The History of Digital PR: When Public Relations Went Digital!

There’s digital marketing, and there’s also digital PR. In this era where the word “digital” seems to be tacked onto just about every phrase, can you imagine what Public Relations looks like in the digital world? It’s definitely not just a matter of shifting offline PR activities online, right?

Digital PR is a complex process that requires a significant investment of time and effort, and involves a whole lot of things you have to manage simultaneously—from websites, content, SEO, backlinks, UI/UX, and many other details.

That’s why, even though Media Buffet PR is a PR agency, we also have a dedicated digital team ready to boost your brand’s digital presence and help you rank number one in Google search results!

So, seeing how the public relations industry has gone digital like this, when exactly did PR practices become entirely digital?

The History of Digital PR

Digital PR Began with Link Building…

Like most other academic fields, digital PR first gained traction in the Western world—more specifically, in the United States. It can be said that digital PR began in 2012, when Google released the 2012 Google Penguin Update.

Carrie Rose, CEO of Rise at Seven, spoke at length about this. Back then in the U.S., business owners and marketers there had already realized just how important a digital presence was for a brand. And they also knew that, at that time, link building was the fastest way to reach the top of Google’s organic search rankings.

Before 2012, they could game the system by buying as many backlinks as possible, whether from bloggers or directories (example of a directory: an article titled “The 10 Best PR Agencies in Indonesia!” filled with external links).

As a result, spam and link-building manipulation were rampant. The number of new websites skyrocketed because so many people were selling backlinks. According to Internet Live Stats, following the Dot-com Bubble, the largest growth in the number of new websites occurred in 2011–2012 at 101%.

That growth rate was significantly higher than the 69% recorded in 2016–2017 and the 67% in 2010–2011. This data indirectly highlights Google’s dominance in dictating the SEO strategies people adopted in the early 2010s.

Read also: Definition of Digital PR on Media Buffet

What Is the 2012 Google Penguin Update?

Back then, the biggest spenders were guaranteed to win. Competition for Google page rankings felt unfair. After all, the biggest spender was sure to get the most backlinks. The quality of content and websites was sidelined. But Google didn’t just sit idly by.

Realizing that many websites were engaging in the practice of buying and manipulating the number of backlinks, Google finally released the 2012 Google Penguin Update. Simply put, this algorithm update could track backlinks that were manipulative, spammy, and irrelevant to the linked-to page.

At the same time, the growth in the number of websites in 2012–2013 dropped drastically by 3%. Coincidence? I don’t think so!

Thanks to that update, a new era finally began. Marketers had to get creative to ensure their brands’ digital presence remained strong—without buying backlinks.

It’s Time for the Digital PR Era to Begin

Following the 2012 Google Penguin Update, websites began to be required to have high-quality content that is relevant to their respective industries, as well as organic backlinks that are relevant to the topic. The dark days of Google’s algorithm—filled with tricks and shortcuts—are over, and now the competition to reach the first page of Google search results has become more level playing field.

As a result, SEO strategies have shifted from being dominated by black-hat methods to a more organic approach. Now, it’s not just about the quantity of content; quality has also become a key factor. Only content that is high-quality and relevant to the topic deserves to earn backlinks.

The approaches to acquiring backlinks have also diversified. These range from building relationships with blogger communities to lobbying media outlets to publish the content they create. Of course, when pitching content to media contacts, only newsworthy content will be accepted—such as infographics or research findings.

At this point, can you start to sense the scent of Public Relations activities? That’s the beginning of the integration of digital marketing and PR into digital PR. The two come together to achieve the same goal: to build a brand’s digital presence as widely as possible, with the best possible digital reputation!