Tips for Creating a Cross-Functional SEO and PR for Companies

Company leaders should focus on the cross-functional relationship between SEO and PR. This partnership has its obstacles. 

First, PR may overlook SEOs. Second, SEO disregards the human stories aspect of PR as it centers its focus on shaping customer experience. However, one needs to find a balance. 

“You need to combine the storytelling aspect of PR with the systematic approach of SEO. That way, an enterprise can have a marketing campaign that shapes behavior. When the SEO and PR teams link with each other on strategies, then the links to the site are more effective,” says digital marketing expert Bill Fakui with MedShark Digital.

This essay focuses on unveiling how to achieve a marketing campaign that integrates SEO and PR to sustain an enterprise’s growth.

The Importance of an Integrated Marketing System

Many organizations have failed to integrate SEO and PR into their marketing system. McDonald’s is one of the model enterprises for this integrated system. They understand how SEO works and effectively employ it in their enterprise.

This integrated system has the potential to transform the online media landscape. This includes news, blogs, podcasts, webinars, and social media. With such a system in place, you are more likely to boost your overall marketing results.

One reason is that PR can help build a strong off-page user experience that boosts your organic visibility. Your application of SEO is also likely to influence customers’ buying and content behavior. In addition, you can drive more sales or convert more leads from the funnels created by SEO and PR.

Search engines are essential in a buyer’s journey, from realizing their pain points to purchasing. Such buyers mostly use search engines to find a solutions to their problems.

Search engines rarely fail these buyers in their searches. According to Hubspot, 87 percent of buyers will find answers to their problems online via search engines.

The Challenges of Integrating SEO and PR in an Enterprise

In an enterprise, a PR team has unique goals. They are mostly not concerned with ranking, which is why the problem lies with digital marketers.

First, PR teams do not specify their objectives to include SEO, and second, they find it difficult to integrate it efficiently. However, finding a cross-functional ground is important in achieving their goals.

However, you need to understand some dysfunctions in a cross-functional team. Understanding these dysfunctions will help you create a solution or set up a preventive measure.

• You should have one person as the team lead of the cross-functional team. This will help with accountability actions and working towards the same objectives
• The cross-functional team should have a common goal. You should also ensure that the resources available are for both teams. The strategies you employ should also reflect an integrated system
• The strategy for the PR team must align with that of the SEO team 
• Always evaluate and re-evaluate the cross-functional team to know what is working and what things to improve

Creating a Cross-Functional Team

A Cross-functional SEO team (CFSEO) includes members from the digital marketing department, SEO, PR content developers, IT and engineers, and leaders. It is a team focused on using different media and search engines to achieve the marketing department’s goals. 

Unlike the SEO team, where you measure impact by rankings, a CFSEO team is evaluated based on the overall impact it has on the enterprise’s results. An example of a cross-functional team is when digital marketers optimize their content using search engines.

In this process, after digital marketers create content, an SEO expert infuses it with keywords to optimize it.

Integrating PR into the CFSEO

To fully achieve your business results, you need to understand how to integrate CFSEO with PR and ensure that the team works to achieve a common goal.

The first step is to define the reason for the SEO and PR team’s collaboration. Defining this reason helps you set common objectives and results. You will then use this to check accountability.

Next, you need to build strategies to influence potential customers’ minds via your content. These strategies are employed in the various media you use. You also need to conduct a test.

To do this, select a product, create a content message, and then test this content on the audience. The testing should encompass on-page, search engines, and media placements. 

The next step is to outline your next course of action, which should involve determining the efficiency of each technique you tested. 

Understand How a CFSEO Alignment Map Works

The map illustrates how each stage of collaboration fits together. You can use it to draft strategic collaborations and indicate the tools needed.

The following include ways to use the CFSEO alignment map:

Objective Setting

To use the map, you need first to set the objectives. It is best to set a quarterly objective. You should also ensure that the team lead is an expert in both SEO and PR. 

Another objective-setting point is that the SEO and PR teams must be accountable for the same objective. Additionally, ensure that the objectives and key results align with the business goals. 

Building Strategy

You should conduct a situation analysis before building a strategy. You use the result of this analysis to build your strategies. Your analysis should answer the following questions

• What is the location of the customer?
• What is their interest?
• Where do they find solutions?
• What are they talking about?

Do not use a general strategy. Your company’s strategy must be unique. A typical cross-functional strategy should include the target audience, keywords, message, trusted sources for information, and media.

Key Result Setting

To set key results, you must first understand how potential customers are finding solutions and then clarify your strategies. When you have done both, you can set your key results.

Conducting Hypothesis Test

The first step is to find a technique you want to use. Then, you test this technique and measure the impact. The hypothesis test helps you understand the potential key results of the chosen technique.

The technique you select must have an organic asset, a relevant content message, media placements, and search engine keywords.

Final Words

One standard model you can use is the ERMS model. This model helps eliminate ineffective techniques, identify those that produce results but use too many resources, focus on sustainable results, and scale successful techniques.