Press Releases are a valuable Internet Tool, but are you optimising yours?

A Press Release is a highly effective way of spreading the word on your new product launch or service offering.  In the offline world, businesses distribute press releases through the traditional media channels of trade journals, newspapers and magazines.

In the online world there are countless outlets to publish your Press Release, and writing one is no longer the preserve of the coroporate PR people.  However, writing an effective one does require the principles of SEO, since the idea is that you want to attract natural traffic to your press release though the search engines.

So, to be found by Google and the like, here are 5 tips for improving the SEO value of your Press Release:

1. Keyword Selection

As with all written content on the internet, the words and phrases you use in the body of your text define how attractive you are to the search engines.  Before charging into it, think carefully about what words people may be using to search for your particular subject to give you the best chance of being found in those searches.

2. Keyword Density

A particular passage of text is more "sticky" to the search engines if it has a higher density of a particular keyword or phrase.  That's not to say you should pointlessly repeat your word at the bottom of the page just for SEO value, but you should aim for a keyword density of 2-3% and place that word(s) throughout the text - beginning, middle and end.  That reinforces to the search engines what the Press Release is all about.

3. Format

As with all good copywriting, the Press Release should be structured in a logical, easy-to-read format.  Bear in mind the following:

Title - it should be simple and attention grabbing.  That's it.

Summary - an executive summary is useful to get your point across quickly,  Remember, people have limited attention spans online.

Body - the main body of text should be informative, interesting, and as far as possible written in layman's terms. 

Press Contact - make sure people know who to contact for further information.

References - Back-up your claims and statistics with good references, with the appropriate hyperlinks where possible.

4. Content is King

Don't use technical jargon.  Don't use lots of industry acronyms.  Your main objective is to tell a compelling story and leave the reader wanting more.  If your Press Release is found by people doing Google searches, they won't all be experts in your field so write in simple language.

5. Write for People, not Google

Forget everything we've just said about SEO-optimising your Press Release.  First and foremost it should be written for human eyes, not the search engines.  SEO will certainly get your Press Release found, but good quality, human content will get it read.

Talk to WSI Internet Marketing about your online brand management and Internet Marketing strategy.

Tracy Spence is a WSI Internet Consultant and has just given a highly entertaining presentation at the annual WSI Internet Marketing conference in Birmingham.





The focus of Tracy's presentation was how, as Internet Consultants, we often overlook the many offline marketing options that can be so effective for our businesses, and even miss some of the simple online opportunities for PR.  Tracy has mastered the art of:

     - networking
     - public speaking
     - media (TV / radio)
     - press and press releases
     - business link and mentoring new business people

Tracy's advice was useful for business owners or marketing directors in any industry, but I'm also quite sure there are many of us in the Internet Marketing industry who are guilty of overlooking these powerful opportunities.

In essence, although the balance of marketing power is unequivocally shifting from offline to online, it is still a blended approach that provides the greatest coverage and presents the most joined up marketing strategy.

For more on Targeted Lead Marketing for your business, speak to WSI Internet Marketing Preston.