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🔎PR > the Googsters
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🔎PR > the Googsters
Good to see you survived the weekend. I knew you had it in you.
Today’s Main Thing gives you sage advice on getting found online. Sage advice from a sage with a hall-of-fame mustache. At the end of the email, I’ve got a swipe file for you. Plus, I’ll show you how I collect ideas for this newsletter.
Poll: If you could only keep one streaming service, which one would you keep? |
I’d take Max. Tell me I’m wrong.
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Click below to read their story and get the full guide.
The Googsters Don’t Care if People Find Your Brand
A couple months ago, I read a post on SparkToro about using PR (Public Relations) to get found online. The article focused on PR making a comeback in marketing overall, but I’m highlighting the SEO aspects.
So, Rand Fishkin, noted SEO sage and mustache grower, was making the case that most brands are better off with PR efforts than SEO-type efforts.
Google’s not your friend, basically.
Yeah, they’re good at helping people find what they want. But Google has no incentive to help your brand specifically.
You can write 212 SEO-optimized articles, use best practices for search engine structure, try backlink strategies… all that stuff. Some of it’ll work. Some won’t. There just aren’t any guarantees.
Plus, every time Google makes a major update, all your SEO efforts might get flushed down the toilet.
That’s fun.
I read a great book on SEO in December that confirms what Fishkin said and what I just typed.
At the end of this very helpful book (truly), the author admitted…
“The bad news is that even if you do all these steps perfectly that I’ve laid out, you still might fail.”
I think the author even said, “likely to fail.” Honest, but not exactly a Braveheart-like speech.
Anyway, the point is to do what Fishkin says and lean into PR efforts instead of chasing your tail with SEO and sucking up to the Googsters.
Remember. The goal is to get your brand found online.
The goal is not necessarily to get to the top spot on Google. Pat yourself on the butt if you do.
But keeping the true end goal in mind opens your eyes to other ways to help people find you online.
In other words, do you think it’s easier to get Google to link to your landing page or to get a small news outlet to link to your landing page?
Don’t hurt your head. It’s way easier to get 25 small news outlets to link to your website than getting Google to know you exist!
The former takes serious PR effort. The good news, though?
If you make consistent effort, you get more than the news organizations’ audiences clicking on your link.
Google (and Bing and DuckDuckGo and etc.) will get signals your link is important. So, naturally, any search engine (or AI search) will be more likely to send people to your site.
BTW, small news outlets are just an example. Traditional media is struggling. So use PR in a modern way → see the following list of 9 other options:
Industry-specific publications
Find podcasts that align with your brand values or target audience and pitch yourself as a guest
Partner with non-competing brands that share your target audience
Connect with relevant social media influencers who can promote your brand
Position yourself as an expert by speaking at industry events
Apply for industry awards that could give your brand recognition
Qwoted (screenshot below) connects media with brands, experts, and small businesses (like HARO before it croaked… wait HARO’s back?).
The Bottom Line
There are many paths to getting more visitors to your website and landing pages.
SEO is just one of them. It’s a path full of thorns, thistles, and “sketchy experts.”
No doubt you should use best practices so search engines can lead people to you.
However, making direct outreach to real people instead of only web crawling bots will make a quicker impact. If you do it right. And if you stick with it more than a couple of weeks.
⏬Monday Marketing News is coming up. Don’t forget your free swipe file at the end of this email.⏬
Monday Marketing News
🤯Game-changing way to search YouTube videos coming soon?
Beware this Google snooping if your clients demand privacy
🎙️Updated: More podcast benchmarks than you can shake a mic at
3 ways to profit off the Specialist Effect that most marketers miss
🤖Canva’s coding AI tool looks promising
New data shows AI overviews are eroding clicks more than you think
🗣️Netflix co-CEO talks advertising & video podcasts
Listen: 70,000 bets a minute: how Fanduel’s parent is winning at sports gambling
🤑Can media outlets use this playbook to generate revenue from games?
Chart shows huge drop in home sales last month
🔍Job hunting? Check out this Podcast job board
How Chili’s is turning inflation into a marketing pitch
Please share Inbox Hacking with a fellow marketing genius or business owner. Many thanks…
Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin
Bonus Swipe File Below (20 phrases to help you with hooks):
...that experts never tell you
...that changes everything overnight
...and why it's holding you back
...that 99% of successful people avoid
...in just 5 minutes a day
...that your parents got wrong (grandparents too)
...that you're doing backwards
...without anyone noticing
...and it's simpler than you think
...that millionaires understand instinctively
...before it's too late
...that doctors don't want you to know
...and most people miss it
...that's sabotaging your success
...while you sleep
...that's hiding in plain sight
...and it costs nothing (actually it pays handsomely)
...that will blow your freaking mind
...that science finally confirms
...when no one else will
Why they work: They promise valuable information while hiding specific details, encouraging clicks to get the full story.
P.S. Collecting ideas. See my stack of index cards below. Every time I have an idea for Inbox Hacking, it goes on an index card and into the stack. I use a voice recorder app too, and transfer to a card later. There are about 200 cards in that stack (been using for 2 years - works great).
