After all, the first few pages of Google should return only the most relevant and positive news, reviews and commentary.  You want your brand to be at the top of that list.

Link building is another important area where SEO and PR work together. Incoming quality links are a vital part of success on Google, and the value of these links to a company website cannot be underestimated.

Brands have relationships with a plethora of organisations, and PRs spend much of their time helping to promote and nurture these relationships. To successfully build your brand position on Google, it is essential to encourage relevant and high-ranking sites to link to you. This is where SEO PR again plays a pivotal role.

Whatever you believe about the debate – PR and SEO are working towards the same end goal; to achieve positive brand exposure to future potential customers.

Charley Hayes is a public relations practitioner and digital PR specialist with wide ranging client experience; from technology to travel and sports to drinks, in both business-to-business and consumer sectors. A social media strategist at Onlinefire, Charley has worked across online PR campaigns for Virgin Media, Panasonic and the Post Office.