Top 3 Things Public Relations Students Should Know About While In College

1. Muck Rack Academy

Muck Rack Academy is a student's PR haven! They offer a fantastic PR training course that immerses anyone interested in Public Relations information crucial in the professional world.

The best thing is that it's all free!

This certification is something that PR professionals recognize - they know MuckRack is a well-respected organization that has promoted quality PR skills and information for all.

In addition to their "Fundamentals of Media Relations" course, they also offer a "Fundamentals of Social Media." As a student, you want to grab on to as many certification courses as possible. Including something like this on your LinkedIn or resume may not exactly be the only reason you land a job, but it may be something your employer strongly considers - something that sets you apart from others.

2. Google Analytics, Facebook Analytics, Instagram Insights

Monitoring, monitoring, monitoring!

These three words are more important than ever before. In a society where we revolve ourselves, almost naturally, with the Internet and technological divides, it's crucial to be one step ahead of your competitors - mostly when everything changes and happens so rapidly.

One way to be on top of this is through owned media monitoring tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Analytics, and even Instagram Insights.

From managing two social media accounts, I've learned that when you know who's looking at your content (demographics), what they're looking at the most or the least (content interaction on specific posts), and when your most likely audience.

It's like a math equation… When you put all of these monitoring details together, it brings you and your organization the attention it deserves - sometimes, in turn, benefitting your brand's equity and financial return.

When it comes to understanding one's website statistics like new users, returning users, user bounce rates, and more, you can take hold of this knowledge and apply it to areas of your website that need the most attention.

Diving into your website's pros and cons allow you to understand where your audience cares to be and which areas may need more attention so you can build an audience on every page of your site.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Using SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is something that many students in college are not aware of. But what are they?

Essentially, SEOs are the Internet's way of improving your blog (and blog posts) by posting organic search results in your visitor's preferred search engine.

SEOs are the driving factor that brings your blog posts the attention and audience and is the way you can "speak" to Google and/or other search engines... and better yet, it's basically free advertising/promotion!

When you're writing a blog in college and want to gain traction. The way to do this by saving money is by putting in the time and effort to help your blog genuinely pay off. Remember, they say time is money… With SEOs, this couldn't be any more true!

Click here to check out some of my tips and tricks to boost your own blog's post-engagement through SEO!

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Have you been using any of these tools? If so, let me know! If not, which one did you find most interesting? Let me know in the comments below.