With 14 billion searches on Google daily and 5 trillion annually, how can marcomms pros actually help their clients or brands stand out? In our webinar on SEO essentials for marcomms professionals, Cara Corbett, Partner Growth Manager at SUSO Digital, broke down the fundamentals of SEO, including how it works and why it’s crucial for your PR strategy. Plus, how integrating SEO with PR can boost visibility, enhance brand reputation, and even aid in crisis communications—all while tracking measurable results. 

The takeaways: 

• Google Search works in three steps: Crawling (scanning the web), Indexing (analyzing and storing pages), and Serving (matching queries with the best results).
• Mobile-first indexing means Google prioritizes mobile versions of websites—your mobile site should be as good or better than the desktop version.
• Understand your audience’s needs and create keywords that mix intent and interest across all stages. Focus on high search volume and low difficulty keywords.
  • Keywords should be placed in titles and headers to improve rankings.
• EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is key—having reviews, expert input, and references strengthens credibility.
• Internal linking should be intentional, using relevant anchor text to improve navigation and rankings.
  • Anchor text should be varied; over-optimization or spammy links can lead to penalties.
• Backlinks improve rankings—Google favors sites with high-quality inbound links. Use tools to audit competitor backlinks and find link-building opportunities.
• Technical SEO factors: fast load times (2.5 seconds or less), mobile-friendliness, clear site architecture, logical URLs, and structured data (schema markup).
• SEO success takes time—Google may take ~3 months to understand new content, but rankings build authority over time.
• Strong ROI—SEO authority compounds over time, unlike PPC, which requires ongoing ad spend.
• AI search (Google AI Overview, Perplexity, ChatGPT) is changing search behavior—optimize for user intent, use natural language, improve UX, and add structured data.
• PR creates buzz, SEO gives it longevity. Own the narrative by placing content on authoritative sites (guest posts, editorial features, Substack, etc.).
  • Media coverage generates valuable backlinks that boost SEO authority.
• SEO can help in crisis management by pushing optimized, positive content higher in search results to suppress negative coverage.
• PR impact can be difficult to measure, but SEO provides quantifiable business results.
  • Key SEO success metrics: keyword rankings, impressions, clicks, organic traffic, backlinks, domain authority, conversions (leads, sales, etc.).
• SUSO Partner Club for PR agencies offers newsletters, training, and direct expert support. Free SEO audit available—manual site analysis with pain points and actionable fixes. Learn more here.