Digital PR ≠ Link-Building

Digital PR is not link-build­ing for SEO. 

The rap­id evol­u­tion of the inter­net and social media has trans­formed the com­mu­nic­a­tions industry — and PR pro­fes­sion­als must adapt. 

Some “digit­al PR” agen­cies have focused on prac­tices like link-build­ing, DA (domain author­ity) map­ping, and web­mas­ter outreach.

But this is SEO, not digit­al PR.

How should these dis­tinc­tions be made?

Here we go:

Digital PR ≠ Link Building

PR pro­fes­sion­als used to wield their influ­ence through tra­di­tion­al media rela­tions, craft­ing press releases and pitch­ing stor­ies to news­pa­pers, radio, and television. 

But as the digit­al land­scape evolved, so did PR. Social media, blogs, pod­casts, and oth­er online chan­nels presen­ted new oppor­tun­it­ies for communication.

Digital PR emerged as an exten­sion of tra­di­tion­al PR, incor­por­at­ing new plat­forms and tactics. 

Unfortunately, some agen­cies began equat­ing digit­al PR with basic SEO prac­tices to pur­sue tan­gible res­ults, which many thought would be “easy wins.” 

Link build­ing itself can be an immensely power­ful prac­tice, but you must be a skilled SEO pro­fes­sion­al to cap­it­al­ise on the work fully.

Getting links is one thing.
Getting the right links is a little trick­i­er.
And optim­ising a site for a spe­cif­ic link-build­ing strategy?

You don’t need a PR expert. You need an SEO professional.

The Digital Stagnation

How did we end up in this situation?

Many PR agen­cies thought link-build­ing would be an “easy-win” to bless their retain­ers with the juicy gift of continuity.

Link-build­ing in the state of today is low-tier work. I’m sorry if this hurts anyone’s feel­ings. Automated out­reach to web­mas­ters via scraped email addresses is easy to sell and set up — and many cli­ents don’t mind out­sourcing this tedi­ous work.

As a res­ult, sig­ni­fic­ant parts of the PR industry suf­fer from a back­lash: Many agen­cies have even opted out of “digit­al PR” alto­geth­er because they tried their hand at SEO — and failed.

Because if you’re not optim­ising apps and web­sites, the tar­gets for such link-build­ing activ­it­ies, you’re not doing stra­tegic work.

(Does any­one remem­ber all those pesky “cam­paign sites”?)

This has led to an unfor­tu­nate “digit­al stag­na­tion” in large sec­tions of the agency industry as agen­cies struggle to stay rel­ev­ant and valu­able to their clients.

The Link-Building Cesspool

The rise of search engines and their ever-chan­ging algorithms have made search engine optim­iz­a­tion (SEO) a top pri­or­ity for busi­nesses and PR professionals. 

In this race for high­er search rank­ings, link-build­ing emerged as a neces­sary tac­tic to boost a website’s authority.

Unfortunately, link-build­ing has attrac­ted less-than-ser­i­ous vendors, driv­ing prices down — and under­min­ing the practice’s cred­ib­il­ity. (And this describes the state of cur­rent affairs mildly.)

As a res­ult, many PR agen­cies fix­ated on link-build­ing to demon­strate their digit­al PR prowess to cli­ents. This tun­nel vis­ion led to a dis­pro­por­tion­ate focus on acquir­ing back­links, often at the expense of more found­a­tion­al and stra­tegic PR work.

Digital PR spe­cial­ists who excel in digit­al strategy, con­tent cre­ation, or influ­en­cer rela­tions may feel under­val­ued or over­looked in an industry that seems to pri­or­it­ise link-build­ing above all else.

When Link Building Isn’t Enough

Many organ­iz­a­tions have suffered the con­sequences of this nar­row-minded link-build­ing approach to digit­al PR. 

For example, a well-known e‑commerce brand inves­ted heav­ily in link build­ing, believ­ing it would drive its online pres­ence and increase sales. However, they neg­lected oth­er crit­ic­al aspects of digit­al PR, such as con­tent cre­ation, influ­en­cer rela­tions, and social media engagement.

As a res­ult, the ini­tial burst of traffic rap­idly res­ul­ted in more people devel­op­ing unfa­vour­able rela­tion­ships with the brand. 

The PR industry’s mis­guided fix­a­tion on DA map­ping and link-build­ing cre­ates a self-per­petu­at­ing cycle that fur­ther hinders the growth of true digit­al PR. 

With the industry at a cross­roads, we must ask ourselves a simple but potent ques­tion: What is digit­al PR? 

What is Digital PR?

As digit­al PR spe­cial­ists, we must cham­pi­on a com­pre­hens­ive under­stand­ing of digit­al PR and edu­cate our cli­ents, col­leagues, and the pub­lic about our dis­cip­line’s true scope and value.

Digital PR = the stra­tegic use of online com­mu­nic­a­tion to build brand com­munit­ies, foster engage­ment, and man­age repu­ta­tion in the digit­al space. ¹Silfwer, J. (2017, November 20). What is Digital PR? Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​w​h​a​t​-​i​s​-​d​i​g​i​t​a​l​-​pr/

Targets: Inbound web traffic, brand com­munit­ies, sub­scribers, fans, fol­low­ers, influ­en­cers, social net­works, etc.

Here’s an over­view of digit­al PR capabilities:

Digital Strategy

Digital strategy = the pur­pose­ful use of digit­al tools and plat­forms to align com­mu­nic­a­tion goals with meas­ur­able out­comes and evolving brand audi­ence behaviours.

Examples of activities:

Online Monitoring

Online mon­it­or­ing = sys­tem­at­ic­ally track­ing digit­al con­ver­sa­tions, men­tions, and trends to assess brand sen­ti­ment, man­age crises, and gath­er action­able insights.

Examples of activities:

Content Management

Content man­age­ment = the struc­tured approach to cre­at­ing, organ­ising, pub­lish­ing, and optim­ising digit­al assets to engage brand audi­ences and achieve com­mu­nic­a­tion objectives.

Examples of activities:

Influencer Relations

Influencer rela­tions = the stra­tegic use of com­mu­nic­a­tion to estab­lish and sus­tain pro­duct­ive brand part­ner­ships with online influ­en­cers to amp­li­fy reach and foster trust.

Examples of activities:

Inbound Communications

Inbound com­mu­nic­a­tions = the tar­geted use of digit­al chan­nels to attract, engage, and con­vert brand audi­ences by provid­ing valu­able, rel­ev­ant information.

Examples of activities:

Social Media Management

Social media man­age­ment = the delib­er­ate use of social plat­forms to inter­act with audi­ences, build brand com­munit­ies, and man­age the online pres­ence and reputation.

Examples of activities:

Learn more: What is Digital PR?