Glossary · Links & local SEO

Digital PR

Also called: link earning, PR link building, online PR

Definition

Digital PR is earning coverage, links and brand mentions on news sites, industry publications and blogs through stories, data and expert commentary.

Digital PR explained

Traditional PR aims for media coverage. Digital PR adds an SEO goal: coverage on authoritative sites that links to you or mentions your brand. It works because journalists and editors need stories, data and expert voices, and brands that supply them get cited.

Common digital PR tactics include:

  • Original research and surveys that produce new, quotable findings.
  • Data studies built from public or first-party data.
  • Expert commentary on news in your industry, offered quickly to journalists.
  • Useful tools, calculators and indexes that publications reference.
  • Stories about how your business does something differently.

Digital PR has become more valuable with AI search. The news sites and trade publications it targets are exactly the kinds of sources assistants draw on, so a single well-placed story can improve both your backlink profile and how often AI answers mention your brand.

Example

Your HR software brand analyzes anonymized data on when employees request time off and publishes the patterns. Business and HR publications cover the findings and link to the study. That campaign is digital PR, and it lifts both your links and your brand mentions.

Why it matters

It earns the high-authority links and mentions that are hardest to get any other way, and it builds brand awareness at the same time.

Related service

Link Building

Editorial links and mentions from relevant publications, earned with research and digital PR.

White-hat link building services

FAQ: Why does original research earn links?

Published by Vidern, founded and led by Malhar Shah. Updated .

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