Own Your Conversation

A few weeks back our class had the priviledge of hearing a lecture by SEO guru Vanessa Fox.  While speaking to us via Skype, Fox discussed several companies that failed to make themselves known through Google.  As Fox explained, it’s not enough just to have an amazing Web site, people have to be able to find it, and most people find sites by Googling.  What I found most interesting were the companies that spent millions of dollars on ad compaigns and then failed to optimize their sites.  (Apparently you have to make your Web site “readable” for Google.)   One example was the “Hang in there Jack” campaign by Jack In The Box. 

Many of us remember the moment vividly.  We were happily watching and analyzing another Super Bowl commercial when our beloved Jack was suddenly blindsided by a bus!  I, for one, was shocked and concerned.  Apparently so were others.  Thousands of viewers rushed to their computers and typed “hang in there jack” into their Google search bars, but they were all greatly disappointed.  Jack’s new Web site was not launched until the moment the commercial aired, and it wasn’t landing on Google’s top ten.  What a failure!  Millions of dollars on the ad spot and no one could Google the Web site.  While I’m still concerned for poor Jack, I’m happy to report his site is now doing well on Google.

Jack’s case and Fox’s presentation inspired me to do some of my own research.  I thought of some of my most and least favorite commercials and looked into how well their respective companies “owned” the conversation.  I’ve ranked them from least to most successful:

• Jared the Galleria of Jewelry: He Went to Jared Campaign –  Every one of the top ten Google results when searching “He went to Jared” is a Web site bashing this campaign.  This is the opposite of what a company wants.
• Stride Gum: Alternate Uses Campain – If you search “alternate gum uses” you’ll find Stride’s official Web site as the seventh result.  It’s safely in the top ten and it’s link is clearly labeled.
• Dancing With the Stars Campaign – Granted this campaign does not use a tagline.  The only thing you hear over and over is “Dancing With The Stars.”  Type these words into Google to understand what it means to own the conversation.

I Better Learn This Before Someone Steals My Job…

Considering my PR Campaigns class just had a lecture on SEO with Vanessa Fox, I thought this would be fitting.

It seems that more than ever we are hearing that companies need to do everything in their power to get to the top of the Google rankings. With the way the economy is right now, the more visibility a company and higher on Google they can get, the better. The phrase that is being used is search engine optimization or SEO.

I came across a post on the blog Rock Star PR by Jed Hallam about SEO and PR. The post basically summed up a Twitter discussion about whether or not PR practitioners should adopt SEO as part of their jobs since many SEO companies are now offering “online public relations” as part of their services. Hallam suggests that PR practitioners learn the techniques of SEO or else…

I definitely agree with Hallam in the sense that PR better jump on with SEO and learn some of the ins and outs before the SEO companies learn a thing or two about PR. I think what we have that the SEO companies don’t is training, quality and the ability to evolve and adapt.

PR practitioners learn to write and think strategically and ask questions and communicate in ways that many people don’t know how to. That in itself sets us above the SEO companies trying to sell online PR. The quality of content and meat in our writing also sets us apart. Also, PR practitioners have the ability to adapt to changes and pick up new tasks. PR tries to sell visibility with quality, as opposed to SEO companies that are trying to sell visibility and rankings, not necessarily with quality content.

Do you think that PR practitioners should pick up this new skill and get trained on how to optimize their search engine rankings for their clients? If PR doesn’t adapt and accept SEO as part of the practice do you think SEO companies will eventually win out over traditional PR companies?

Weekly roundup

The Agency started out the week by discussing viral video, prompted by this PR Squared post. In that post, Todd Defren pointed to a satirical sendup of the viral video phenomenon, but The Agency sees nothing humorous in the concept. Other students took a more favorable position in comments, citing the publicity push for this summer’s hit Batman release, The Dark Knight.

Metis PR focused instead on the changing face of journalism, and the effects of this shift on PR practices. This is obviously a hot topic in journalism and public relations circles alike–see for example Todd Defren’s proposed Social Media News Release. Is traditional journalism really on its deathbed? JMC417 Students overall seem convinced that traditional journalism is around for the long haul, although probably to a much smaller extent than today.

IRIS PR tackled the thorny topic of measurement and monitoring in public relations. The team chose a movie clip to illustrate both the range of possible reactions, and the problem of a lack of response to opinion surveys. Are these major issues in public relations today?

Cast Communication referred to PR Squared (who seems to be getting a lot of traffic from JMC417 students this week!) in questioning whether bloggers can and should be considered full-fledged members of the media. In comments, students have pointed out that not all bloggers are cut from the same cloth: some are experts, and some are the worst kind of dilettantes. There’s no one-size-fits-all description. When is there ever, really? On a related note, TALLfore reflected on the nature of blogging: who chooses to do it, and why. This post was prompted by Kami Huyse’s thoughtful discussion on what it takes to be a successful blogger. But what, exactly, does “successful” mean in this context? Students are still discussing this question in comments.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was the focus of Sparkle Media’s post, which builds on this recent entry by Kamy Huyse. Until recently, SEO was all about keywords and other behind-the-scenes strategies for improving search engine results. Kami notes that content is the real focus of web communication, not keywords.