Press releases are a powerful marketing tool to get your story in front of millions of people worldwide. A well-crafted release can get your article on top ranking sites like Google News, CNN and the New York Times.
If you are new in writing press releases, you don’t just write a release and submit it. There are rules and guidelines that you need to follow and a writing style that should be used. If you are not familiar with how to write a press release, then you need to look for an SEO press release service. This means that your press release will not only be professionally written but also optimized for SEO.
An SEO optimized release will help increase media exposure, engage your readers and improve online brand visibility.
In the past, link building was the best way to get more traffic to your website. The problem arose when many black hat SEO tactics were used to take advantage of the old system. Press releases had irrelevant content and were stuffed with keywords.
Google came up with the Panda update to address the problem. The consequence hit press releases hard because it became mandatory for press release newswire sites that list press releases to have “nofollow” links that are ineffective for SEO.
The good news is press releases still serve the same function as before which is to get the attention of media outlet.
This means that if you have something newsworthy to share, using a press release and a distribution service can still generate interest from the media. This can result in your article being published, interviews and yes, even backlinks.
If you want to write your press release and not hire a writing service, here are tips on writing an excellent and SEO optimized release.
Choose Your Story
People love to hear stories and not just general announcements. Readers and journalists could only care less if you are a new business or you have launched a new product. They will only be interested if your product or service solves their problem. A great story also sticks to memory compared to formal, impersonal press releases.
Perform Keyword Research
You may have the most unforgettable story that will surely be a hit with many readers, but if they can’t find your story, your efforts are useless. Research what your readers and journalists are searching for and use those keywords. There are keyword research tools that you can use to help you out with your research.
A favorite free tool is Google Keyword Planner. Use this tool to know about the search volume of your targeted keywords. Long-tailed keywords are better to focus on. Once you have chosen your keywords, make sure to add them to your headline and content. Don’t put in too much to avoid keyword stuffing and incur a penalty from Google. Use keyword variations that are similar to your main keywords.
You can also use links to relevant information on your website. Add some links to a page that is not your homepage.
Create A Killer Headline
Short and keyword driven titles are recommended so that you can easily attract users attention. You only have less than 5 seconds to get the attention of the average user so having a descriptive headline is key. Journalists are busy people, and it would make their job easier if they know from the outset what your release is all about. Keep in mind that they go through many stories each day and they won’t spend much time on an article that doesn’t get its point across quickly. Headlines should be kept under 80 characters to be effective.
Write Your Copy
A killer headline needs to be backed up by a compelling story. Make your story clear and concise just like your headline. Always include the who, what, when, where, how, and why. The first 250 words are crucial in conveying your important details. Avoid jargon and tech speak that no one will understand.
After you describe your story, you can include an “About Us” section that is a few sentences long. Write from a third person point of view and cover necessary information slightly referencing the press release story.
Tone down on promotional content, keyword stuffing and hyperlinks to affiliated sites. Remove links that lead to sites that manipulate bots to make content appear in search engines. It will be a waste of money if your press release will get rejected by media outlets.
While writing your copy, think of it as a single web page. This will make it easy to read on the web. Write short sentences and paragraphs. Format with headings, bold and italics. Take note of how your release will appear in an email message.
Make sure you add “nofollow” in your press release links. This will tell Google bots to ignore the links. This is done to avoid penalties to your site.
Include Multimedia
Wire services allow you to add multimedia elements like images, video, and audio for a fee. It is better to use a third party tool to host these elements and tag them descriptively. Doing this will give you added exposure on the social media platform that uploaded them to.
Make sure to optimize your on-page SEO when embedding these elements by inserting image ALT tags and anchor texts.
Distribute Your Release To Wire Services
Now that you have finished writing and optimizing your release for SEO its time to submit it to newswires. There are services like Newswire, Business Wire, Marketwire, and PRWeb. You will see what your release looks like on their websites.
Don’t just send your release to any media group. Look into local media sources and target those in your industry or niche. Press release distribution services can help you with this task of targeting relevant media outlets.
Make yourself available for interviews, quotes and photo opportunities. Include your contact information where you can be reached easily. Once the media gets a hold of your story, they will ask you for more information.
