Without a doubt, SEO, as a marketing activity, has the largest benefit of any marketing activity with which a website owner can engage. The sheer amounts of traffic that search engines such as Google can bring to a website are mind boggling, especially when considering a website in a niche with a lot of demand. As website owners, the benefit of a top ranking in Google for a relatively competitive keyword or phrase is obvious.

But as website owners, we often tend to get a case of tunnel vision. The rewards of that top ranking in Google loom so large in front of us that we forget the many other methods of marketing our websites which, when used together, can be just as powerful as a top ranking. Furthermore, these outside methods may also help us with our SEO.

As the search engines get smarter in the way that they determine which websites are important to users, it is necessary for us to make our websites more important within our industries. What does this mean? This means that we have to be visible – outside of the search engines. Search engines are a great reward for our hard work, but the legwork needs to first be done.

Public Relations (PR) – The Greatest Untapped Source of Traffic

Public relations is to the traditional “brick and mortar” store marketer what search engine marketing is to many website owners. Organic search engine rankings are effective because they act as an unbiased, third party recommendation of your website. Users who find your website through a search engine is more likely to trust your website because they typically trust the search engine itself.

Public relations acts in exactly the same way. When a user reads an article on your company, sees your name mentioned or reads a quote from you as an expert on a subject, trust is immediately given to your company. The resulting traffic is essentially free and will convert higher than any traffic that results from a paid advertisement.

If you are anything like me, hearing the speech on public relations is one that you do not necessarily want to hear. PR takes time, effort, a lot of creativity, and constant attention. There is no guarantee that public relations will result in a payout, especially if you have trouble getting worthwhile mentions in the media. Chances are fairly good that you are being a bit hypocritical.

Most website owners have no reservations on spending time and even some money on trying to rank well in the search engines. Anyone who has worked in the SEO field either on a personally owned website or as a consultant knows that SEO takes time, effort, creativity, and constant attention. There is no guarantee that SEO will result in a payout, especially if you have trouble getting a worthwhile ranking in the search engines. Sound familiar? (if not, read the paragraph above this one)

The fact is, public relations is actually much simpler to achieve success in than SEO, especially if you have a budget to pay for public relations. The PR field has been established for a much longer time than SEO and there are definite standards that you can follow to see success.

Public relations is most successful when you have a budget to hire a full-time professional (as is SEO). It is, however, possible to be successful in public relations without a professional, it just requires more work on your part. Whatever your situation is, you should at a minimum be sending out press releases, making contact with reporters and writers, and networking with industry experts.


Network, Network, Network

Another activity that is largely ignored by website owners is networking. In a more traditional business, networking is an absolute necessity. In order for most professionals to survive in their careers, they need to build a network of professionals that they know they can help and can in turn help them. Everyone is looking for some advantage in business, having a network of competent and skilled individuals that you can work through will give you an incredible advantage over your competitors.

Like PR, many website owners ignore networking. As a marketing activity, network can often feel like a waste of time, and approaching a stranger to form a business relationship can often be intimidating. Many website owners also have questions as to who they should network with. Because there is so much uncertainty with networking, this is often a task that is ignored.

So let's go over a few of the uncertain aspects of networking. Who should you network with? Everyone and anyone who is willing. It is absolutely impossible to know who will be able to offer a contact or a service that you will one day find to be invaluable. When network, remember that you are trying to establish a relationship, and relationships are two-way streets. Be willing to offer your contacts or even a favor to the person you are trying to establish as a true contact. Spend time to understand what the person actually does, where their expertise lies, and where they may need help.

Be proactive with your networking. Do not be afraid to contact the author of an article or the owner of another website with feedback, either in agreement or disagreement. Most web professionals invest a great deal of time and energy into their work, so having feedback from others is usually nice to have.

One of the great tricks I have learned from some of the great networkers that I have known is to make the networking personal. In other words, feel free to stray a bit from usual business. Most people have interests outside of their business lives...get to know these interests. If you are given the opportunity to actually engage in a conversation with someone, allow the topic to stray into a non-business area. The result will be more of a real friendship.

Most of all, do not be dejected if a person does not take the time to reciprocate your efforts. Networking is similar to sales, and specifically cold-calling. You often need to make many contacts before you see some success. Having a solid network of professionals that you can tap into when needed will certainly give you a distinct advantage over your competitors.

If you want to get started networking today, feel free to send me an email. I am always looking for new professionals to get to know. Just click on the contact us link at the top of this page to get our contact form.

Always Remember Your Customers

Hopefully the majority of your customers are happy with your service or product. If you have been successful in establishing enough trust to sell your product or service to a customer, then you have started a relationship which you should certainly try to continue.

Phrases like 'community building' have been used far too often on the Internet, but that does not mean that they do not have any validity. Although it is not always necessary to build a community among your users (you may not want them to know who each other is), building a long-term relationship with your customers is always a good idea. If you were successful once in establishing enough trust for them to buy your product or service, then the barriers of establishing trust for them to buy additional products or services in the future should be less.

Traditional recommendations for establishing a relationship with your customers include developing a mailing list or establishing a forum. These can certainly be effective ways of building a long-term relationship with your customers, but they may not be the best ways for your business. If your business has fewer clients but a higher revenue per client, more personal attention may be required. If, on the other hand, you rely on a large volume of clients, something as simple as having your website remember their name can help establish a relationship.

Keep Your Goal In Mind

As I mentioned earlier, website owners have a tendency to get tunnel vision over SEO. The world of the search engines is exciting and enticing. It is constantly changing and growing, and the benefits of seeing a top ranking in Google not only brings a nice boost in traffic, but it also would bring a bit of validation that your website is judged to be the best in your niche.

Unfortunately we get involved in a game similar to a dog chasing its tail. While we are waiting for Google to validate our website as the best suited website in our niche, Google is looking to see who has actually established themselves as the best suited website in our niche. If you are a relative unknown in your industry, Google will not give you a top ranking. So instead of working on getting a thousand links through what may now be useless link exchanges, or working on finding that perfect keyword density, spend some time establishing your business as an expert in your field.


There are plenty of websites that enjoy top rankings in the search engines without conforming to what we would consider to be perfect on-page optimization or other metrics of SEO. SEO in today's world goes beyond simple metrics. Google is looking for expert websites, not a website that has been optimized ad naseum.

The marketing methods described in this article are certainly not new. That is the beauty of them. These methods existed before the Internet sported websites such as Google, Yahoo, or an Amazon.com. They were successful before there was such a term as SEO, and they are still successful today. Focusing your energy on these marketing techniques may or may not result in giving you a top ranking. One thing is certain, though – they will help you grow your business without needing a top ranking.

Promoting Your Site Outside of Google and SEO was written by Mark Daoust.

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