Press Releases In The Age Of SEO
The press release is a format which is most strongly associated with traditional media formats such as newspapers, radio and television. However, press releases have found new life and new purpose on the World Wide Web. If you're in the internet marketing business (or really, any business, since the emergence of the web as a marketplace has made almost every business owner an internet marketer by necessity), writing press releases for the web can build backlinks to your site, generate traffic and of course, lead to coverage in traditional media and by websites which cover your industry.
The rules of writing press releases for print are still very much applicable to press releases written for online release. The format is still the same and the basics of writing a PR for the web are the same. If you're not familiar with the format at all, keep reading for a brief rundown of how press releases are written and how to get the most out of your releases by using SEO.
First, there's the formatting. The service that you use to circulate your press release may have their own guidelines. Follow them. If not, here's some things to remember.
The first line of your press release also needs to capture the reader's interest. You have a very short amount of time to engage the reader, so make the most of this. If your headline and the first line of the body are strong enough to make them want to read further, you're halfway there.
Next, put as much information as possible into the first paragraph. Busy clients or potential customers may not have time to peruse your masterpiece. So, make your first paragraph an intriguing summary, one that makes your reader want to read on (or skip to the bottom and call your contact person). Begin this paragraph with the date and location of the subject of your press release.
The way to make subjective statements in a PR is with attributions. These are quotes from a company spokesperson which can convey a more personal point of view again though, it's a mistake to make this an outright sales pitch. However, attributions are a valuable way of putting a more personal spin on your release, something which does have an effect on readers and with a online PR, your readers include potential customers as well as members of the media.
Sending out press releases improves your web site traffic because news sites and press release distribution sites are considered to be credible sources of information. Also, the links from those sites to your site in the news coverage or news releases count highly in making your site more likely to show up on earlier pages of search engine results. Over time, the use of news release distribution helps all the pages of your website rise in the search engine rankings, increasing your overall volume of traffic.
Your keyword use matters here too. Use the same kind of SEO best practices as you would on your webpage. Use keywords in your headline and naturally throughout the body of the release. Don't make the mistake of packing your release with keywords; this can lead to it being ignored by search engines and makes it difficult to read remember to write for human readers first and search engines second.
A well written search engine optimized press release can do a lot for your business. It can raise your profile, bring in new clients and give you some invaluable free exposure in the media. Writing SEO press releases for the web is a skill well worth learning; or at least hiring a professional copywriter to do for you there are a lot of benefits to be had and the press release remains as valuable of a marketing tool, possibly more so than ever.
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