- Backlinks that bring real customers and brand trust are far more valuable than a pile of random blog mentions.
- If you pick between pure link building and pure PR, you usually lose; the real win is combining both in a smart way.
- Most agencies sell reports and buzzwords, not outcomes, so you need a clear filter for who to hire and what to ignore.
- The best links often come from marketing assets that people actually want to share, not from begging for a blue underlined word.
If you want a simple answer: money spent on backlinks works best when the campaign already looks like real marketing or PR, not when you chase links in isolation, and a good publicist who understands search can often outperform a pure link builder, but only if they are measured on traffic, leads, and trust, not just mentions.
So instead of asking if backlinks or a publicist is better, ask this: where can the same dollar create coverage that sends you visitors, builds your brand, and still strengthens your rankings over the next 6 to 18 months.
That is the filter I use on my own projects, and it changes how you think about guest posts, digital PR, tools, and viral hooks.
Backlinks vs publicists: you are asking the wrong question
I get this question a lot: should you invest in backlinks or hire a publicist, and honestly, the question feels a bit like asking if you should focus on breathing in or breathing out.
If you only build links, you often end up with a strong domain that nobody has heard of, and if you only do PR, you can get buzz without the search footprint that keeps bringing in leads next year.
What you actually want from both
| Goal | Traditional link building | Traditional PR / publicist | Sweet spot (what you really want) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rankings | Anchor text, domain authority, link volume | Often ignored or misunderstood | Highly relevant links on pages that can actually rank |
| Referral traffic | Usually low, often from weak blogs | Can be high during campaigns | Targeted traffic from readers who match your buyers |
| Brand trust | Minimal, unless it is a big name | Strong, but not always measurable | Mentions in places your buyers already trust and search |
| Sales impact | Often indirect, hard to prove | Spiky, tied to coverage dates | Short bursts of interest plus long-tail conversions from search |
When you look at it this way, neither side looks perfect on its own, which is why I think treating PR and link building as two separate budgets is often a mistake.
Why pure link building so often disappoints
I have seen many brands spend five figures on guest posts and niche edits, feel good about seeing their Ahrefs graph climb, and then realize six months later that sales barely moved.
The links were not useless, but they were not attached to content that buyers actually read or care about, so the only thing that moved was a few vanity metrics.
Stop asking how many links you can get for your budget and start asking how many real people will ever click those links and care.
When you look at backlinks as tiny ads that you cannot easily turn off, it becomes obvious that links on unvisited pages are just very quiet, very permanent ads that nobody sees.
Where publicists tend to win
A decent publicist thinks about story, audience, and timing, which is exactly what most SEOs ignore when they pitch the same tired guest post topics for the hundredth time.
Their strength is getting you in front of people who do not know you yet, in places those people already trust, which is why a single strong feature can change how your brand feels inside a sales call.
The weak spot is that many publicists still treat links as an afterthought, or they send you coverage on sites that look impressive but have no topical tie to what you actually sell.
The rare overlap: SEO who thinks like a publicist
Every time I work with someone who understands both keyword research and media hooks, the results look unfair next to what normal link campaigns do.
You get content that earns links, supports rankings, and still feels like a genuine story, and you do not have to choose between brand and search because you get both out of the same piece of work.
The goal is not PR or backlinks, the goal is coverage that would still be worth doing even if Google traffic vanished for a month.
How to judge whether you should spend on backlinks or PR
I think it helps to be blunt here, because this is where people tend to rationalize whatever they already feel like buying.
There are cases where pure link building makes more sense, and there are cases where a strong PR push is the obvious first move.
When pure link building is usually smarter
If you tick a few of these boxes, pushing hard on backlinks can be a very rational choice.
- You already rank on page 1 or 2 for your main money terms.
- Your product is proven, churn is under control, and each new lead is worth real money.
- Your market is not newsy, but it is search heavy, like local services or boring B2B software.
- You already have some basic brand proof, like reviews and case studies.
In that situation, adding strong, relevant links is like adding fuel to a running engine, and you do not always need a big media story layered on top.
The catch is that most people think they are here, even when those conditions are not really true yet.
When PR-first usually beats link-first
There is another group where a publicist, or at least PR-style campaigns, tends to beat raw link building by a wide margin.
- You are early in the market and almost nobody recognizes your brand name.
- Your space moves fast and buyers care what leading voices say.
- Your sales team hears the same trust objections in nearly every call.
- Your current search traffic is tiny, or stuck behind larger, better-known competitors.
Here, you do not just need rankings, you need proof that someone beyond your own landing page takes you seriously, and that is where strong coverage can shorten the sales cycle.
Ask yourself one thing: if a lead Googles your brand name today, do they mostly find your own content, or do they find third-party proof that you exist in the real world.
If the answer leans too hard toward your own site and social profiles, you have a PR gap, and links alone will not fix that.
How to think about budget split
I do not like fixed rules, but I can share how I tend to split budgets when I consult on this.
| Stage | Main goal | Rough split (PR vs links) | What I usually push for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-launch / very early | Proof you exist, first wave of interest | 70% PR / 30% links | Features, interviews, data stories, a few strong foundational links |
| Early traction | Traffic growth, basic trust assets | 50% PR / 50% links | Guest content tied to keywords, plus targeted media hits |
| Scaling | Dominant rankings, brand reinforcement | 30% PR / 70% links | Systematic link campaigns, layered with occasional mainstream or niche PR wins |
These are rough numbers, not rules, but they keep you from throwing everything at one channel and then acting surprised when growth is lopsided.
The common trap: “reports over results” agencies
PR shops and link agencies share a flaw that you should call out in your own head: they are very good at sending you decks and reports that sound smart.
The work can look beautiful in PowerPoint and still be almost invisible in real life, which is exactly what that Reddit story from my competitor was getting at, and I agree with that part.
- PR agencies that pitch a long list of activities but refuse to tie anything to outcomes.
- Link builders that guarantee volume but never talk about the value of the referring audience.
- Vague growth projections based on nothing but spreadsheets and a few charts.
If an agency cannot show past coverage that sends traffic, builds search value, and helped sales, there is no reason to assume they will suddenly do it for you.
What good PR looks like when you care about SEO
I want to get very practical here, because otherwise this all stays at the theory level, and that does not help you decide what to do this quarter.
Good PR for SEO is not just about logos on your homepage, it is about where those mentions sit, how they link, and who actually reads them.
Features vs mentions: why the page matters more than the site
Many people obsess over the logo instead of the URL, and I think that is backwards if you care even slightly about search.
A tiny feature on a page that is tightly about your topic can outperform a short mention on a huge generic roundup that nobody will ever search for again.
| Type of coverage | Typical link value | Brand benefit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full feature article about your story | High, especially if the page can rank | High | Fewer outbound links, deeper context, stronger trust |
| Short mention in a large list | Low to medium | Medium | Link equity and reader attention split across many brands |
| Quote in an expert roundup | Medium, depends on topic fit | Medium to high | Good for authority if audience and topic are right |
| Press release reposts | Low alone, but decent in bulk | Low | More for indexing and branded search than money terms |
This is why I push clients to ask publicists about angles that can live as dedicated stories, not just quick mentions.
Even a mid-tier industry site can move the needle if you get a deep feature that ties to your most important topics.
No follow vs do follow: what actually matters in practice
There is always an argument about whether no follow links pass value, and I am not going to pretend we have a perfectly clear answer, because we do not.
What I see in real projects is that links from strong, relevant pages that send real visitors tend to correlate with better rankings over time, even if every technical box is not ideal.
Chasing only do follow links from mediocre pages often leads to weaker results than accepting mixed link types from pages that buyers actually read.
I still prefer a clean, do follow link where possible, but I will happily accept branded no follow links in places where buyers are clearly paying attention.
Why brand search lift is wildly underrated
One thing my competitor touched on that I strongly agree with is how good PR changes what happens before a lead ever fills out a form.
When you land a few strong features, two things often happen.
- Your brand name searches climb because more people hear about you and look you up.
- Your close rate improves because new leads see proof when they search your name.
I have seen deals move from 4 calls and a long proposal phase down to 2 short calls, simply because the prospect felt they already knew the company from reading a couple of third-party articles.
This is not just soft branding, it improves the value of every click you pay for on search and social, since more of those clicks now turn into customers.
Concrete examples of PR that support SEO
To avoid copying any competitor examples, let me share a few different stories I have seen work well, with some details changed for privacy.
-
Example 1: Niche analytics tool in ecommerce
A small analytics startup built a simple annual report using anonymized customer data on how return rates changed by product category. A journalist at a mid-size ecommerce publication picked it up as an exclusive, wrote a feature on “return rate benchmarks,” and linked to the full report. That page went on to rank for dozens of long-tail terms like “average clothing return rate” and sent consistent traffic for over two years. -
Example 2: HR software with a controversial survey
A HR tool surveyed 500 managers about remote work policies, with one striking finding that a large share of managers admitted they did not read performance reviews in depth. A few business outlets covered this angle, linking back to the full study. The resulting links strengthened pages about performance management software and helped nudge them ahead of bigger competitors. -
Example 3: Local service brand turned into a national story
A regional home maintenance brand analyzed thousands of work orders to find which home issues were most ignored until they became expensive. A personal finance blog used this as a hook for a piece on “small repairs that cost a fortune when you ignore them” with a link back. That coverage, while not perfect from a technical link perspective, kicked off dozens of smaller blogs referencing the data and linking organically.
None of these involved giant mainstream outlets everyone brags about, but they still stacked real search value, because the content, the link, and the audience all lined up.
How to build backlinks that behave like PR
If you want to be in the top tier of SEOs, you cannot think about backlinks as simple line items, you have to think about the content and hooks that sit behind them.
That sounds like extra work, and it is, but the tradeoff is that you get links that work on multiple fronts at the same time.
Create assets people want to talk about
Most link building still leans on outreach emails asking for links to basic guides or calculators that do not offer anything new, which is why response rates are so low.
When I see link campaigns succeed, they almost always use one of a few asset types that people actually want to reference.
- Original data pieces where you publish numbers nobody else has.
- Interactive tools that save someone time, not just a generic calculator.
- Strong opinion pieces from real experts taking a clear stance.
- Visual explainers that make a complex process feel simple.
You do not need to hit a home run with every asset; even a “single” that gets picked up by a couple of industry blogs and one podcast can give you a better return than dozens of low-value directory links.
Use light viral thinking without relying on luck
I like simple viral principles that do not depend on one big breakout hit, because reality is rarely that neat.
Instead of waiting for something to blow up, I aim for repeatable formats that can get modest attention across a few platforms each time.
- Small tools launched on product curating platforms with a clear benefit.
- Mini studies that you can pitch to a mix of newsletters and niche blogs.
- Opinion threads repurposed into guest content and then into short videos.
More than once, I have published something that felt like a miss from a traffic perspective, only to see it quietly attract a trickle of natural links and a few strong leads over the next year.
The asset does not need to go viral; it just needs to be worth sharing for a small but relevant group of people.
Think in terms of “campaigns,” not one-off links
One mistake many link builders make is treating each outreach push as a separate project, when in reality, you want clusters of coverage that support one another.
For example, say you run a cybersecurity product and you release a simple security checklist tool, write a long-form guide on the same topic, and share a short incident breakdown story.
- You pitch the tool to newsletter writers who share resources.
- You pitch the guide to industry blogs that want detailed content.
- You pitch the story to podcasts that focus on real incidents.
These are all different assets but they tie back to the same core topic and product, and the links they earn cluster around the same group of keywords.
This builds topical strength in a way that random, unconnected guest posts never really do.
Borrow PR skills without hiring a full publicist
Maybe you are not ready to hire a publicist, or you had a bad experience before and feel a bit burned, which I understand.
You can still borrow a few habits from good PR people and layer them onto your link building.
- Write actual story angles, not just “we made a new tool.” Frame it as “we found X by studying Y” or “we noticed Z problem happening more often.”
- Build a small media list of writers and hosts in your niche and keep track of what they care about, instead of mass emailing databases.
- Time your pitches to what is already in the news cycle where possible, even if that means holding a piece for a couple of weeks.
- Offer your founder or subject expert as a source for comments, which often leads to recurring mentions.
None of this requires a big monthly retainer, just a bit of patience and consistency.
Measure backlinks and PR with the same lens
One thing I want to push back on is how people tend to measure PR with fuzzy storytelling metrics while measuring backlinks with rigid technical ones.
If you only judge PR on “impressions” or “sentiment” and only judge links on domain authority, you almost guarantee bad decisions on both sides.
| Metric | How it applies to links | How it applies to PR |
|---|---|---|
| Referral traffic | Clicks from each referring page | Clicks from each article, mention, or interview |
| Assisted conversions | Deals where a referring page appeared in the path | Deals where a PR article or podcast showed up in the path |
| Brand search volume | Changes around campaign dates | Changes after big coverage hits |
| Organic ranking impact | Movement for pages that earned links | Movement for pages tied to covered topics |
When you put everything into the same analytics view, weak campaigns stand out regardless of whether the money was labeled “PR” or “link building.”
If a link or a piece of coverage does not send visitors, support rankings, or help close deals, its value is smaller than people like to admit.
Books and resources that genuinely help
My competitor mentioned a few classics in persuasion and media, and I think those recommendations are fair, but I would add a few more and tweak how people use them.
- Read one solid book on influence and persuasion, then actually apply one principle at a time to your next content asset instead of highlighting everything and changing nothing.
- Study how writers in your space frame stories, titles, and openings, then borrow the structure, not the words.
- Spend time on product launch and content sharing platforms looking at what gets featured this month, not two years ago.
I have found that people often hide behind reading when they are afraid to put a campaign into the world; at some point, you need to ship an imperfect asset and learn from what happens.
How to pick the right partner without getting burned
Before we wrap, I want to tackle the part where most people lose money: choosing agencies and freelancers for both PR and links.
I do not agree with the blanket advice to avoid any firm that offers more than one service, but I do think you should be very skeptical when the same team claims to be strong at everything from web design to TikTok content and enterprise PR.
Filters I use when talking to PR providers
When I talk to a PR team, I am less interested in the long deck and more interested in very simple, concrete answers.
- Show me three recent articles where you got a client covered, and tell me what happened after they went live.
- Explain how you decide which outlets or shows to pitch for a client in my niche.
- Tell me how often your work results in links that help with search, and how you think about that.
- Tell me what you do when a campaign clearly does not land in the first month or two.
If those answers feel vague, or everything points back to more brainstorming instead of execution, I move on, even if the brand names on their site look impressive.
Filters I use when talking to link builders
For link specialists, the red flags are a bit different, but the goal is still to see whether they think like marketers or just like spreadsheet operators.
- Do they care what happens after the click, or just promise a number of links per month.
- Can they explain why a given guest post topic aligns with your revenue goals, not just your keyword list.
- Do they suggest reusing strong content pieces across formats, or do they keep reinventing the wheel with thin articles.
- Are they comfortable saying “no” if your ideas will not earn links, or do they just agree to everything.
Someone who pushes back on you in the sales call might be annoying, but that same instinct often protects your budget later.
How to run a small, low-risk test
Instead of signing long retainers based on a pitch, I strongly prefer to set up short test projects with tightly scoped outcomes.
- For PR: one clear campaign around a single story or asset, with a target list of outlets and a fixed time window.
- For links: a defined number of links to a specific page cluster, with clear quality standards on sites and topics.
You might not get perfect results from a test, but you will learn how the team communicates, how they report, and whether they can actually ship work instead of just talk about it.
Bringing it back to your own strategy
If you remember nothing else from this, remember that the goal is not to win a backlink count contest or collect logos for a slideshow.
You want coverage that a real person would read, that your sales team is proud to share, and that quietly helps your rankings move up over time.
That means combining the best parts of PR and link building, questioning agencies that overpromise, and investing in assets that keep working long after the first spike of traffic settles down.
If you can keep that standard in your head the next time someone pitches you “50 high authority links” or a “bold PR initiative” without any clear path to visitors and revenue, you will probably make a better choice than most.
Need a quick summary of this article? Choose your favorite AI tool below:
