If you are a public relations professional, don’t underestimate the power of learning SEO. Not only can you optimize every press release you put out the door and amplify the SEO impact of you (or your client’s) social media efforts, but you’ll be surprised at the value of keyword research.
Consider this: you secured a byline opportunity for your client in one of their leading industry publications. HOW MUCH MORE POWERFUL would that placement be if you were able to write it about a trending topic that was highly searched for online last month, then optimize that byline to show up in search results?
Instead of writing about a topic you assume readers will find interesting, you know before putting pen to paper – or mouse to Word – that it’s already something of interest AND demand! It’s a double whammy – and provides FAR more value to your client or your company.
How Can I Use It?
Keyword research isn’t only helpful for identifying the best keywords and phrases to integrate into your SEO efforts. It shows you what the most popular searches were for the month prior.
You can identify new trends – bolster them with client expertise and publish a press release, come up with great byline topics, optimize your placements for the optimal keywords, PLUS collect free market research to support business/product development.
It’s like a doorway into the mind of consumers… for free.
Give it a try! I use Google’s Keyword Research Tool, which does need an AdWords account to see full results. No purchase necessary.