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How Digital PR Works To Improve SEO Results

In the ever-competitive online landscape, prioritising digital PR within your SEO strategy will ensure you don’t fall behind. The benefits go much deeper than just backlinks. Using digital PR to support your SEO efforts will increase your brand awareness and visibility, drive referral traffic, boost E-E-A-T signals, and ultimately increase revenue – the stuff that matters!

Before getting into the value of digital PR, we’ll remind you of the four key pillars of a successful SEO strategy:

  • On-page SEO: This focuses on optimising your website’s content and HTML code to be search engine friendly.
  • Technical SEO: Ensures your website is structured in a way that search engines can easily crawl and index your content.
  • Content: Creating useful and relevant answers to the questions your target audience is searching for.
  • Off-page SEO: This is where digital PR comes in – building your website’s authority through backlinks and other external signals.

While the simplest way of measuring digital PR activity is by the number of pieces of coverage and backlinks you achieve, the potential SEO benefits go much further:

The benefits of digital PR for SEO

Bring in better quality links than old-school link building methods 

Unlike outdated link building methods that might focus on quantity over quality, digital PR excels at acquiring high-authority, relevant backlinks. Backlinks act like votes of confidence for search engines. The bigger and more established the brand or website linking to you, the stronger the positive impact on your website’s ranking in the SERPs. Digital PR secures these valuable links naturally by forging relationships with journalists and creating genuinely insightful content that they want to share! This focus on link-earning (rather than buying) ensures you get the most relevant and authoritative links that Google values the most.

Improve DR/DA/TF

Securing high-quality links through digital PR in turn improves your website’s Domain Ranking (or similar metrics like Domain Authority or Trust Flow).

As an example, we increased our loan agency client’s DR from 38 to 48 through landing links in high tier publications. Recognising the media’s appetite for money-saving hacks, a topic directly relevant to our client, we identified “insta-mums” keen to share tips on extending the lifespan of school uniforms. This angle resonated with journalists, earning linked coverage in key dailies like The Sun and The Echo. Given the high authority these publications hold in Google’s eyes, these votes of confidence significantly boosted our client’s ranking.

Increase brand awareness and online visibility

By securing placements in relevant publications and online outlets, you’re putting your brand in front of a targeted audience who actively engages with those sources. This exposure fuels brand awareness, resulting in your target market gaining familiarity with your name and services.  Every piece of brand name anchor text, and every mention in the news and on social media, acts as a brand signal – reinforcing brand identity and playing a part in Google’s measurement of ‘brand authority’.

Boost E-E-A-T signals

Most SEOs and PRs will know all about this acronym and its importance, but if E-E-A-T is new to you – it’s a concept that’s included in Google’s Quality Raters Guidelines. These guidelines are essentially a roadmap for the human raters who evaluate the quality and relevance of search results and for websites aiming for top positions, building strong E-E-A-T signals is crucial. 

Digital PR secures placements in reputable news outlets, showcasing your expertise on relevant topics and demonstrating the trust these publications have placed in your brands. This is especially the case when the campaigns utilise expert commentary. Coverage of your business’ experts lends credibility and directly contributes to your E-E-A-T signals. They’re particularly important for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) industries –  pages that cover topics with the potential to impact a user’s happiness, health, financial stability or safety.

At Cedarwood, we specialise in helping YMYL businesses to boost their E-E-A-T and consequential site traffic, through digital PR efforts. For instance, we used thought leadership initiatives to improve the SEO of a medical negligence client. Since they fall squarely within the YMYL category, we collaborated with their in-house experts to share informative expertise around medical symptoms and amplify their expertise and authority signals in the process. We outreached these comments in line with specific awareness days and the approach proved a huge success – generating over 100 pieces of linked coverage pointing back to the client’s website!

Generate referral traffic

Digital PR generates a wave of targeted referral traffic by securing links in media outlets frequented by your ideal audience. It attracts the right kind of traffic: consumers already interested in your industry. These clicks not only translate to new website visitors, but can also nurture existing leads further down the line. The more high-quality links you build in relevant publications, and the higher you rank in search results, the greater your visibility becomes – attracting a steady stream of potential customers.

Boost leads, sales & revenue through growing traffic and improving visibility

So, why does this all matter? Well digital PR isn’t just about links and website traffic; what’s most important is the sales and revenue growth this drives. Digital PR increases your prominence in search results. This then increases the opportunities you have to capture qualified leads and convert them into paying customers. 

Think about it this way, you’ll be outreaching your PR to only the most relevant publications, read by your ideal customer. This targeted traffic is far more likely to convert than a generic website visitor who stumbles across one of your pages. Plus, these customers are that little bit more likely to press ‘buy’ because they’ve seen your brand in a respected publication, featured alongside other trust-worthy sources. That additional trust is so important to give users the confidence to purchase.

Improve your SEO results with Cedarwood Digital 

At Cedarwood Digital, we’re experts in crafting targeted digital PR campaigns that generate high-quality backlinks, establish your brand as a thought leader, and ultimately help you reach your SEO goals.  We understand the intricate connection between digital PR and SEO, and use this to drive traffic, and boost your business’ conversions.

Find out more about our digital PR team here, or drop us an email today to discuss a tailored strategy for your site.

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Reactive Digital PR: What Is It And How To Do It

Reactive digital PR, or newsjacking, can be a simple, effective and low budget way to generate high quality coverage and backlinks for your brand. Done correctly, it can help boost your SEO performance, as well as impacting brand awareness and allowing you to ‘own’ your chosen space within the media. 

It’s all about capitalising on trending topics and news cycles to land valuable backlinks and media coverage. Unlike the larger, meticulously planned “hero” PR campaigns, reactive PR allows you to create quick, impactful content that resonates with journalists and your target audience. While long-term strategic PR remains crucial, incorporating reactive campaigns helps you secure consistent coverage throughout the year, keeping your brand relevant by ensuring you’re always a part of the conversation.

This post will explain what reactive digital PR is and the benefits it offers, as well as helpful tips on how to successfully introduce it to your marketing strategy. We’ll also look at proactive digital PR, how it differs, and what it can offer for your strategy.

What is Reactive Digital PR: 

Put simply, reactive digital pr involves reacting to current events with either expert comments or useful data. With reactive, you’re keeping a close eye on news, waiting for the moment where a story relevant to your brand’s niche breaks. It relies on identifying the perfect moments to interject with valuable commentary. The key lies in expertise: if your client has unique data or in-house specialists, their insights can be valuable contributions to the conversation sparked by the news story. 

Reactive PR plays a crucial role in steadily building your online presence over time and bridging the gaps between larger, planned campaigns. 

Let’s illustrate this with a real-world scenario. We recently executed a successful reactive campaign for our client specialising in medical negligence. When news emerged about Chas Dingle’s breast cancer diagnosis in Emmerdale, we saw a chance to raise awareness about the importance of early detection. We promptly secured expert commentary from one of our client’s internal healthcare professionals on the topic of recognisable symptoms. This resulted in valuable coverage from various publications, positioning our client as a trusted source of information.

What about Proactive Digital PR:

While very similar, the key difference between reactive and proactive digital PR is in the name. Reactive digital PR is unplanned, reacting to the latest news, while proactive digital PR can be planned in advance. Admittedly, predicting the exact news cycle is impossible – however, we can anticipate potential areas of interest. An effective strategy is to analyse the previous year’s news headlines to identify recurring themes and events.

This would usually be based around key dates coming up in the calendar, for example:

  • Holidays: Easter, Valentine’s, Christmas etc.
  • Seasonality: Daylight savings, extreme weather, spring/summer etc.
  • Financial: Government budget, inflation rates, tax returns etc.
  • Pop Culture: Awards season, TV & movie release dates etc.
  • Sport: Olympics, World Cup, Superbowl, Premier League season etc.

That being said, jumping on every fleeting trend isn’t the answer. The key is to strategically select opportunities that align with your brand and resonate with their target audience.

What are the benefits of Reactive Digital PR:

Reactive digital PR offers unique advantages and should certainly be a significant part of your overall strategy. Here’s why: 

  • Low-cost

Reactive digital PR leverages existing news stories, minimising the need to put substantial resources towards your own data collection or content creation. This makes it much more cost-effective than some other approaches to digital PR.

  • Quick turnaround

The beauty of reactive digital PR is that, by capitalising on current events, you can secure links in a quick time frame. Due to the time-sensitive nature of newsjacking, you can receive media placements more immediately than in a longer-term campaign where results often require patience.

  • Boost SEO performance

Links earned through reactive PR placements in high-authority publications send strong signals to search engines about your website’s experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). This can significantly boost your website’s ranking in search results, leading to increased organic traffic and brand visibility.

  • Amplified brand awareness 

Reactive digital PR ensures your brand is consistently appearing in the media. This exposure significantly increases brand awareness and recognition, keeping your company at the forefront of your target audience’s mind.

  • Builds your reputation as experts 

When you frequently provide valuable commentary or data tied to trending news stories, you establish your brand as a trusted authority within your niche. Journalists take notice, and this can lead to a snowball effect. They’re more likely to reach out directly in the future for your expert opinions for upcoming stories, further solidifying your reputation as a thought-leader in your field.

How to spot opportunities for Reactive Digital PR

Wondering how to spot those golden opportunities for reactive digital PR? Here are our secrets:

  • Monitor the news

Develop a habit of consuming news content regularly, both within your specific industry and across broader topics. Subscribe to industry-specific publications and follow relevant journalists on social media. The more content you consume, the more chance you have of spotting opportunities

  • Set up alerts

Use tools like Google Alerts and Talkwalker Alerts to stay on top of keywords and topics relevant to your brand. You’ll receive real-time notifications whenever these keywords appear online, allowing you to react quickly to breaking news and trending stories.

  • Sign up to journo request services 

Platforms like ResponseSource & HARO connect journalists with PRs; by actively monitoring these platforms, you can identify opportunities to provide insightful commentary and secure media placements.

  • Keep an eye on relevant hashtags 

Twitter is a goldmine for journalists seeking expert opinions. Monitor hashtags like #journorequest and you’ll be able to seize prime opportunities for reactive PR.

Our top tips:

We’ll finish by doing you a favour and giving you our ultimate top tips for a successful reactive PR campaign.

  1. Remember, speed is key

Competition is fiercer than ever and journalists’ inboxes overflow with pitches on the same trending topics. Ensure you have a streamlined sign-off process in place which allows you to respond as quickly as possible to opportunities; if you take too long someone will beat you to it, or the story will become old and irrelevant.

  1. Make use of internal spokespeople

Your expertise is your biggest strength and the key to a winning story may be right under your nose! If possible, build a bank of usable quotes in advance for speedy responses. Secure commentary from key spokespeople on a variety of topics commonly covered in the news. Then, when a reactive opportunity strikes, you can quickly tailor these existing quotes to fit the specific story, saving valuable time.

  1. Utilise existing content where possible 

Mine your blog and other on-site resources for material that could be repurposed for reactive PR opportunities. Even just slightly revamping existing content can significantly improve its chances. Reactive campaigns offer a chance to revisit and potentially breathe new life into past content and this has the plus of saving you time and effort down the line.

  1. Build detailed data hubs on your site

Data hubs can house industry reports and stats relevant to your niche – becoming your go-to resource for reactive stories. These hubs, when optimised with relevant keywords, also have the potential to rank organically in search results. This will attract qualified traffic to your website, further establishing you as a thought leader.

  1. Pick your battles

You want to make sure that the stories you’re reacting to are relevant for your brand. Don’t try to shoehorn your way into every story you see – you need to make sure you’re actually adding value to the story. It’s also a good idea to discuss brand-sensitive topics with your client beforehand to avoid potential missteps.

  1. It’s not for everyone

Reactive PR needs speed. If you lack the internal resources to quickly generate responses and secure approvals, or aren’t willing to have an opinion on trending topics, this might not be the strategy for you.

A winning digital PR Strategy from Cedarwood Digital

At Cedarwood Digital, we’ve got years of experience utilising reactive digital PR strategies to get our clients in front of their audience. We have access to advanced tools, allowing us to identify upcoming trends and put a brand at the centre of the conversation.

If you’d like to find out more about how our digital PR team can drive coverage for your business, please get in touch today.

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70 Free Data Sources For Your Digital PR Campaigns (All In One Place!)

Over the last few months I’ve spent a lot of time talking about Creating Low Cost High Return Digital PR campaigns – but in order to do that, knowing where to go for free data is a huge bonus!

Below we’ve compiled a quick list of 70 great (free) data sources that you can use for your Digital PR campaigns, so if you are looking for inspiration for your next piece of data analysis, look no further!

Government Agencies:

  1. Office for National Statistics (ONS): Extensive economic, social, and demographic data. (https://www.ons.gov.uk/)
  2. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS): Data on business sectors, energy, and innovation. (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-energy-and-industrial-strategy)
  3. Department for Education (DfE): Education and skills data at national and regional levels. (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education)
  4. Food Standards Agency (FSA): Data on food safety, diet, and nutrition. (https://www.food.gov.uk/)
  5. Environment Agency: Environmental data on pollution, water quality, and waste. (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency)

Industry Associations & Research Bodies:

  1. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD): Data on HR practices, workforce trends, and employee engagement. (https://www.cipd.org/en/)
  2. Federation of Small Businesses (FSB): Data on small business demographics, challenges, and growth. (https://www.fsb.org.uk/)
  3. Retail Economics: Retail sales data and insights into consumer spending behavior. (https://www.retaileconomics.co.uk/)
  4. Centre for Cities: Research and data on urban economies and city development. (https://www.centreforcities.org/)
  5. The Work Foundation: Research on work, employment, and the changing nature of jobs. (https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundation/)

Public & Academic Institutions:

  1. Bank of England: Economic data, policy decisions, and financial market analysis. (https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/)
  2. Resolution Foundation: Research on living standards, poverty, and inequality. (https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/)
  3. National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR): Independent economic research and forecasting. (https://www.niesr.ac.uk/)
  4. Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Research on poverty, inequality, and social justice. (https://www.jrf.org.uk/)
  5. The Health Foundation: Independent research on health and social care issues. (https://www.health.org.uk/)

Business & Consumer Data Providers:

  1. Statista: Global market research data and statistics on various industries. (https://www.statista.com/)
  2. Euromonitor International: Market research data and insights on consumer trends. (https://www.euromonitor.com/)
  3. Kantar Worldpanel: Consumer behavior and purchase data across various product categories. (https://www.worldpanel.com/)
  4. Nielsen: Market research data on media consumption, advertising, and consumer trends. (https://www.nielsen.com/)
  5. GfK: Market research data on consumer behavior, retail sales, and brand preferences. (https://www.gfk.com/home)

Data Portals & Open Data Initiatives:

  1. Data.gov.uk: Open data platform from the UK government. (https://www.data.gov.uk/)
  2. London Datastore: Open data platform for London. (https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset)
  3. Scotland’s Open Data Platform: Open data platform for Scotland. (https://opendata.scot/)
  4. Open Data Wales: Open data platform for Wales. (https://datamap.gov.wales/)
  5. Northern Ireland Open Data Platform: Open data platform for Northern Ireland. (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/open-data)

News & Media Resources:

  1. BBC News: News data and statistics from the BBC. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news)
  2. The Guardian: Data journalism and interactive features from The Guardian. (https://www.theguardian.com/)
  3. The Times: News data and analysis from The Times (may require free registration). (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/)
  4. The Telegraph: Data journalism and interactive features from The Telegraph (may require free registration). (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)
  5. Financial Times: Financial data and analysis from the Financial Times (may require free registration). (https://www.ft.com/)
  6. Sky News: News data and statistics from Sky News. (https://news.sky.com/)

Trade Associations & Professional Bodies:

  1. Confederation of British Industry (CBI): Business surveys and economic forecasts. (https://www.cbi.org.uk/)
  2. Institute of Directors (IoD): Data on director attitudes and business decision-making. (https://www.iod.com/)
  3. Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM): Data on marketing trends, consumer behavior, and advertising effectiveness. (https://www.cim.org/)
  4. Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW): Data on financial reporting, accounting practices, and business confidence. (https://www.icaew.com/)
  5. Law Society of England and Wales: Data on legal trends, access to justice, and the legal profession. (https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/)
  6. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS): Data on property prices, housing market trends, and construction activity. (https://www.rics.org/)
  7. The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT): Data on logistics, transport, and supply chain management. (https://www.ciltuk.org.uk/)

Retail & Consumer Insights:

  1. British Retail Consortium (BRC): Retail sales data and insights into consumer spending trends. (https://www.brc.org.uk/)
  2. Office for National Statistics – Retail Sales:
  3. IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index: Data on online retail sales and e-commerce trends.
  4. Which?: Consumer research and product reviews from Which?. (https://www.which.co.uk/)
  5. MoneySavingExpert: Consumer finance data, price comparisons, and money-saving tips. (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/)

Social Media & Online Trends:

  1. Google Trends: Track search trends and see what people are interested in. (https://trends.google.com/)
  2. Sprout Social: Social media analytics and insights (free trial available). (https://sproutsocial.com/)
  3. Brandwatch: Social media listening and analytics platform (free trial available). (https://www.brandwatch.com/)
  4. Buzzsumo: Content marketing insights and influencer identification tool (free trial available). (https://www.buzzsumo.com/)
  5. Talkwalker: Social media monitoring and analytics platform (free trial available). (https://www.talkwalker.com/)

Sustainability & Environmental Data:

  1. Committee on Climate Change (CCC): Independent advice on tackling climate change in the UK. (https://www.theccc.org.uk/)
  2. Met Office: Weather data, climate change information, and environmental data. (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/)
  3. UK Green Building Council (UKGBC): Data on sustainable construction and green building trends. (https://www.ukgbc.org/)

Health & Wellbeing Data:

  1. The King’s Fund: Independent health research and analysis. (https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/)
  2. NHS Digital: Health data and statistics from the National Health Service. (https://digital.nhs.uk/)
  3. Mental Health Foundation: Data on mental health and wellbeing in the UK.
  4. Cancer Research UK: Cancer statistics and research data. (https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/)

Education & Skills Data:

  1. Department for Education – Education & Training Statistics: Education and training statistics from the Department for Education.
  2. Ofqual: Data on qualifications, assessment, and regulation in education. (https://www.ofqual.gov.uk/)
  3. The Sutton Trust: Research on social mobility and education. (https://www.suttontrust.com/)
  4. The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI): Research and analysis on higher education policy. (https://www.hepi.ac.uk/)

Transport & Travel Data:

  1. Department for Transport (DfT): Transport statistics and data on roads, railways, and aviation. (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport)
  2. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA): Data on air travel, airports, and aviation safety. (https://www.caa.org.uk/)
  3. National Highways: Data on traffic flow and road conditions on motorways and major A roads in England. (https://www.nationalhighways.co.uk/)

Culture & Entertainment Data:

  1. Office for National Statistics – Culture, Media & Sport: Data on cultural participation, leisure activities, and the creative industries.
  2. Arts Council England: Data on arts funding, cultural participation, and the creative economy. (https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/)
  3. Barbican Centre: Data on audience engagement and trends in performing arts. (https://www.barbican.org.uk/)
  4. British Film Institute (BFI): Data on the UK film industry, cinema attendance, and audience preferences. (https://www.bfi.org.uk/)

Public Opinion & Polling Data:

  1. YouGov: Polling data on public opinion and social attitudes (free basic account available). (https://yougov.co.uk/)
  2. Ipsos MORI: Polling data on public opinion, social issues, and political attitudes. ([invalid URL removed])
  3. NatCen Social Research: Social research data on a wide range of topics (some free data available). (https://www.natcen.ac.uk/)
  4. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR): Public relations industry surveys and reports. (https://www.cipr.co.uk/)

Want to you know more about what Digital PR can do for your business? Get In Touch!

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Digital PR Ideation: How To Come Up With Ideas

Stuck in a digital PR rut? Struggling to brainstorm fresh ideas that will resonate with your audience? There’s no denying that the brainstorm is one of the most important parts of any digital PR campaign. After all, great brainstorms produce great ideas which generate great results. But what makes a great brainstorm?

This blog will provide practical tips to fuel your next brainstorming session and generate effective campaign ideas. We’ll explain exactly what to do before, during and after a brainstorm to make it as productive as possible.

Before Your Brainstorm

  1. Research, research, research

The more research you do prior to the brainstorm, the better your chance of success (as the saying goes – if you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail). Research your brand, as well as the wider market you’re part of. Your ideas, and eventual campaign, will need to deeply resonate with your brand’s messaging and the values of your audience.

Explore the media landscape – what publications are you hoping to feature in and what sort of content do they publish? Analyse their audience demographics and dive deep into understanding their content to ensure your campaign and outreach is tailored effectively.

Research your competition and assess the sort of content they’re producing. Keep tabs on digital PR Twitter, LinkedIn and industry blogs and newsletters to see what is working well. Competitor research can be used to spark original ideas – look for recurring themes and identify insights to inform your own strategy.

It’s also important to carry out a review of all the sources already available on your topic; your campaign needs to be adding value to the data and expertise already out there. Examine the existing data and studies published on the subject, and perhaps research experts on the topic that you may be looking to work with. Scout out how people have been tackling this topic and identify opportunities to explore new territory beyond what others may have already covered.

  1. Choose your participants wisely

Don’t overlook the brains behind the operation! Choosing the right people for the job is key to success and we’d recommend thinking outside the box. Don’t just limit yourself to the digital PR team, consider bringing in people from other parts of your business, as they might be able to provide new insights into the brand, or provide a fresh perspective. 

A member of the SEO department may be able to provide useful intel on search trends relating to your campaign topic. Equally, your PPC team could be harbouring demographic knowledge that could help refine your PR strategy to reach the target audience. 

  1. Provide a detailed brief

It’s a good idea to share a brief with the participants before a brainstorm. This will ensure that everyone in the session will be able to sufficiently prepare, or at least begin to start getting some ideas flowing. Send your brief a week before the brainstorm to allow everyone to fully absorb the details and come prepared.

What should you look to include in a briefing document? Here’s our checklist:

  • ☑️Outline the brand
  • ☑️Include details on the target audience & publications
  • ☑️Highlights from your research
  • ☑️Guidance on what you’re hoping to achieve with this campaign (point out key products or focus areas)
  • ☑️Specific areas you can/can’t discuss
  • ☑️A couple of points of inspiration (campaigns and topics that are working in this space)
  • ☑️Perhaps some preliminary ideas to get the ball rolling 

During Your Brainstorm 

  1. Icebreakers 

Before jumping straight into the ideation, we recommend leading a couple of icebreakers to loosen people up and get them feeling creative. Don’t overlook how nerve racking it can be to share ideas in a group of people, especially for newer team members. Creative warm-ups can help everyone relax and let their guard down to make sure you have the most effective session.

Another tip is to use AI to help you with these icebreakers. Include details in the prompt on how long you’d like to spend on the warm-ups and core topics you’ll be covering in the brainstorm. You’ll receive a list of fun icebreaker ideas tailored around the subject of your brainstorm to help generate a relaxed and creative space at the start of your meeting.

A couple of our go-to icebreakers are:

Alternative Uses: Give each member of your brainstorm a different item and challenge them to come up with as many alternative uses for that item as possible within 3 minutes e.g. a charging cable could become a bracelet, a measuring tool, a cat toy or even an organiser to other cables!

Two Handed Drawing: Give each member of your brainstorm 2 pieces of paper and 2 pens or pencils. Then ask them all to either write a certain word, or draw a certain image. The challenge is that they have to do the same thing with both hands, at the same time! The idea behind this warm-up is to engage both the left and right sides of your brain.

  1. Share sources of inspiration 

Ask your team to bring along some examples of relevant, successful campaigns they particularly like. Ahrefs’ content explorer tool is great for diving into topics and reviewing the pieces that have gained the most links. You can also use Buzzsumo to track content across social channels; enter a topic to discover the content people have been talking about the most. The reality is that some of the most effective campaigns stem from ideas found elsewhere and repurposed.

Competitors can also provide great inspiration. No one likes a copycat but keeping an eye on the content competitors have had success with is a good idea. Ahrefs again comes in really handy here. After you’ve entered a domain into the Site Explorer tool, you can sort by ‘Best by links’, which shows you the resources and content the website has published which has gained it most of its backlinks. Examine each of these, reviewing the sources that linked to these pages and the specific aspects they highlighted about the content.

  1. Log everything!

There are no bad ideas (at this point) – make a list of everything that is discussed and don’t discount anything at this stage. Have someone note everything down on a whiteboard. Or, if the brainstorm is held remotely, you can use shared worksheets like Excel or Google Sheets to ensure nothing is lost.

After Your Brainstorm

Now is the time to go through everything and pick out the best ideas. To give our campaigns the best chance of success, there is a rigorous process we put all of our ideas through, asking the following questions:

Simplicity: Journalists need to ‘get’ the story quickly and easily. Can you explain it in a couple of sentences?

Newsworthiness: Why should a journalist write about this now? Are people already talking about this, or a similar topic?

Emotive: What emotions would this story make a journalist and their readers feel? Stories which elicit an emotional response are more likely to get clicked, read and shared.

Timing: Does this idea all revolve around one date, or will it have a more evergreen appeal? How will the timing impact our production and sign-off processes?

Broad appeal: Will this idea provide us with a variety of different angles for outreach, allowing us to target journalists in multiple different press verticals?

Originality: Has this story been told before? If so, do we have something new to add to the conversation?

Data: What data does this story need to make it a success? Where will we get it from? Is the source credible?

Relevance: What is the link between this story and the brand? Does it make sense for them to be talking about this topic?

Execution: Where will the content sit, and what does it need to bring it to life?

Budget: It’s important to make sure that the campaign idea you’re deciding on is within your ball-park. You’ll need to consider what methodology you’re going to need.. Are you going to need tools or equipment to develop your campaign? Do you need a survey platform as part of your research?

If you’ve landed on a promising idea, remind yourself of the original brief and goals and double check that it will deliver the required KPIs. At this stage it can also be useful to seek additional perspectives from experts in the wider team. They may be able to provide some data or an extra angle to turn a good idea into a great idea.

Land Links And Coverage With Cedarwood Digital

At Cedarwood, our team of PRs has decades of experience under their belts; they know exactly how to take an idea from conception to tangible results for your business.

You can take a look at our success stories here or, better still, contact us today to find out how we can help you spark high-impact ideas.

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Link Reclamation: How To Turn Brand Mentions Into Links

If you work in the Digital PR industry, it’s highly likely that you’ve experienced this emotional rollercoaster before: getting excited to see your campaign land in the press, before noticing it only includes a brand mention, with no link in sight. 

Whilst it’s great to see your content covered and credited, it’s understandable to want a backlink to your website as well. 

In cases like these, it’s best to apply the mantra: if you don’t ask, you don’t get. 

Remember, the journalist covering your story has clearly seen something of value to offer to their readers. So, this should stand you in good stead when making that all-important link request. 

What is an unlinked brand mention?

An unlinked brand mention is when a publication mentions your brand by name, but does not include a hyperlink back to your website. 

A hyperlink would most commonly be inserted in the brand name or to a spokesperson mentioned in the feature.

Once you spot an unlinked brand mention, you can email the journalist, or contact the website, to request that a backlink is inserted to your website. 

How can I turn brand mentions into links? 

To convert brand mentions into links, there are a number of steps you can take: 

  1. Make a list of articles which feature just brand mentions 

Search for your brand name, and any relevant spokespersons, in Google News to find articles which do not include backlinks to your website. 

To help with this process, it’s always a wise idea to set up alerts for your brand name and spokespersons. My go-to is Google alerts but firm favourites around the Cedarwood Digital office also include Talkwalker, Ahrefs and Semrush.

  1. Source the journalist’s contact information  

Aim to contact the article’s author when requesting a backlink. You can find their contact details listed on media databases, such as Roxhill, Vuelio or Muck Rack. Other means of sourcing their email include their article author page or their social media profiles i.e. X (formerly known as Twitter) and LinkedIn.

If you’re unable to find the journalist’s email, it’s still worth contacting another journalist on their team. Alternatively, you could email an editor or corrections desk at the publication, or opt for a general, editorial contact email address. 

Online tools, such as Hunter.io, can also help you to find missing email addresses from any company name or website.

  1. Craft your backlink request email 

From the offset, it’s always good manners to thank the journalist for covering your story, or for including quotes from one of your spokespersons. 

This shows that you appreciate your professional relationship with them, and also allows you to insert a link to the article you’re referencing, so that the journalist can quickly access this. 

Politely request if they could insert a link to your website as a form of accreditation. This will have the best chance of success if there is an incentive for including the link. For instance: 

  • ➡️ Do you have a data hub with further statistics readers could be interested in?
  • ➡️ Does your blog contain further visuals to help readers understand the story? 
  • ➡️ Does your spokesperson’s author profile provide further credibility for expert opinion pieces? (this is particularly important in the legal and financial industries) 

Clearly signpost the URL that you would like the journalist to link back to, invite them to provide feedback on what you have proposed, and thank them for their time. 

Hopefully, you will receive a response that they have inserted a link into the article. Otherwise, you can still gain valuable feedback from a ‘no’, such as learning if a particular publication has a ‘no link’ policy or if they require an exclusive to feature a backlink.

Five tips to convert your brand mentions into links:

  • ➡️ Keep your finger on the pulse: Try to request a link for a brand mention as soon as possible. The closer to the time of publication, the higher the incentive the journalist should have to insert a link. They are less likely to insert a link to an older article over one which is newly released. 
  • ➡️ Research best sending schedules: Media databases often detail at what time of day journalists prefer to hear from PR’s. If you can, send your email within this time frame as they may be more likely to spot it. 
  • ➡️ Give them a good reason: Don’t expect journalists to insert a link to your website if you’ve not highlighted the added value this would provide to their readers. Be sure to showcase any additional data or visuals you have to accompany the story, as well as your spokesperson’s credentials. 
  • ➡️ Send your request in a follow-up to your campaign pitch: If you have recently sent your campaign, and it has been published in a quick turnaround, it’s worth sending your request as a follow-up to your original pitch. This highlights the existing relationship and will appear less like a cold email. 
  • ➡️ Limit follow-ups: If you haven’t heard anything back, it’s worth following up in case your email has been lost amongst hundreds of other emails. However, keep this to just one follow up; to maintain good relationships with journalists, it’s important to not be too persistent when chasing a link.

If you need help reclaiming unlinked brand mentions, or building links for your brand, contact us here

How we delivered 100+ top tier links by jumping on a trending topic.

Cedarwood Take Home 4 Northern Digital Awards!

We’re delighted to share our success at the Northern Digital Awards last week! 

We attended the awards ceremony here in Manchester on Thursday and were awarded: 

🏅Search Agency Of The Year

🏅Best SEO Campaign (Patient Claim Line)

🏅Best Digital Marketing Campaign – B2C (Little Loans)

🏅Best Digital Marketing Campaign – Finance (Cash Lady)

We are so pleased with this outcome, especially given the tough competition from a host of esteemed agencies. It’s really exciting to see our hard work this year recognised through such respected awards.

Here’s what the judges had to say:

Thank you to our clients for another successful year, and a huge well done to the team for their efforts! 

Blog Picture - AI For Digital PR 5

How Can You Use AI For Your Digital PR Strategy

There’s no question that in the past year platforms like ChatGPT have dramatically reshaped how digital marketing can be done. Once purely a narrative element of science fiction films, artificial intelligence is now used in tools we use everyday – from e-commerce chatbots, to the virtual assistants on our phones.  

As AI continues to become more prevalent in our daily lives, we’re increasingly hearing about the risks it poses to jobs in various sectors. But while many people working in Digital PR and SEO see AI as a threat, it can actually be a valuable tool, when used correctly. AI tools can support a Digital PR strategy in countless ways. They have the ability to automate time-consuming tasks and improve the efficiency of your creative process.

This post will explain some of the different ways AI can support a Digital PR strategy, and provide some useful tips for those looking to try it out.

1. Brainstorms

Tools like ChatGPT and Bard can help in various ways with your Digital PR ideas brainstorm. Whilst you probably won’t have the best luck just asking the AI straight up for fully-formed ideas, it can help you to be creative when given the right prompts. Simply asking an AI assistant for campaign ideas will come up with the same old regurgitated concepts. Instead, we recommend using it as a starting point for ideas for you to springboard from. We use AI to come up with icebreakers for the start of a brainstorm, for interesting talking points, and to help us build out a mindmap. Used correctly, tools like ChatGPT can spark new paths of exploration and allow us to explore problems from a variety of angles.

2. Surveys

Integrating AI into survey planning can help you streamline the process and ensure that your surveys are effective in capturing meaningful data for your campaigns. An AI assistant can suggest potential survey questions, or refine your questions for greater clarity. It can suggest inclusive language and recommend questions that resonate with diverse demographics, making your survey more comprehensive. Plus, we use AI to assist our ideation of survey topics, and it can even recommend effective formats that will resonate with your target audience. Remember though that a survey generated by AI is not finished and should always be elaborated upon. Tweak the questions in line with the angle of your campaign in order to find truly newsworthy data.

3. Analysing Data

Data-driven campaigns are an increasingly popular way to land Digital PR coverage and AI can again be a valuable addition. It can examine data and find patterns in seconds, automating tasks that would take you hours on end. Even within very large datasets, an AI algorithm will easily identify anomalies and pull out trends for you to build into an effective campaign. We find that AI can often illuminate the more unusual angles that will catch a journalist’s attention. Additionally, whilst it can’t go as far as creating graphs or charts, it can suggest interesting ways you can go about visualising your data.

4. Writing Excel Formulas

For people who struggle with Excel or Google Sheets formulas, ChatGPT can be a huge help. It can create incredibly complicated formulas in an instant, making data analysis and reporting much simpler. We will often ask a virtual assistant how to speed up a specific process, or to write us a specific formula for something we need in Excel. AI algorithms can also identify errors in formulas and even recommend appropriate formulas based on a set of data. With this, data-based PR campaigns are made all the more time-efficient.

5. Crafting Email Subject Lines

Coming up with punchy and effective subject lines for every press release can be a challenge. This is where AI comes in very handy, suggesting a variety of email subject lines which you can then use when outreaching to journalists. There are some paid AI softwares, specially designed to improve your email marketing strategy (such as Phrasee and Persado). However, we find that ChatGPT works as a great free alternative. When asking this software for help with your email subject lines, it’s a good idea to include the email you want to send in your prompt. It’s also a good idea to include additional information like word count, tone of voice, and punctuation preferences. Once you have a selection of subject lines, you can then perform some simple A/B testing on a small set of your media list, tracking the open rates of each before using the more successful subject line for wider outreach.

6. Generating Images and Videos

Journalists often create images or videos to go alongside their articles and increase engagement. As PRs we can now use AI to generate our own media to support a campaign. This encourages a journalist to pick up your pitch and give you the coverage you’re after. Tools like DALL-E and MidJourney can be used to create unique imagery to support your campaign and Pictory is a super accessible tool for making campaign videos from scratch. We find MidJourney particularly useful for ideation because it also allows you to peruse archives of other users’ creations for inspiration.

7. Transcribe meeting notes

At Cedarwood, we leverage AI assistants for transcription of meetings and interviews. Tools like Tactiq, Supernormal and Fireflies can create accurate and well-organised records. This allows you to focus completely on the task at hand, rather than splitting your attention to record the minutes. No longer do we need to listen back to recordings of conversations for hours to pull together reports, AI platforms can do this all for us with ease.

8. Improve your writing

Last but not least, AI is of course a handy assistant when it comes to improving your pitches. Tools like Grammarly can help you spot typos and grammatical errors, whilst Hemingway Editor will make suggestions to enhance the clarity and readability of your drafts. Bear in mind that it’s always better to get AI to improve rather than create content for you. Journalists will quickly see through an AI-generated pitch – remember that the human element is and always will be essential to writing.

How to structure your prompts to get the most out of ChatGPT

As impressive as they might seem, AI is still just a tool, and you’ll only get out what you put in. If you want to get the best results, it’s important to understand how to properly structure your prompts. A short and vague question won’t do – the more detailed and well structured your prompt, the better results you can expect. 

Here are some top tips for the perfect ChatGPT prompt:

📌The more detailed and specific the better. For the best results, give your AI lots of context and provide clearly defined parameters to keep things on track.

📌Write clearly and concisely, but use colloquial language. Frame your questions as if you were asking a colleague for advice. This will encourage more human-like responses.

📌It’s always a good idea to include examples in a prompt, e.g. ‘I need a subject line for an email, here’s an example of our usual tone…’

📌Keep the conversation going. You might not always get the perfect answer on your first try, but that’s ok. If you don’t like the response you’ve received, feel free to re-ask or rephrase the question, ask ChatGPT to clarify or provide more information, or ask a follow-on question. Treat it like a conversation and keep going until you get what you need.

Things to keep in mind

> When using AI for Digital PR, bear in mind that there is a fine line between using the tool to improve your content, and purely replicating AI-generated words. Today, AI-content is so pervasive that users are very aware of the style and will see through it. I’m sure you’ve spotted writing online and on social media featuring the tell-tale syntactical errors and absence of personality. An authentic and unique brand voice will capture your audience’s attention, far more than reels of mundane content.

>It’s easy to forget that ChatGPT collects data, as well as providing it. Be conscious of this when inputting information, and make sure not to share anything deemed sensitive.

>Don’t fall into the trap of taking everything ChatGPT says as gospel. It’s largely trustworthy,  but the answers aren’t always accurate and some of the data you receive can be out of date. As said, maintain human oversight over this technology and double-check every response you receive.

Get professional help with your Digital PR Strategy

At Cedarwood Digital, we’re increasingly employing AI tools to inform our Digital PR and SEO strategies. Our experts know exactly when and how to bring in the help of AI to see excellent results for our clients. Check out our case studies to see some of our recent Digital PR activity, and if you like what you see, go ahead and get in touch with us today.

Blog Picture - How To Measure The Success Of Your Digital PR Campaigns

How To Measure The Success Of Your Digital PR Campaigns

How can I measure Digital PR return on investment when it has such varied effects and benefits? This is a question PRs frequently encounter. You want to show your clients and stakeholders that the work you’re doing is having a positive impact, so what are the best KPIs to highlight?

At Cedarwood Digital, we know that measuring the success of a campaign can be tricky. We’re lucky to work with brands of many sizes, from a breadth of sectors – clients want a variety of things and prioritise different metrics. As such, we find that a multifaceted approach to measuring campaigns is the best way to reach an accurate assessment.

This post will explain the different metrics you can use to track Digital PR success; you’ll hopefully gain a good understanding of the different softwares and criteria to consider. No matter the nature of a campaign or client, this guide will put you in good stead to present a precise evaluation.

Why should we care about metrics?

There has long been debate within the industry when it comes to KPIs for Digital PR. For many years, the only metric many clients (and agencies) cared about was the number of links a campaign earned.. However, a campaign’s impact goes much further than just links. “There’s more to link building than quantity – in fact in many cases one super relevant high quality link can outweigh the performance of many poor quality links – so when it comes to measuring digital PR how do you prove effectiveness when you’re not working with a volume metric?”

It’s important to consider which metric is most important to your business and stakeholders, depending on your goals. This will ensure that you’re all working for the same thing. You might think you just want as many pieces of coverage and backlinks as possible, but dig a little deeper and you may find more specific goals. Do you want to boost the visibility of certain parts of your website? Perhaps your main goal is driving referral traffic, or growing brand awareness by generating links in key target publications? Determine which focus area should be prioritised and this will help you to create the best possible outcomes and keep everyone happy.

Measuring the success of campaigns will also help you determine why a campaign did or didn’t work. With this information you can then adapt subsequent strategies, and keep learning and improving. This is vital when it comes to providing commercial return for the client. After all, they want to see that you are providing a return on their investment. Tracking the relative success of different campaigns and effective, and less effective, techniques will help ensure you achieve the ultimate aim – customer conversions.  

Quantifying a Digital PR campaign is also a great way to encourage motivation within your team. Having clear aims in mind and celebrating successes will help ensure a productive and positive morale.

➡️At Cedarwood Digital we talk about two categories of Digital PR metrics: owned metrics and shared metrics. Owned metrics are those a Digital PR team has control over. Then, shared metrics are things we can have a positive impact on but that are also impacted by other factors. For example, corresponding SEO strategies, and external business components.

Owned Metrics

Backlinks

Links from publications to your website are a significant indicator of a campaign’s success. A link goes beyond a brand mention in its ability to have a substantial impact on SEO. Google loves a backlink because of the E-E-A-T signals it demonstrates. A good quality, quantity and relevancy of backlinks are seen as big votes of confidence that will improve the site’s SERP ranking, and drive traffic. 

However, not all links are equal and, to get an accurate sense of a campaign’s success, we’d recommend evaluating different backlink factors. In addition to measuring the quantity of backlinks, you’ll want to consider their quality, relevancy and diversity.

The best way to deduce backlink quality is to look at the relevancy of the link, the website it’s coming from, and the content of the article. This can then be used alongside metrics like Domain Rating, Domain Authority and Trust Flow. These are all measurements of quality, created by SEO tools Ahrefs, Moz and Majestic. Each will give a numerical score to a domain, with a higher score indicating a better, more authoritative website. However, be careful not to use these metrics in isolation. Some spam directories have a high DR and likewise, backlinks from lower scoring sites should not be discounted. A good amount of coverage on relevant sites, no matter their rating, will have a positive impact on your ranking.

In line with this, it’s also a good idea to track the diversity of your backlinks. A successful campaign is not only demonstrated by a high volume of links, but also appearance in new unique referring domains, wishlist publications, and link gap placements. When pulling together a tracking system, ensure to include measures of the nature of the link, not only the number. 

While some people will only report on Follow links, we’d advise measuring all types of links. No-follow links, syndicated links and affiliate links should not be discounted merely because they aren’t ranking factors for Google. They can all positively impact brand awareness and, as people start associating your client’s name with key industry terms, this will bring in more high-intent traffic to your site.

Deeper Page Linking

Another key metric here is quality links to deeper pages within the website. Using Digital PR to build links to a specific high-return landing page can push value directly into that page – helping your client outrank their competitors and bring in more conversions over time. Therefore, when determining the success of a campaign, keep your eye out for the number of deeper page links. They will show your client that you’re boosting organic visibility to high-intent pages, demonstrating the possibility of future ROI.

Brand Mentions

The amount of times your brand name is published is one of the simplest Digital PR metrics to track. Brand mentions can present in a variety of ways, not only from online news outlets, but also print, audio and video mentions. Plus, your brand mentions will exceed just links. Some outlets won’t link to your website but you should keep your eyes peeled for this coverage as it will still have some positive impact. Any mention of a company’s name is great for brand awareness – the more customers hearing about your business, the better. 

However, it’s worth mentioning that Google doesn’t acknowledge brand mentions as part of a link building campaign, due to the algorithm’s inability to identify the context of the mention. Therefore, whilst they’ll help to build your overall brand, brand mentions won’t function as direct trust signals to Google so shouldn’t be overly emphasised. 

Wanting to keep track of your brand mentions? Some of the best measurement tools to find these all-important mentions are Google Alerts, Talkwalker Alerts, Ahrefs mention alert and good old fashioned Google searches!

Email Tracking

The last owned metrics to keep an eye on are email opens and click-through rates. With this, you can identify if your pitches could be improved, and whether your story is compelling. Although lots of factors impact the length of time taken for a journalist to open your email, it definitely indicates how much your subject has caught their attention. Meanwhile, if your open rates are good but your click through rate is on the lower side, this could be a sign that your email content needs adapting.

Shared Metrics

Business Goals 

The most important metric for your clients is the real financial impact of Digital PR and how your campaigns are tangibly helping them reach their business goals. Achieving high-quality, relevant backlinks is a meaningful metric and good achievement, but the big question your clients will be asking is ‘what will those links do?’ 

Businesses put resources into Digital PR to get a return on their investment – they want more conversions and revenue as a result of your efforts. You need to have a strong understanding of what these links are achieving, to then illustrate this to the stakeholders.

A good Digital PR strategy isn’t just about building links, it’s useful to think about links as the first step of a chain, ending in revenue. Building backlinks improves rankings and brand awareness, which increases the site’s visibility and boosts organic traffic. This combines to bring in lots of high-intent clicks, and then the all-important conversions.

Keyword Rankings

As Digital PR is usually one element of a wider SEO strategy, one of the larger goals you should be working towards is increasing keyword rankings and online visibility. Building high quality, relevant links to key commercial pages, when combined with on-site optimisations, can have a big impact on overall rankings. However, as previously mentioned, while Digital PR can help in this area, there are a range of other factors impacting it too, so this is why we class this as a shared metric. 

Do remember though that keyword ranking is a slow-burner and a successful PR campaign may not drive an immediate boost in visibility. This is why reporting on the previously mentioned owned metrics is a good way to highlight success straight away.

Site Traffic

Site traffic can be impacted by Digital PR, whether through direct referral traffic from successful placements, or just from overall visibility improvements. However, as with rankings, Digital PR is just one of many factors which can impact traffic. It can still be a good metric to track, as for people who don’t work in SEO, it can be seen as a more tangible indicator of success. 

Social Shares

Whilst the extent to which social media can positively impact SEO is debatable, it’s generally acknowledged that any social media coverage is a valuable thing when it comes to growing brand awareness. Social media buzz around your story can also help boost the campaign’s reach, which can in turn lead to more coverage and backlinks. Social listening tools like Brandwatch and Pulsar can be used to track social media mentions, as well as the sentiment of the discussion.

Deliver successful Digital PR Campaigns with Cedarwood Digital

At Cedarwood Digital our Digital PR team has an excellent track record of executing successful campaigns which land coverage and sales for our clients. We closely monitor our metrics to ensure that we are constantly updating and improving our strategies. To discuss how we can bring our successful Digital PR techniques to your company’s growth plan, get in touch with us today. 

Blog Picture - The Power Of Using Expert Commentary In A Digital PR Campaign

The Power Of Using Expert Commentary In A Digital PR Campaign

Expert commentary is an increasingly popular tactic used in Digital PR to make pitches stand-out and to amplify campaigns. Expert comments grab attention and help to position your business as an authority. They also appeal to Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines, acting as signals of expertise which help to build trust in your site.

This blog will be our ultimate guide to introducing expert commentary into your Digital PR campaigns. We’ll begin by outlining what exactly an expert comment is, before explaining how to find them and place them effectively in your campaigns.

What is expert commentary?

Expert commentary refers to a relevant quote from an authoritative figure within their industry. You might hear it referred to as ‘thought leadership’ and it often comes in the form of a professional opinion about something, or an actionable tip. Expert commentary can also provide a bit of background context on the topic a journalist is writing back. No matter the form, these comments or quotes are designed to add credibility and value to an article.

To give an example: we used expert commentary to showcase expertise, enhance E-E-A-T signals, and build brand trust for our client Patient Claim Line, a market leader in the medical negligence space. After researching the news landscape across our client’s services, we circled in on areas we could provide expertise on. We located suitable experts within the company and outreached their comments to journalists. Our approach involved reactive newsjacking of relevant trending stories, partnered with commentary in-line with health awareness days.

We achieved 105 links, including coverage in national papers. We had ensured that the commentary was genuinely informative and useful in order to build trust with both Google and potential customers.This resulted in a boost of Patient Claim Line’s domain rank, while also improving their brand awareness.

Why do journalists value comments from brands?

It’s clear that journalists love a good bit of expert commentary, and that it can be a great way of earning valuable coverage and backlinks. But why is this? Well, a useful comment from a genuine expert really helps a journalist out – it adds a valuable element of expertise. This reassures a reader that what they’re reading can be trusted, making them more likely to continue reading and potentially share the article with others.

Not only do quotes from an expert help inform the actual content, they also help a writer meet their all-important word count. Expert commentary is a great way for a journalist to pad out or conclude their story. So, we’ve established the why, now let’s turn to the how. How exactly should you tackle getting expert commentary into your campaigns….?

How to use expert commentary in campaigns

There are various ways you can go about including valuable expert quotes in your Digital PR campaigns. Some methods we find get results at Cedarwood Digital are:

  • Reactive Digital PR: Utilise an expert’s insights on an event or news relevant to their industry. Keep an eye on what’s trending and when you identify an opportunity, respond quickly with some thoughts from your expert.
  • Data-driven campaigns: You can add an additional layer of authority to a data-led campaign by including comments from a credible spokesperson, discussing the data and providing unique insights.
  • Answering a journalist’s request: Identifying opportunities to provide commentary will help to establish your expert as an authority. Sign up to services like Response Source and HARO, or just type #journorequest into Twitter.

This is all well and good, but where can these trusty experts be found? 

How to find the right expert within your business

There will likely be many suitable candidates right within your business, fully equipped with the knowledge to provide expert commentary. To pinpoint the right spokesperson for a campaign, it’s important to get your questions right when you reach out. Make sure to ask:

>Do you have knowledge or experience on this subject matter?

>Are you happy to discuss these ideas, for them to be shared?

>Are you happy to be named or pictured?

>What time frame can you work to?

>Would you be willing to potentially speak to a journalist?

Finding external expert commentary

If you’re struggling to identify a relevant expert in your company, do not worry, as a comment can often be sourced externally. Here at Cedarwood, we often make use of Twitter to find experts. It’s a great place to source a thought leader. To curate the most effective tweet, make sure it includes the following:

🐦Firstly, specify what you’re looking for, whether that be a particular role or a specific insight

🐦Give them an incentive, mention where their comments will be going

🐦Include a way of contacting you

🐦Finally, include popular hashtags to reach more of your target audience

How can expert commentary help a business?

By now, you’ve probably gathered that expert commentary does a world of good for you and the journalist in question. But there are a few added benefits you might not have considered.

Expert commentary can be instrumental to building good relationships with journalists. They are likely to save your details for future reference and are likely to reach out next time they need an expert comment,  leading to more opportunities for publicity for your brand.

Securing an expert comment in a relevant publication will also help boost your brand awareness and reach new potential customers. Ensure that the topics you’re providing expertise on are relevant to your brand and you’ll open the doors to users genuinely interested in your products or services.

Last but not least, expert commentary is beneficial for SEO as it helps to build up a diverse backlink profile and sends important E-E-A-T signals to Google. Expert insights, and the backlinks that come with them, shows Google that your website can be trusted. This increases its domain authority, and boosts traffic as a result.

If you’d like help building your brand’s backlink profile through expert commentary, get in touch with us today. We have years of experience pinpointing the right spokesperson to secure coverage and get results.

Blog Picture - The Top Tools for your Digital PR Strategy

The Top Tools for your Digital PR Strategy

There is an endless list of Digital PR softwares at our fingertips these days. Free, subscription-based, AI-generated, the range of tools extends far and wide. So how do you know which to include in your stack, and which are not worth your investment?

This blog is here to answer all your questions. We’ll take you through every tool we actually use for our client campaigns at Cedarwood Digital. From journalist databases, to data scrapers and proofreaders, we’ll give you the insight on what’s worth your cash, and where you’re better off sticking to a free alternative.

Here’s our short but sweet guide to the ultimate tools you should be using for your Digital PR campaigns….

Roxhill Media

There’s a whole host of media database and distribution softwares out there – you’ll have heard of the likes of Cision, Muck Rack, Prowly etc. A media database helps you to find the most relevant contacts for your story and construct your own targeted media list. This greatly increases your chances of getting your story noticed and picked up by the media. 

Our tried and tested favourite is Roxhill Media. Unlike many others, it offers a free trial before you commit to the full contract price. It also includes some unique features like journalist social feeds, and access to hundreds of webinars.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a bit of a goldmine software, with a bunch of great features for Digital PR. To inform our Digital PR strategy at Cedarwood, we use the Backlink Report tool. It allows you to see the campaigns competitors are carrying out that have successfully landed coverage and secured links. This is great for providing inspiration for our own campaign ideas. The tool also shows us where our clients’ link gaps are in comparison to competitors so that we can target content (and tailor it to these publications) in our upcoming strategy.

I’d also recommend exploring Ahrefs’ data on search volume which can be utilised for Digital PR strategy. This feature can be used for looking at the average monthly search volume for your chosen keywords, and tracking increases and drops. You can then use this information to plan your campaigns accordingly.

BuzzStream

Buzzstream is a link-building and outreach tool that we love to make use of with our clients. It’s fab for email management, with an email ‘open and click through’ tracking feature which lets you know whether your email has been opened and clicked. This gives you an understanding of how effective your email subject lines are, and what kind of content is most appealing to a journalist.

Another useful feature in BuzzStream is the Research Lists. This allows you to pull in Google News results for a list of your chosen key terms. Through this, you’ll have insight into the types of angles to consider, and what has already been covered.

Google Trends and Glimpse

Google Trends is a tool showing you what people are searching for in real time. You can customise the time frame and location to clearly see peaks in relevant trends. There’s a useful feature allowing you to filter by search type – so you can zoom in on News trends, YouTube trends etc. This can also be used as a planning tool – have a look at when searches for a particular keyword have increased in the past, and plan your future PR outreach correspondingly. 

If you don’t know about Glimpse, get to know. It’s the perfect companion to Google Trends, providing detailed insights at the click of a button. Glimpse is an extension tool which just makes the Google Trends data more thorough and digestible. Search volume and percentage increases are overlaid to show you exactly when and where topics are trending.

Screaming Frog

Pulling together a data-driven Digital PR campaign? Screaming Frog will be your best friend. With free and paid options, this software is our go-to when we need to scrape data sources. It can crawl hundreds of thousands of pages, in an inch of the time it would take you. Screaming Frog can also help you to get a sense of the conversation around a trending topic. It can gather comments and posts in seconds, giving you insight into patterns of discussion and interest.

ChatGPT

The idea of AI writing assistants is increasingly contentious. We think that, used in the right way, they can definitely be of benefit. You’ve just got to make sure to use it as an addition, not a replacement, to human-made content. At Cedarwood, we use it for many tasks from writing excel formulas, to sparking ideas for a campaign. However, we’d reassert that it’s really only as good as what you put into it. By all means, use ChatGPT to get a brainstorm started, but don’t rely on it to write whole pitches for you!

Canva / Flourish / Google Looker Studio

Once your data has been gathered, it’s important to visualise it in the most engaging way possible. These three tools are our favourites for easy but effective data visualisation. The good news is that they’re also all free. Using these softwares, you’ll have fun, digestible and highly shareable reports for your campaigns in no time. Do make sure to bear your unique target audience in mind. You’ll need to find a visual style that is appropriate for your client’s website, and right for your target journalists and readers.

A couple of special mentions

TikTok Creative Centre: clear and detailed insights into what’s trending on TikTok, from hashtags to sounds – with information on the relevant creators for each trend.

Haro: looking to enhance your stories with some expert quotes? This software will connect you to the right sources with expertise on your subject matter.

Hemingway: a great writing editing app to help you ensure your writing is readable and snappy.

How Cedarwood Digital can help with your Digital PR strategy

Hopefully this blog has given you a few ideas for your Digital PR tool stack, and a bit of insight into areas where you could be saving time and money!

At Cedarwood Digital we have an impressive track record of landing coverage and strong links for our clients’ brands. We know what works and what doesn’t, and combine a few great softwares with our wealth of experience to get results. Think you could do with a bit of Digital PR assistance? Go ahead and get in touch with us today for a chat about your Digital PR strategy.

Blog Picture - How A Digital PR Agency Can Help Take Your SEO Game To The Next Level

How A Digital PR Agency Can Help Take Your SEO Game To The Next Level

In the digital age, an online presence is crucial for businesses. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an extremely important aspect and a powerful tool that can have a huge impact on your online visibility. However, if you are wanting to take your SEO game to the next level, this is where Digital PR comes in. 

Digital PR is an essential aspect of SEO because an effective Digital PR strategy can help build links and authority to your website. Using the expertise of a Digital PR agency can help take your SEO game to the next level, and in this blog we will explore how Digital PR can enhance SEO efforts and drive organic growth for your business. 

What Is Digital PR? 

Firstly, before we delve into how Digital PR can help your SEO strategy, let’s discuss what Digital PR actually is. Digital PR incorporates the concept of traditional PR and applies it online in order to increase brand awareness, promote products and services and also secure high quality backlinks for SEO. The main goals of Digital PR are to gain brand awareness, brand coverage and boost SEO efforts. 

Digital PR can incorporate a wide range of approaches including: 

  • ➡️ Newsjacking 
  • ➡️ Thought leadership 
  • ➡️ Product placements 
  • ➡️ Campaigns
  • ➡️ Data-led pieces 

All of these approaches are designed to gain high quality, relevant backlinks and increase brand awareness and sales or leads. 

Why Digital PR Is So Important For SEO 

In the world of SEO, Digital PR is highly important, and who better to tell you than John Mueller himself.

Source: X

Back in 2021, John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate, tweeted (as it was known back then) that Digital PR is probably more critical than tech SEO (now this is something that we can get into another day) but this tweet shows just how important an effective Digital PR strategy is. 

When it comes to SEO, incorporating a Digital PR strategy can be extremely valuable as it will help build links and authority to your website. High quality and relevant backlinks can help organic search rankings because these links are showing that you have a good, quality page and Google wants to provide its users with the most relevant and quality pages so they will be more likely to rank your pages, as long as they are also optimised for SEO. 

Digital PR experts will create their strategies around trying to gain highly relevant backlinks from high DR (Domain Rating) websites. These Digital PR strategies can help your website in a number of ways: 

  1. Increase your Domain Rating (DR)

A Domain Rating (DR) is the strength of your website’s backlink profile and it is based on a 100 point logarithmic scale. Building high quality backlinks will increase your website’s DR over time and this can benefit your SEO performance by providing strong signs of trust, which in turn can help your website rank better in the SERPs. 

  1. Establish brand awareness and trust 

By creating high quality Digital PR campaigns that are relevant to your brand, your campaigns will likely be picked up by credible publications and this will help to establish your brand with relevant audiences that will likely have a high intent to interact with your brand/ website. Over time, if more people are becoming engaged with your website and the content that you are providing, search engines will see your website as a credible source of relevant information in your industry.   

  1. Increase website traffic

The more high quality links you are building in relevant publications, and the better you rank, the more visible your website will be in the SERPs. Becoming more visible in the SERPs means that more users will likely click through to your site and interact with it, which can lead to increased traffic and potentially increased conversions for your business. By creating strong Digital PR campaigns, you are able to land links into a range of publications, increase your audience and gain higher website traffic. 

Overall, we can see that having a strong Digital PR strategy can truly benefit your online visibility and SEO performance. Ensuring you have a strong Digital PR and SEO strategy, and making sure they are interlinked can add so much value to your website and really boost your online presence. 

How A Digital PR Agency Can Help 

It is essential to maximise your brand’s online visibility and as we have discussed, Digital PR is a huge contributor to allowing you to do this. A Digital PR agency can help take your SEO game to the next level by helping you to boost your brand awareness, online visibility and even sales/ leads! If you hire a Digital PR agency, you will be gaining experts who know the Digital PR industry through and through and bringing in a team of experienced Digital PR specialists will allow you to build strong backlinks to your website. 

An experienced Digital PR agency will have access to many resources, and their experience and dedication can ensure that your campaign will be successfully delivered and will be executed in line with current trends and industry demands. It is also likely that the agency will have already built good, strong relationships with journalists, therefore making it easier to land high DR backlinks for your website. 

At Cedarwood Digital, we have a specialised team of Digital PR experts who have worked on many campaigns for a whole range of businesses. They know how important Digital PR is for your business and they will take the time to get to know your brand and will create effective campaigns in order to build relevant links to your website and enhance your SEO strategy.

To Summarise 

In the competitive world of the SERPs, a strong SEO strategy is essential for success. However, SEO is not a standalone effort and incorporating Digital PR and having a multifaceted approach will help you to achieve the best results and compete in the SERPs. This is where a Digital PR agency can be a game changer for your online visibility. With expertise in building backlinks, a Digital PR agency can help you reach new heights with your SEO game. By using a Digital PR agency, it can improve rankings, organic traffic and ultimately, success for your business in the online space. 


If you are looking for a Digital PR agency to build high quality, relevant backlinks to your website, you can find out more about our Digital PR services here. We also provide SEO services and can interlink these strategies to get the best results for your business!

How we delivered 100+ top tier links by jumping on a trending topic. (2)

Cedarwood Digital Nominated For 6 Northern Digital Awards

We are so happy to share that we have been nominated for six Northern Digital Awards 2024 nominations. As we approach the end of our best year yet at Cedarwood, it is so great to see our hard work recognised.

We have been nominated for:


⭐ Best Digital Marketing Campaign – Finance
⭐ Best Digital Marketing Campaign – B2C
⭐ Best SEO Campaign
⭐ Search Agency Of The Year
⭐ Integrated Search Agency Of The Year
⭐ Best Small Digital Agency Of The Year

In 2022 we were awarded Silver for Best Small Digital Agency Of The Year and look forward to hopefully taking home another award in 2024! 🏆

Congratulations to the other nominees and a huge well done to our team at Cedarwood Digital. 👏

We look forward to seeing everyone at the ceremony on the 25th of January. You can see the full shortlist here: https://northerndigitalawards.com/2024-shortlist/