CMO of Kiton USA, an Italian luxury clothing company.
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Are you a business owner or an individual entrepreneur who’s looking to reach wider audiences and improve customer acquisition? You can pursue a variety of techniques—and promoting your business content on search engines is one of the best ways to achieve these goals.
If you are looking to appear at the top of Google search results, consider publishing on quality online media sites. When media publications feature your branded content, you can reap numerous SEO-related benefits.
The SERP (search engine results page) is a search engine’s response to a user’s search request. The higher your business ranks on a SERP, the more discoverable, relevant and credible it is to online users. A high SERP ranking can also be more efficient at attracting people to your website than even the flashiest ads.
Think about it from the point of view of an ordinary user. When you Google a product or service, you would rather click on the top five to 10 search results than waste time scrolling down several pages, right? Now imagine your business occupies one of these top SERP positions. The amount of recognition you get will instantly skyrocket, you’ll get more visitors, and eventually, many of them are likely to convert into real customers.
What’s more, a high SERP ranking is a great source of brand credibility and trust. When users see your name on top of a search results page, they will know they’re clicking on a reliable link to get a quality product or service.
Publishing original content about you and your business can be an excellent source of a SERP ranking boost. And here’s why:
• Fresh, high-quality online media content can increase your publishing velocity—the rate at which pages are created and published. This is because you can use media publications as a basis for shorter social media content pieces or quote them in your blogs. As ConnectionModel explains on its blog, more content can help improve your rankings over time.
• Media publications can drive organic traffic to your webpages. And it’s not random online users who have stumbled upon your site accidentally. These people have clicked on your link with intent upon reading material dedicated to you and your brand. The growing organic traffic can bring your name even higher up the SERP.
• Media publishers populate content with relevant keywords related to your brand and niche. PR agencies and media outlets typically work hand in hand with SEO specialists who conduct keyword research for each publication. They choose the keyword combinations that will improve your SERP rankings and make it easier for people to find you online.
• Media publications are often enriched with backlinks. Moz explains that backlinks can enhance your domain authority, as well as the authority of your content, and increase its discoverability across other online channels.
These are just some of the ways publishing in the media can help you appear on top of search engine result pages. Give it a go and get discovered through top-quality articles and blogs on the most popular online media. The subsequent jump in your SERP ranking could contribute to booming business growth.
Now you might be wondering how you can approach media publishing to boost your SERP rating and reap more benefits. Naturally, turning to a reputable PR agency is one way to do so. But if you want to take matters into your own hands, you need to learn the trade of reaching out to online media. While it may seem intimidating, your marketing team can master pitching to media outlets.
Here are a few tips you can implement in your pitching strategy right away:
• Identify the outlets that are relevant to your niche and target audience. Don’t pitch to certain media outlets just because they have big names. Go for those outlets that cover the news about your industry and will be interested in telling readers about your business. And of course, keep your ideal customer persona in mind. Do they read the outlets of your choice? If not, you won’t benefit as much from the increased brand awareness.
• Be selective with your branded content. What stories about or around your brand are particularly newsworthy? Brainstorm with your marketing team, go over the trending stories in your niche and take a look at what your competitors are publishing.
• Pitch via email: It is the best outreach channel. According to Muck Rack, more than 90% of PR specialists still say individual emails are the most effective ways to pitch journalists. This is a great personalized communication channel to put forward your ideas and build relations.
• Personalize your pitch. It’s not only about the outlets you’re pitching to but also the person you’re communicating with. Do your research on the reporter or journalist you’re reaching out to and try to align your ideas with their news values. This approach can boost your chances of being selected for publication.
Remember: The more you pitch to media outlets, the more you’ll understand what type of content your brand can offer to the media space. And once you’ve scored your first publication, it’s all downhill from there.
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