Communicate Magazine from London recently published a fascinating and timely debate between PR heavyweight Abigail Harrison from thebluedoor and her SEO nemesis Andrew Girdwood from bigmouthmedia about the pros and cons of using either a PR or a SEO agency to assist a company in their social media strategy.

I do not believe there is currently a more urgent or pressing debate from the point of view of online strategy or online reputation management.

The arguments used by the two participants are the ones we might have expected from the PR and SEO camps. See if you can guess who said what:

• “PR, like the web, has always been about people. SEO is intrinsically and historicaly linked to Google bots and algorithms – not people, and certainly not reputations“
• “I don’t think we have seen any evidence that the PR agencies have caught up with, or overtaken, the digital natives“
• “I feel that SEOs… get in the way of the strategic thinking required for meaningful PR“

And yet there were some gems to be found in the crossfire, like Andrew’s adroit assertion that “Social media is a discipline which requires online communication skills, alongside technical skills and analytical skills. A deficit in any one of these three key areas is a threat to success of the campaign.”

Quite, Andrew! Bull’s eye! This is indeed what I have been arguing for quite some time: that SEO and PR are inextricably linked in today’s social media realities, and that any agency that is deficient in either is competing at a serious disadvantage. Which in turn explains why the more enlightened agencies are favouring a cross-pollination of digital and communication skills for new key roles – the likes of online reputation manager or social media strategist.

Indeed, the leading agencies of tomorrow will be integrated communities where technical and communications staff work together seamlessly under the ovearching leadership of the online strategist, a professional whose qualifications and interests must encapsulate the best that the worlds of SEO and PR have to offer.

I look forward to hearing your views on this fascinating and timely debate in the comments section

© Oscar Del Santo for THE ONLINE STRATEGIST, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Online PR, Online Strategist, Online Strategy, SEO, social media strategist