Why we shouldn't report on links as Digital PRs (and what we should be doing instead!) Talk originally delivered at BrightonSEO October 2022, as part of the Online PR Show.

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Making measurement
meaningful in Digital PR
Jen Grey
Brave Bison
@JenGreyPR1

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We love links…

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We love links…

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…but do our
clients?

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…but do our
clients?

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Stop reporting links!

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Stop reporting links!

9. Don’t panic! There’s a better
way…

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1. Remember why we
love links

11. Referring domains
Backlinks are the third
pillar of SEO…and
becoming more
important for
competitive industries

12. Referring domains
Backlinks are the third
pillar of SEO…and
becoming more
important for
competitive industries

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2. Forecast the uplift
your activity brings

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Focus on keywords
sat on page 2…

17. …and how CTR
increases if they
move to page 1
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
CTR

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3. Keep it realistic

20. Referring domains
Don’t promise first
place if you have a
ginormous referring
domain gap!
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000

21. Referring domains
Don’t promise first
place if you have a
ginormous referring
domain gap!
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000

22. Referring domains
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Find a gap you can
bridge within your
budget to estimate
SERP impact

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4. Define opportunity
size

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25. Back to Excel!
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Incremental traffic

26. Overlay likely
position
increase
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

27. Estimate
incremental
traffic
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
Position 12 Position 6

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Multiply
incremental
traffic by AOV

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You should now have a currency
figure

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You should now have a currency
figure…or estimated ROI…

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…and you’re speaking a language
your client understands

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5. Reporting in hard
metrics

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Measure keyword-
level performance
before and after
campaign activity…

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Measure keyword-
level performance
before and after
campaign activity…

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…map this against
your forecast and
see if you’re on
track..
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

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…keep focussed on
performance
increase and
resulting £££

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Remember: we don’t
build links!

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We build revenue

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Thanks for