Simon Wharton of search marketing agency PushON talks about search and SEO – click here to listen.

The image: Richard Gregory commented in previous post where Simon’s swearing came in on the last post, well, I hope you are satisfied.

SAScon is about to have its inaugural conference launch on 28th April at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.

The aim is to bring talented and knowledgeable SEO and search marketing experts, from Europe and the US, in one place to deliver informative and practical advice to marketing, PR and fellow digital professionals.

It is an exciting opportunity, especially as it is in Manchester and will promote the city as a centre of digital talent.

I spoke to Simon Wharton of search marketing agency PushON, and a driving force in organising the event, on why this is a must attend and what attendees will get out of the day.

Simon Wharton explains more, click here to hear the interview. (Is that alliteration?)

I have been thinking about precedents to the wave of Internet marketing / SEOs that will down PR professionals if we don’t look out.

Consider the following:

Did TV destroy the cinemas?  They did suffer for years (for a number of reasons) but when they were re-branded and marketed they gained a whole new audience.  Cinema has become a vital industry again.

Another example.  Did mail order catalogues destroy shops?  I am sure it was muted when they started to make an impact, but how much do we use catalogues now?

Clicks and mortars doing the same thing to shops once again in the tech boom?  Yes these all have an impact, after broadband arrived in force.  My camera shop is now the base for a Internet based camera business and Jessops across the road won’t be there much longer based on how it is doing.  But look at rent hikes and supermarkets and their impact on many retailers.  Nevertheless shops remain, of course.

I have been watching The Money Programme about changes in the media.

Television has been under pressure from the Internet and drops in advertising spending, some transferring budgets online.  But it is seeing new models emerge.  TV is not only being forced to live with the Internet, it is also learning to use the Internet – one example being to generate interest in new markets abroad as it rolls out franchises of its hits and also to sell in programmes.

I am sure you can argue with some of my examples.  After all it is a big subject and I am making gneralisations, but surely the best PRs will adapt, create new business modeals if necessary and learn to profit from the Internet.

Craig McGinty alerted me to an interesting and furious debate that has been going on in Twitter about the role of SEO and PR in relation to each other.

It can be hard to follow a conversation that has already happened, but it raised a point that has stirred emotions: as PR and social media / SEO converge where does the power lie?

There seems to be all shades of opinion including between Stuart Bruce and Jed Hallam of Wolfstar (read their entries).

Stuart is of the opinion that PR offers higher level services than an SEO agency can appreciate or deliver.  Jed argues “PR needs to get smart, before digital/SEO/advertising/marketing/online agencies begin to learn traditional PR skills (or hire in smarter).”

I think both sides have merit.  If you are dealing at a strategic or specialist level then an SEO agency will have barriers to entry.  But this is true for a generalist PR.  After all how many PR professionals could quickly switch to effective financial PR or lobbying without considerable skills and experience?

I have tended to take Jed’s point of view as many PR professional are handling accounts that are day-to-day are about bread and butter awareness generation.  Surely the barrier to entry is lower, we are vunerable as PRs.

Yet I sway back to Staurt.  I have worked with advertising and marketing agencies that could have “easily” moved into PR and did not, and haven’t a real understanding of it.  In fact they need to buy in those skills in a freelance capacity or with permanent staff.

So will SEO agencies swamp PR?

I am not so sure.

I think some might become media communications agencies covering both broad disciplines.  (A sort of PR full service agency).  There will be PR and SEO agencies that dip into each others disciplines and take business.  There will be specialist agencies that partner.

One thing is clear PRs need to appreciate and learn about online media if their publics have moved online.