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At The PR Insider, we’re excited to feature Millie White, Digital PR Manager at Digitaloft, where she has been leading and creating successful PR campaigns for the past two and a half years. With her extensive experience, Millie has honed her expertise in balancing quality and quantity in Digital PR. In this blog post, she shares her approach to delivering campaigns that prioritise quality links, generate impactful SEO results, and help guide clients towards understanding why quality matters more than volume.
What we’ll cover in this blog post:
Why quality links are more valuable than a large volume of lower-quality links
How to craft an outreach strategy that secures relevant, high-authority placements
How to effectively communicate the importance of quality to your clients
The long-term benefits of focusing on quality over quantity in Digital PR
Why Quality Links Are More Valuable than a Large Volume of Lower-Quality Links
One of the biggest misconceptions in the Digital PR industry is that more coverage means better results. While this might have been true in the early days of link building, the landscape has evolved dramatically. Today, it’s not about getting as many links as possible - it’s about getting the right links.
With Google’s algorithms and guidelines constantly changing - and following the recent documentation leak - it’s clearer than ever that quality matters far more than quantity. For brands, securing impactful, relevant links that support broader SEO goals is essential for long-term success. But how do you explain this shift to your clients and deliver results that make an impact?
It might feel satisfying to get 100 links secured in a campaign, but are those links truly valuable? What do they actually mean for the brand’s visibility, authority, and rankings? Let’s dive into how you can ensure your outreach strategy focuses on quality and how to effectively communicate this to your clients.
How to Ensure Your Outreach Strategy Secures Quality and Relevant Results
To consistently deliver high-quality, relevant results, your outreach strategy needs to be meticulously designed from the outset. It’s no longer about casting a wide net, but rather about casting a smart one. By aligning your strategy with your client’s brand identity and goals, and ensuring your outreach is laser-focused on relevance, you’ll consistently land meaningful links that matter. Here’s how to do it:
Is It Relevant to the Brand? – Before sending a pitch, ask: does this campaign truly align with the brand’s voice, goals, and messaging? Relevance is the cornerstone of quality outreach. If your pitch isn’t directly tied to the brand, it’s unlikely to resonate with key journalists or publications.
Include Expert Commentary – Where possible, use expert opinions to add authority and trustworthiness to your pitch. Publications are more likely to engage with content that brings expert insights and adds value to their readers.
Focus on Smart Link Placement – It’s not just about getting the link - where that link points matters. For reactive opportunities or newsjacking, linking to a product page or an expert profile adds depth and relevance to the story, making the backlink more meaningful for SEO purposes.
Target Dream Publications – Encourage clients to focus on their dream publications. These may not always be the largest outlets, but securing coverage in places that are highly relevant to their industry is far more valuable than chasing high domain authority alone.
Do Your Research – Take the time to find hyper-relevant publications that align perfectly with your client’s niche. These might not always be the strongest in terms of domain rating, but they help build the brand’s E-E-A-T signals, strengthening Google’s trust in your client’s site.
Curate a Quality Media List – Building a highly targeted media list means focusing on quality over quantity. Don’t worry if your list isn’t massive - it’s better to pitch to a select group of journalists who are genuinely interested in your client’s brand and story.
Review Pitches Regularly – If your initial outreach isn’t delivering the desired results, take a fresh look at your pitch. Headlines matter - are they written in a way that grabs the attention of your target publications? A simple tweak could mean the difference between getting noticed and being overlooked.
How to Talk to Your Clients About Quality vs Quantity
After implementing a thoughtful outreach strategy, the next step is helping clients understand why this approach is more valuable than simply chasing numbers. Clients often get excited by seeing high volumes of links, but it’s crucial to shift their mindset toward quality. Here’s how you can guide this conversation and ensure they see the value of a quality-first approach:
Explain Relevance Over Volume – Start by explaining that it’s not about how many links their campaign gets but about how relevant and authoritative those links are. Help them understand that backlinks from high-quality sites are what really move the needle for their brand’s SEO performance.
Highlight Google’s Shift in Focus – Walk clients through how Google’s algorithm updates increasingly prioritise trust and relevancy over volume. Emphasise that by securing quality links, their site is building a stronger foundation for long-term visibility.
Show the Power of Targeted Outreach – Explain how a smaller, more targeted media list can actually produce more valuable results than mass outreach. A hyper-focused approach ensures their brand is positioned in the right places, which is far more impactful than chasing a large volume of links from less relevant sources.
Share Reporting Insights – To solidify the conversation, use data to back up your points. Show clients how the quality of the backlinks you’ve secured is driving measurable results, such as improved search rankings or increased traffic. Tools like Relevance by Digitaloft can help illustrate the value of focusing on quality.
Emphasise Long-Term Benefits – Make sure clients understand that while volume might seem impressive in the short term, it’s the quality links that provide lasting value. A few well-placed, relevant backlinks will continue to drive SEO performance and brand authority long after a campaign ends.
Shifting your clients’ focus from quantity to quality is about not only improving their PR campaigns but also ensuring that their investment in Digital PR delivers meaningful, long-term results. Educating clients on the importance of securing relevant, high-authority links will help them see the bigger picture and understand why this approach is more effective.
Ultimately, success in Digital PR is about relevance and authority, not just counting links. A well-executed, quality-driven strategy will always outperform one that chases numbers without substance.
If you’re looking for more insights on how to refine your Digital PR strategy to focus on quality results, explore a wider blog on this topic via a blog post I wrote on the Digitaloft website here.
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