The awesome impact of SEO on PR

When it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO), can improving your website’s visibility in search results boost your public relations (PR) efforts? In short, YES! We found exactly this when our client with #1 rankings received a huge boost in news attention after a tragic national news event.

The Impact of Top SEO Results on PR

On April 13, an horrific event occurred in Sydney, NSW when a man savagely wielded a knife, ending the lives of six individuals through brutal stabbings.

What happened next was a heightened call for women’s safety, specifically, the legalisation of pepper spray in Australia.

Currently, pepper spray is only legal for use in self-defence situations in WA.

As people, scared for their safety, began searching for ‘pepper spray’, ‘pepper spray online’, and other related keywords, our client, U R Safe, was sitting in prime #1 position.

What happened next was not only a 300% spike in purchases for pepper spray products and personal security products in WA alone, but also an unexpected public relations boost.

When journalists around the country were looking for comments on the new calls to legalise pepper spray, they plugged ‘pepper spray’ into their search engines, and guess who showed up?

April 21st

One week after the Bondi incident, ABC News published this article; ‘WA pepper spray sales surge amid push for Australia-wide access after Bondi stabbings’, mentioning U R Safe Director, Jeff Rodwell, by name and including the name of his business. This resulted in another huge spike in website traffic and sales for U R Safe:

April 22nd

• Jeff appears on 7NEWS’ Sunrise program to discuss pepper spray legalisation live on air, with the article ‘Calls for pepper spray to be legal for women after Westfield stabbing attacks: ‘Bondi Junction was a catalyst’ published online to go along with it. 
• Perth’s local radio station 6PR had Jeff live on air to discuss the legalities surrounding pepper spray, and how much demand he was receiving from the Eastern states.

These publications created a second small spike after the huge spike the day before:

May 11th

After a few weeks of stable, yet elevated site traffic, U R Safe received yet another boost on May 11th. News.com.au posted their article ‘Grim things women are searching for to protect themselves from men’, with a mention of Jeff. This again resulted in a modest spike in site traffic and sales. 

Using Google search trends results can highlight PR opportunities for your industry

The image below shows the number of searches for “pepper spray” from March 1, 2024, to the end of May 2024.

The notable spikes around April 11th, and 20th and May 13th directly correlate with U R Safe’s increases in website traffic and sales.

How Top SEO Rankings Boosts PR Opportunities

Beyond simply climbing the search engine ranks, SEO is a powerful PR magnet.

By sitting in position #1 for ‘pepper spray’ and related keywords, we allowed U R Safe to be found quickly and easily by journalists searching for experts.

This not only resulted in massive business growth for this period but also increased brand awareness and overall website traffic, which led to more long-term growth.

Since the news cycle has turned to new topics, U R Safe’s site traffic is still over 90% higher than the same period last year.

All this just speaks to the power of SEO, and why we’re ‘organically obsessed’ in almost everything we do.

If you’re ready to unlock the full potential of your brand’s SEO and PR synergy, get in touch with one of our friendly digital marketing experts today.