How to Measure PR Success: Does Media Coverage Really Work?
You’ve secured a fantastic piece of media coverage. Perhaps you’ve been interviewed for a photography magazine, quoted as an expert in an online article or appeared as a guest on a podcast.
You share it on social media, add it to your website and eagerly check Google Analytics.
And then… not much happens.
A handful of people visit your website. Nobody immediately enquires. No bookings can obviously be attributed to the feature.
Does that mean the PR hasn’t worked?
Not necessarily.
One of the challenges with PR is that its impact isn’t always as immediate or as easy to measure as other forms of marketing. And if you’re judging the success of media coverage solely by the number of people who clicked a link within an article, you’re probably only seeing a small part of the picture.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t expect PR to contribute to business growth. We absolutely should. But we need to be more considered about what we’re measuring and over what period of time.
Why media coverage doesn’t always result in lots of website clicks
Think about how you consume media yourself. You read an interesting article. Someone is quoted whose name you haven’t heard before. Perhaps you make a mental note of them.
Do you immediately click through to their website? Probably not.
You might encounter them again a few weeks later. You might search their name on Google. You might notice them appearing on a podcast you listen to or see their work shared somewhere else.
And eventually, when you need the thing they offer, you remember them.
That’s one of the reasons PR can be difficult to measure using referral traffic alone.
Google Analytics can tell you when somebody arrives directly from another website, but it cannot perfectly reconstruct everything that influenced that person’s decision beforehand.
Google itself acknowledges that traffic can end up categorised as “direct” when referral information isn’t available. And its attribution guidance recognises that customers can interact with a brand through multiple channels before eventually converting.
So if somebody reads an article featuring you on Monday, searches for your photography business on Friday and enquires the following week, the original article may have played a role even though you won’t necessarily see a neat line in Google Analytics connecting the two.
PR is rarely a one-hit strategy
This is why I encourage photographers to think about PR as part of their wider visibility strategy rather than as a series of isolated pieces of coverage.
One magazine feature probably won’t transform your business overnight. Neither will one blog post. Or one podcast interview. Or one first-page Google ranking.
What becomes powerful is when these things start working together.
Someone searches for a photographer and discovers your website.
- They notice you’ve been featured in respected publications.
- They Google your name and find interviews and articles elsewhere.
- They see you appearing consistently around a particular subject or speciality.
Each encounter reinforces the previous one.
You’re no longer simply telling prospective clients that you’re experienced or knowledgeable. Other people and publications are providing some of that evidence for you.
That’s where PR can have a valuable halo effect across the rest of your marketing.
PR success isn’t just about numbers…
…But numbers still matter.
One of the difficulties with measuring PR is that some of its impact is relatively easy to track, while some isn’t. Website traffic, branded searches, enquiries and bookings give you measurable data.
Reputation, recognition, authority and trust are much harder to neatly attribute to a particular article or podcast appearance. But, I think you need to pay attention to both.
The harder-to-measure benefits of PR shouldn’t be dismissed simply because they don’t appear neatly in Google Analytics. But equally, “PR builds awareness” shouldn’t become an excuse for activity that never seems to contribute anything meaningful to the business.
Over time, I’d want to see evidence on both sides: commercial outcomes alongside signs that your reputation, authority and visibility are growing.
That’s why measuring PR properly means looking at a combination of signals rather than asking whether one particular article resulted in a booking.
What should photographers measure after getting media coverage?
Referral traffic is still worth looking at. If an article sends hundreds of highly relevant visitors to your website, that’s clearly useful.
But I wouldn’t stop there. Instead, look at what happens across your visibility over the following weeks and months.
1. Referral traffic
Start with the obvious one. Did people click through directly from the article to your website?
Look at both the quantity and quality of that traffic. Ten visitors who spend time exploring your portfolio and services may potentially be more valuable than hundreds who immediately leave.
2. Branded searches
This is an interesting metric that’s often overlooked.
After media coverage, are more people searching Google for:
- your name
- your photography business
- your brand + photography
- your name + the subject you were discussing?
Google Search Console can help here. Its Performance reporting allows you to examine the search queries generating impressions and clicks, and Google now provides branded versus non-branded query analysis for eligible sites specifically to help assess brand awareness.
Rather than looking only at what happened the day an article appeared, compare a sensible period before and after your PR activity.
3. Enquiries and bookings
Ultimately, visibility needs to support your business. But attribution isn’t always straightforward. This is why I recommend asking new enquiries: “How did you hear about me?”
You might be surprised how often the answer involves several touchpoints: “I think I saw you in X, then I found your website…” or: “I’ve come across your name a few times…”
When a prospective client says: “I keep seeing you everywhere”, they’re describing repeated exposure: perhaps an article, a podcast appearance, a Google search, something you’ve shared yourself and then another mention elsewhere. Together, they’ve created familiarity.
That’s useful information that analytics alone can’t always give you.
4. Backlinks and SEO value
An online media feature can also result in a backlink from the publication to your website.
Not every backlink is equally valuable, and getting a link certainly doesn’t guarantee higher Google rankings. But relevant editorial links and mentions can form part of the wider authority and discoverability picture.
That’s one reason I don’t view PR and SEO as completely separate marketing activities.
Done strategically, PR and SEO can complement one another.
5. Authority and trust
There’s also an element of borrowed credibility. Being interviewed, quoted or featured by a recognised publication provides a form of third-party validation that you simply can’t create by saying the same things about yourself on your own website.
That doesn’t mean someone will book you simply because you’ve appeared in a magazine. But when they’re already considering you, those external signals can help reinforce their perception that you’re established, credible and worth considering.
The coverage might not have generated the enquiry. It may, however, help turn an interested visitor into somebody who trusts you enough to enquire.
Over time, stronger visibility and third-party credibility can also support how your photography business is perceived. That can contribute to stronger positioning, greater confidence around pricing and attracting clients who already understand the value of what you offer.
And what about AI search?
There’s another reason I’ve become increasingly interested in the relationship between PR and online visibility.
Potential clients aren’t only discovering photographers through traditional Google searches anymore. They’re also asking AI tools for recommendations, researching businesses through AI-generated search results and using conversational search to narrow down their choices.
That makes your wider digital footprint increasingly important.
If the only website talking about your expertise is your own, that’s a very different online footprint from one in which your name, business and specialist subjects also appear across interviews, podcasts, articles, industry websites and other credible third-party sources.
I wouldn’t suggest that getting one newspaper article suddenly means ChatGPT is going to start recommending you. It doesn’t work like that.
But building a consistent body of credible information around your name, business and expertise gives search engines and AI systems more third-party context from which to understand who you are, what you do and what you’re known for.
And that makes PR increasingly relevant to discoverability as well as reputation.
Related: Why Photographers Must Focus on SEO To Be Seen In AI Search
Don’t judge PR one article at a time
Perhaps the biggest mistake is expecting every individual piece of coverage to produce an easily measurable return.
Instead of asking: “How many sales did that article generate?”
try asking: “Is my visibility, authority and discoverability increasing as a result of the PR I’m doing?”
Then look for evidence across multiple indicators: referral traffic, branded searches, organic visibility, backlinks, enquiries, conversions, media opportunities and the quality of the publications in which you’re appearing.
That’s much closer to recognised communications measurement practice too. AMEC’s Barcelona Principles recommend looking beyond simple outputs and assessing communications in relation to awareness, perceptions and behaviour.
Related: An Essential Guide to Media Outreach for Photographers
PR still needs to support commercial goals
None of this means we should dismiss the numbers and focus only on less tangible benefits such as awareness, credibility and trust.
PR should ultimately contribute to the wider goals of your photography business.
If you’re consistently getting coverage but seeing no improvement in visibility, branded searches, enquiries, authority or commercial results over time, it’s reasonable to question the strategy.
It could be that you’re appearing in the wrong publications. The story might be reaching the wrong audience. Your positioning might not be clear enough. Or people may be discovering you but something further along the customer journey isn’t convincing them to take the next step.
Good PR isn’t just about getting your name into the media. It’s about getting you seen in the right places, by the right people, for the right reasons.
And its value becomes much easier to understand when you measure it as part of your overall visibility strategy rather than simply counting clicks from individual articles.
Signs your PR may be working…
…that won’t necessarily show up in Google Analytics
- Prospective clients tell you they’ve “seen you everywhere”
- People mention an article, interview or podcast when they enquire
- Journalists or podcast hosts begin approaching you
- You’re increasingly associated with a particular subject or specialism
- Other websites reference or link to your work
- Existing content and coverage start appearing when people search your name
- Prospective clients arrive already familiar with you and what you do.
Want to build your visibility beyond social media?
If so, you’re in the right place. I help professional photographers become easier to find, trust and choose through a strategic combination of PR, SEO and content. Find out more about my PR and visibility services.
Zoe
Frequently Asked Questions about PR Success
PR success can be measured using a combination of metrics including referral traffic, branded searches, backlinks, organic visibility, enquiries, conversions and changes in awareness or perception. The most appropriate measures depend on what you wanted the PR activity to achieve.
It can, but media coverage doesn’t always produce large volumes of direct referral traffic. Someone may discover your business through an article and later return via Google, social media or by typing your website address directly, making the original influence difficult to attribute.
PR can support SEO when it generates relevant online coverage, links, brand mentions and increased awareness. However, an individual media feature or backlink doesn’t guarantee improved Google rankings.
PR can contribute to a photographer’s wider online footprint by creating independent mentions, interviews and coverage about them and their expertise. These third-party sources can provide additional context about a person or business online, although no individual piece of coverage can guarantee inclusion or recommendation by an AI system.
