How to use your website to measure PR

Debate about measuring PR can range from whether impressions matter to which tools to use.

If a business is centered on the Web, its website analytics and search engine optimization must be at the heart of any PR measurement.

“We’re all going back to a much more simple, commonsense idea of what PR is all about,” says Bill Penn, chairman of London-based Aspectus PR. “PR is about a business outcome. … It’s about what people do when they come to your website and how well they interact with you.

“Do they buy stuff? Do they want to know more information? Are we changing their opinions? We can find all that out through their behavior when they come to your website.”

Here are some tips from Penn:

Define your business goals

Once your goals are defined, measurement of outcomes becomes clear, Penn says. The converging fields of marketing and communications are all trying to get people to come to a specific website and take a specific action, he says.

That could mean downloading information, engaging with a source on a client website, finding information, or buying a product.