Once upon a time, the Internet was born. Brands and companies created websites to go on the Internet. They had URL addresses, which is how people found them. Then, Yahoo, Lycos, Google and Bing came along to help visitors to the World Wide Web find what they were looking for. Millions and MILLIONS of pages of new stuff flooded the Internet. It became harder to find certain stuff. Google became King. Everyone fought to be found. THE END. 
Well, not really the end, but you see my point. It’s no longer enough to have a website with a memorable URL address. With so much noise on the Internet, on the airwaves and in social media, it takes a lot more work to stand out from the crowd. Showing up on page 1,293 of Google search is not going to cut it. So, what is a company to do?
As a public relations and inbound marketing professional, the best advice I can give you is to follow these 10 simple steps:
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Don’t panic
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Start a blog (if you don’t already have one)
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Create awesome content
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Incorporate key words
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Build links
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Be consistent
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Be authentic
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Be patient
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Measure everything – and be realistic about it
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Expect results
Simple — like my choice of adjective there? Navigating the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is admittedly daunting and why most leave it up to the professionals. The bad news is that there are some “robbers” who masquerade as SEO experts ready and waiting to take your money and run. Finding the RIGHT expert is vitally important. As you look for assistance, focus your efforts on someone who understands the role of content marketing in boosting page rankings. Even better, find an expert link builder who values content marketing as part of the strategy.
In my research, I’ve found there has been a bit of a blurred line between link building and content marketing with most people gravitating to one end of the spectrum or the other. Some well known thought leaders in the digital marketing industry now say the absolute best and most successful strategy is one that balances the two: great content that is optimized to appeal to your target audience, with backlinks and a good understanding of search visibility.
Content comes in a variety of forms — videos, blog posts, news releases, case studies, etc. Companies are beginning to invest their marketing dollars in content creators, which is a good choice. Their efforts might be lost, however, if work isn’t also focused on promoting that content properly. Let’s face it, hearing crickets after posting something awesome is the biggest buzz kill ever, right? This is where link building comes in and there are some great ways to do that using public relations (PR) strategies.
Below are just a few tips for using PR to promote quality content:
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Don’t rely on wire services to distribute your press releases. By posting it on your blog/website, you are ensuring that any links will indeed come back to you and not to the wire website where there is little to no benefit.
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React to news. When a media outlet does cover your business or industry, make it a point to respond in some way, via a comment on the news site/blog post; sharing the post via Twitter/LinkedIn or an email to the author. You won’t get links overnight, but this is a good strategy for improving brand awareness and demonstrating that you are a part of the conversation, which helps create relationships with people who matter and ultimately result in links.
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Trace stories back to their original sources. You’ll often see news stories posted on Yahoo! and other high-profile, reputable sources. Obviously, links from these organizations would be incredible but they are darn hard to get. Instead, according to Stephanie Beadell of BuzzStream, focus on the source and pitch them. She outlines a simple strategy for doing just that on her blog post, “Actionable Tactics to Get Great Links with PR”. Be sure to scroll down to check out her SlideShare presentation with step-by-step instructions for identifying sources.
There are of course other ways to build links, such as submitting content to high quality, niche directories or asking for links on resource pages of websites — ones that directly tie into what you do and are mutually beneficial. This is very much relationship building, but isn’t everything these days? Gone are the days of obnoxious Black Hat SEO tactics that promise to get your company on the first page of Google by keyword stuffing, interlinking and other tactics that “trick” search engines. Today, the focus is on true relationship building with meaningful, high quality content. Choosing to do it any other way is risky and could result in penalties from Google — or worse, getting banned — and who can chance that? It’s hard enough to stand out from the crowd already.
Want to know more on how your company can rise to the top? Download this free guide from our partners at HubSpot.
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Hollie Geitner is vice president, client services for WordWrite Communications.You can find her on Twitter @JustHollieG. 
