PR and SEO Tips for 2026
Written by Jack Stocking from R&Co Communications
As digital marketing becomes even more competitive across all channels, the Birmingham agency's team are sharing their advice on the bad habits to leave behind and the best habits to embrace for the year ahead.
Read on for small, actionable marketing tips across PR, SEO and social media from R&Co’s award-winning team.
PR tips for 2026
Newsrooms are busier than ever and journalists are inundated with stories. For the R&Co PR team, it’s all about understanding how to cut through the noise while making life as easy as possible for journalists and clients.
Here are some simple PR rules that can help you reap more rewards from your comms efforts.
Don’t force the narrative
If you have a story to tell, make sure you have a strong news angle and ensure that angle is immediately obvious to the journalist. Journalists don’t have time to look for the story, you need to make it jump out to them from the get go.
Keep it simple
A basic one, but something that's often forgotten when you know the ins and outs of your business - keep it simple! Always assume the reader and journalist has no idea what it is you do, and keep explanations jargon free and to the point.
The need for speed
Do you want top tier media coverage? You need to think and act fast. Coverage in national media titles typically relies on equal parts high quality comment and speed of delivery. Journalists need responses quickly so be quick off the mark.
Focus on what makes you unique
Everybody’s challenge in the media sphere and across their internal and external comms is to cut through the noise. Offer something different, be individual and show something of interest. Homing in on what makes your business special is a huge factor to consider in 2026.
Avoid decimal points
Journalists round figures up or down - for example, writing 56.3 per cent rarely makes much of a difference. Instead, keep it clean and write 56 per cent - or 'more than half' if your content is already quite number-heavy.
Don’t be scared about AI
Just learn to use it well! AI can speed up so many repetitive tasks and free up your time for more important work. As long as you can ‘feed the beast’ with your own knowledge and thoughts and you don’t expect AI to think for you, then it is a powerful tool for all of us in the PR and communications world.
SEO tips for 2026
Feeling overwhelmed by the never-ending changes happening in SEO? Keep on track and continue to impact in 2026 with the following tips.
SEO is a marathon, not a sprint
Budgets are tight and under increased scrutiny. Trust that having the right team and strategy in place will deliver long-term results and don’t treat SEO like a one-time project, it’s ongoing. Google never sleeps and neither should your SEO.
Build trust and authority
SEO is not just about rankings. To deliver real, long-term impact, your SEO strategy should also be building trust in your brand and demonstrating your authority in the sector you operate.
Stop chasing every new SEO hack
It’s easy to get your head turned by the latest SEO hack, but don’t get swept up in unproven tactics. The core SEO tactics are the still that ones that drive results: sound technical foundations, quality keyword research, high quality content and backlinks gained through PR.
AI content is not finished content
AI tools learn from existing content, so using them to write your content means you’re recycling other people’s work. To create content that is valuable and helpful for users (and Google) make sure you are adding the human touch along with insight and personality.
Do you need help making your campaigns stand out in 2026? Talk to our team to find out how we can get people talking about your business or learn more about our PR andSEO services.