· 12 min read · March 6, 2025

What is PR Link Building? With Relevant Tips and Strategies in 2025

Kamila Hanson

Looking for a secret weapon used by many public relations specialists and agencies? Consider high PR link building.

There's nothing better than having your website rank higher in search engine results, which directly leads to greater visibility for your campaign or cause. More people, more potential sales you can close, or simply more of your audience to see your message.

Because SEO is an industry of its own, it's sometimes difficult to grasp the difference between SEO backlinks and PR backlinks (scroll down to read more about it). While they're inherently similar, there are some fundamental differences in how they're obtained and what effect they can have on your strategy.

Mastering PR link building can give you a real edge. This article covers key strategies, benefits, and tracking methods. Want to start streamlining the process right away?

PR link building is a practice that helps earn high-quality backlinks to your website, resulting in increased website authority and higher search rankings. It involves other websites linking to your engaging content, such as infographics, quotes from experts, and fresh angles on specific topics.

It's an important part of any public relations strategy, built to drive organic traffic to your website, make your brand more discoverable, strengthen your SEO, and rank higher in Google search.

How to get high PR backlinks? Top 5 favorite ways journalists prefer

While we'll delve into this topic in detail later in the article, here's a short, informative summary with the key points you need to know:

  1. Build relationships with journalists and outlets
  2. Create quality newsworthy content
  3. Secure quotes from experts and industry leaders
  4. Conduct original research, i.e. surveys
  5. Find previously unlinked mentions

In this article, you'll find key strategies for PR link building, its benefits, and how to track them. If you haven't already, you can sign up for Prowly's free 7-day trial to get a sense of how a PR tool can help you track and manage backlink-building activities.

What do PR backlinks do?

They're meant to help you increase and sustain online visibility and presence among your target audience. Links from known media outlets and authoritative websites not only enhance your search engine ranking but also strengthen your brand's credibility. Once powerful websites link to your content, search engines interpret it as a positive signal and raise your position in search results.

That's a simple, concise definition. But what's the difference between SEO backlinks and PR backlinks? They both work toward the same goal but require different methods of acquisition.

SEO backlinks vs. PR backlinks

👉 SEO backlinks are usually obtained and maintained through activities such as guest blogging, link exchanges, directory submissions, and so on. Their aim isn't to cross over into the tactics of public relations but rather to boost search engine rankings.

👉 On the other hand, PR backlinks involve building relationships with journalists and outlets through media pitches, press releases, compelling content, expert quotes, and more. So, in a way, it's like doing SEO backlinks—but supercharged to also enhance brand reputation often with a focus on press links.

Crafting newsworthy content for backlinks

Focus on original, out-of-the-box research, stories that make heads turn, and insights you won't read anywhere else. Whether you're going to spark a controversial debate or not, the goal here is to create newsworthy content as a link-building method.

So, you kind of have to go in with a goal—PR backlinks. Create shareable assets like infographics and guides—something people will quickly understand and want to share. This will increase your chances of earning even more valuable backlinks.

Most of all, be strategic when you do this. Always remember to keep the angle fresh, relevant, and newsworthy.

Focus on long-term relationships with journalists

Whenever we talk to PR specialists, they often mention how much of a hassle it is to ask a journalist to include a link in their article.

The truth is, more often than not, the author will remove those links on purpose. What you can do is politely ask them to add one, but even if you use all the link-building tactics up your sleeve, they may still choose not to.

That's why it's so important to focus on building a mutually beneficial relationship with journalists. If you give them something they need, they will be more likely to give you something you need in return.

Don't bother sending low-quality links and expect them to be included. Instead, provide relevant links that add value to the article, such as additional information on the topic or compelling data.

Provide quotes from noteworthy experts

If it adds value, credibility, and much-needed insights to the article, it's worth taking a shot and providing journalists with powerful quotes. With this angle, you're not pushing or selling something journalists don't want. Because they're focused on quality content, having a quote handy might catch their eye.

The quote itself needs to be sharp, to the point, and full of "meaty" information. A good PR agency or in-house team knows that having a line or two from a C-level executive or expert in the field can make or break an article or press release. In return, you can politely ask them to include press links to your page.

Data-driven content

This one requires more time and thought, but it's also nearly foolproof for delivering better results. High-authority sites that provide high-quality backlinks don’t want recycled content or information that’s already been seen elsewhere.

If you conduct a large-scale research project and identify compelling angles from your data, it will be much easier to attract both organic traffic and press links.

Think of powerful data, the kind that’s trending, relevant, and in demand based on the PR season.

Survey content 

Connected to the point above, survey-based content is a goldmine for PR link building, providing journalists and other authors with fresh data backed by real people’s responses. They will want to cite it. They will want to take that quote and use it in their content.

It’s powerful and valuable for their audience to have more than just a journalist’s opinion on the topic. People want "meaty" content, so you should give them just that.

The key here is to ask thought-provoking questions, gather a significant number of respondents, and highlight the most important takeaways. Rest assured, this strategy will capture the interest of high-authority sites.

Try a bit of newsjacking

Sometimes worthwhile, sometimes frowned upon, newsjacking can be a powerful PR link-building tactic that involves catching and riding the viral wave of current events or trending news.

Monitor the news, Google Trends, Twitter, or BuzzSumo to spot breaking stories and quickly develop a sharp angle that’s insightful enough for an outlet to want your input.

Content without substance won’t get you far with this method, so stay on your toes and bring something creative to the table.

When done right, it’s a secret weapon for securing high-authority links and driving organic traffic to your site.

Find mentions without backlinks

Don't let your link-building efforts go to waste—always reach out to the journalist to add a backlink if it's missing. Sometimes, it's simply human error that they haven't included it. Researching these unlinked mentions is actually one of the most overlooked link-building tactics.

By tracking backlinks, you can seize the opportunity to secure high-quality links and steadily increase your site authority. If you can get backlinks from authoritative sites, you're already winning.

Working with backlinks in practice

Wondering how to track backlinks effectively? Let's explore these two use cases where you'll learn how to find all the opportunities you might have missed!

Use case #1: Tracking backlinks

Head over to Prowly's Media Monitoring and easily track the quantity and quality of articles that contain relevant backlinks to your site.

Start off by creating a dashboard filled with articles that include backlinks and sort them by domain authority (all provided with high-quality data from Semrush).

Use case #2: Tracking hashtags

You can also do something similar for hashtags. Have you ever heard of #journorequest or #bloggerrequest? It’s a popular practice in the UK to set up email alerts whenever someone has a request related to travel or finance topics.

Additionally, you can use Audience Insights to find the most relevant outlets where you want to secure a high-domain authority backlink. Find out how to target journalists using Audience insights by reading this guide.

It's easier than you think. When it comes to SEO link building, specialists often use dedicated marketing tools. However, when you're working in PR, it doesn’t always make sense to subscribe to a tool that focuses solely on that.

While Prowly is a PR tool, it also helps you manage and track everything you need—including digital PR and link building.

To take it a step further, you can leverage the media database to identify and target journalists who might be interested in helping you secure backlinks.

How can you go about it? Here’s the deal:

#1 Leverage Semrush for precise audience targeting

Detailed insights from Semrush help you assess the audience of a particular outlet and its traffic.

That directly translates to super precise targeting and high relevancy. If you're working at a PR agency, chances are you're creating your own metrics and benchmarks based on past data. Those tiny, intricate findings from audience research can help you nail them down even faster.

#2 Use AI keyword search to find journalists and expand your media list

AI keyword search can also help you find the journalists you need for link-building PR and even explore relevant keywords. More suggestions mean more chances to find the people you need and expand your media list, even if you're in a niche field.

#3 Track your press links and email engagement with Prowly

Tracking your progress is also an important part of monitoring press links. It's crucial to know whether your recipient has opened your email, whether they've read it or not, or even how many times they've opened it. With Prowly, you can get those metrics all in one place.

#4 Monitor backlinks with Prowly’s media monitoring feature

Use the media monitoring feature to track backlinks by monitoring the quantity and quality of articles that are relevant to you. For example, to make it easier for you to analyze them, you can create a custom dashboard in Prowly to organize backlinks by domain authority (with data straight from Semrush) and by publication date.

#5 Showcase your results with comprehensive PR reports

Clients want to see what backlinks you've been able to secure, and you can do that with a comprehensive report. The PR Reports feature helps consolidate all relevant data, from outreach to backlink performance, into easy-to-digest reports.

Prowly serves as a solution that integrates tools needed for traditional public relations practices with those that dabble in SEO. As a PR specialist, you don't need to buy yet another tool to help you build and track high PR links.

Start your 7-day free trial today, no credit card needed, no questions asked.

Did you know that digital PR for link building goes beyond simple SEO? It builds authority, credibility, and, most of all, the visibility your brand needs. Here's how digital PR backlinks can help you:

Increasing SEO rankings and your website's domain authority

A link-building campaign can increase organic traffic to your website, which in itself gives more exposure to your brand or cause, increasing sales, and bringing overall success.

It also makes it easier for people to find you when they're searching for something on Google. That's because high-quality backlinks simply put you higher up in the search results.

Better online and brand reputation

Online visibility is key to achieving the results you want. Quality backlinks, such as links from authoritative websites, can help position your business as an expert or unbeatable contender in its respective field.

Yes, sometimes a PR agency can bring in better results than an SEO agency that's solely focused on getting you higher in search rankings, often without real value.

Wondering how you can improve your backlink tracking and analysis? With Prowly, you can do both through a customizable dashboard that shows you articles containing all your backlinks, even those in print or behind a paywall.

Think of it as a backlink tracker. You can always sort it by metrics like domain authority, using integrated Semrush data, to gain deeper insights that can help you draft your future strategies.

Conclusion

Building out press links is different from doing "that SEO thing." It's a powerful way to increase your brand's online visibility, credibility, reputation and long-term digital presence.

By adding several new actions to your PR strategy plan, you can start securing backlinks from high-authority sites and improve the positioning of your brand as an industry leader.

Whether you're doing it by securing phenomenal quotes from experts (that's where your connections will probably come into play), creating intriguing and head-turning content, or getting straight to the point with targeted media outreach, the right approach can only take your business to new heights.

Ready to get your link-building tactics together?

Start your free 7-day trial with Prowly today and see how simple it is to track backlinks, form long-term relationships with journalists, and increase your brand's reputation—all using a single tool.

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