Bond between SEO and PR grows stronger

To celebrate Google’s 15^th anniversary back in September, the search engine giant launched a new algorithm designed to provide a more ‘human friendly’ service.

‘Hummingbird’ is said to offer a more natural way to use the search facility. Complex search requests will be better understood due to Google’s improved ability to interpret the human language, and results will be more direct.

So what does this all mean for businesses?

It is widely acknowledged that the days of trying to ‘cheat the system’ with poor quality backlinks are long gone. Simply showering web pages with key words that do not have any relevance or meaning, will also not register favourably with Google.

Hummingbird reiterates the importance that Google places on honest, high quality websites with well written copy. The need for engaging, shareable, linkable content has never been as great, so the role of a PR consultancy will continue to grow in this digital arena.

Of course time is precious and keeping a website current is not an easy task. However, with a PR strategy in place, organisations can ensure they also build their portfolio of website news, blog commentary, case studies, white papers, videos and social media dialogue.

At CBI, we deliver the above and so much more. We can prepare a non-technical SEO report, which audits the marketing effectiveness of your website and suggests areas for improvement. This helps to demystify some of the perceived complexities surrounding SEO and provides clients with the tools to increase their natural listings. We also prepare content plans for our customers, to ensure the profile of their websites will grow thanks to the addition of new, authoritative and value-adding material.

Technology blogs have estimated that Hummingbird will have an impact on approximately 90% of all searches. Even websites that have previously performed strongly in the natural listings may have to re-think their SEO strategy.

So, if SEO has not been a priority before, it certainly should be now.

To assess the marketing effectiveness of your website and to ensure you are ‘Hummingbird-friendly’, please contact Ceris Burns International on 01825 714329 or email info@cbipr.com