How PR and SEO Team Up to Drive Organic Growth
The Dynamic Duo: How PR and SEO Join Forces to Boost Visibility and Drive Results
Public relations has always been about telling great stories and building meaningful connections. But as the digital world keeps evolving, PR isn’t just about pitching stories to the media anymore. Now, it’s also about making sure those stories reach the right people online—and that’s where SEO comes in.
At TrizCom PR, we’ve seen this shift in real-time. Businesses come to us asking for media coverage, hoping it will drive traffic to their website and boost sales. While media relations are essential, they’re only one piece of the puzzle. If your website isn’t showing up in search results when people look for what you offer, you’re leaving money (and opportunities) on the table.
The good news? When PR and SEO work together, magic happens.
Why PR and SEO Make a Great Team
Think of PR and SEO as two sides of the same coin. PR creates buzz, tells compelling stories and builds trust. SEO makes sure those stories get found online when someone is searching for answers. Together, they help brands connect with the right people in powerful, measurable ways.
Here’s how the partnership works:
Backlinks That Matter: PR efforts often lead to media coverage with links back to your website. These links aren’t just good for visibility—they’re like gold for search engines, signaling that your site is credible and worth showing to others.
Better Content Strategy: PR pros are natural storytellers, and SEO can enhance that storytelling by revealing what your audience is searching for. Combine the two and you’re creating content that’s both engaging and findable.
A Virtuous Cycle: PR helps build relationships and awareness, which drives more traffic to your site. That increased traffic (and those valuable backlinks) boost your search rankings, leading to even more visibility.
A Smarter Way to Think About PR
We live by the PESO Model—Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned media. Originally created by Spin Sucks, this Model isn’t just a framework; it’s a recipe for making every piece of your communications strategy work harder.
Paid Media gets you in front of a larger audience fast (think ads and sponsored content).
Earned Media builds trust and credibility through media coverage.
Shared Media creates conversations on social platforms.
Owned Media gives you a home base where your brand’s voice shines (like blogs, landing pages and whitepapers).
When you integrate these elements, your PR efforts don’t just feel cohesive—they become a powerful force for driving traffic, engagement and conversions.
Measuring PR’s Impact on Organic Traffic
Here’s a truth that PR pros don’t hear enough: what you do is measurable. Yes, even when it comes to things like organic search traffic.
With tools like Google Analytics, SEMrush or Ahrefs, you can track how much traffic comes from media placements, backlinks or PR-driven content. Create custom links (UTMs) for specific campaigns and you’ll see exactly what’s working and what’s not.
It’s not just about numbers, though. Pay attention to things like time spent on your site, pages viewed per visit and even how many people take action (sign up for your newsletter, download a whitepaper, etc.). These metrics show the quality of your efforts—not just the quantity.
One Quick Thing You Can Do Today
Here’s a simple way to start blending PR and SEO: Look up the top questions your audience is asking online.
Tools like Google’s “People Also Ask” feature or AnswerThePublic make it easy. Find a question related to your client or campaign and write a blog post, pitch or social media content that answers it. You’ll help your audience AND create content that’s more likely to get noticed by search engines.
PR and SEO aren’t just trendy buzzwords—they’re a dynamic duo that can make a lasting impact on your brand’s success. The key is thinking of them as partners, not competitors. When you combine the art of storytelling with the science of search optimization, you’re building a foundation for long-term visibility and trust.
The times may be changing, but one thing remains the same: great stories always win. Let’s just make sure those stories get found, too.