In a recent discussion with Lydia Benson, a seasoned media monitoring expert, we explored the complexities and challenges inherent in media monitoring within today’s digital ecosystem. With her extensive experience working with various brands across multiple sectors, Lydia provided critical insights into why even the most advanced media monitoring tools can sometimes overlook significant stories.
“Media monitoring is an essential resource for brands striving to maintain and manage their public image,” Lydia began. “It plays a crucial role in tracking press mentions and assessing public sentiment. However, there’s an often-overlooked challenge that brands face, which is intricately linked to the SEO rankings of the websites being monitored.”
Throughout her career, Lydia has discovered that while these tools are remarkably powerful, they are not without flaws. “Many brands fail to grasp that these tools heavily depend on search engine algorithms,” she explained. “Search engines like Google give priority to websites with high SEO scores, resulting in articles from these sites being picked up quickly. Conversely, websites with lower SEO scores, often smaller or niche blogs, do not receive the same level of visibility, leading to missed mentions.”
She underscored this issue with a compelling real-world example. “I recall working with a leading telecommunications company in Nigeria, which noticed a missing brand mention on a relatively obscure news blog. They brought this to our attention, and despite our media monitoring tools scanning a vast array of websites, the mention had been missed. Even a manual search initially yielded no results.”
Lydia elaborated further, “It wasn’t until we visited the news blog directly that we located the missing story. The blog’s low SEO ranking was the culprit. Its content was not effectively indexed by search engines, causing our tools to overlook it.”
This experience highlighted a crucial aspect of media monitoring that many brands may not fully comprehend. “The dynamics of SEO significantly influence how monitoring tools capture brand mentions,” Lydia noted. “Many low-SEO websites do not follow best practices like using proper meta descriptions, structured data, or having sufficient backlinks. Therefore, even when they publish news stories, these stories might not be immediately detected.”
Lydia stressed the importance of brands understanding these algorithmic nuances. “In regions like Nigeria, where the media landscape comprises a diverse array of digital platforms with varying levels of SEO sophistication, this understanding becomes even more critical. Public relations managers need to be cognizant that their media monitoring tools might miss mentions on lower-ranked websites.”
She also emphasized that this knowledge could foster a more collaborative relationship between brands and their media monitoring partners. “Recognizing these limitations can reduce unfounded accusations against media monitoring agencies. It encourages a constructive dialogue about the capabilities and constraints of monitoring technologies.”
While Lydia acknowledged the advancements in media monitoring tools, she cautioned that they are not perfect. “Brands need to understand that optimizing monitoring strategies for low-SEO websites may necessitate more manual intervention and patience. By acknowledging these limitations, they can ensure their stories are captured as comprehensively as possible.”
Lydia’s insights provide a valuable lesson for brands: understanding the underlying algorithms that drive media monitoring is paramount. This knowledge can bridge the gap between brand expectations and the capabilities of these tools, fostering a more productive and cooperative relationship with media monitoring partners.
