Make your press release work harder
Michael Pollock
and search agency iCrossing, you should be optimizing your press
releases for Internet search - and yes, he has 10 tips for you. Here
is what he says:
If you don't currently optimize your press releases, consider this:
* Online news wires such as PRWeb, PRNewswire and BusinessWire have
become a direct source for content, and act as press release search
engines that may require some amount of optimization in order to be
found.
* "Universal Search" means that news releases hold greater importance
as a naturally optimized asset. (Note: I'm not implying that releases
get you directly in News placement; releases alone do not, but press
release pickup by news outlets can.)
* There is a substantial audience of journalists, bloggers and end-
readers that rely on keyword-triggered alert systems to find news and
press release content.
Now let's get into the nitty gritty. These are not new concepts, but
they're as important as ever with the evolution of the industry.
Here, my ten tips for press release optimization:
1) In the title headline, always include popular keywords and keyword
phrases that correspond with the major theme of the release. Of all on-
page attributes, the title element is the single heaviest weighted
aspect in the way that engines determine search ranking. Press
releases are no different. Choose your keywords carefully, because in
most cases a release will not rank for a competitive keyword or phrase
unless it is emphasized in the title. One best practice is to start
your release with information about a partnership with a widely-
recognized brand name company; you might even consider starting the
release with the partner's name.
2) Include popular keyword and keyword phrases in the release summary,
or the secondary release heading. The secondary heading summary can
also be a place to incorporate other valuable ancillary keywords and
phrases that support your overall theme.
3) Reinforce the major keyword theme in the body of the release. Once
again, what works for optimizing Web pages goes for releases as well.
Include your title keyword theme in the first paragraph to reinforce
the overall theme of the release.
4) Include your URL in the first paragraph, after the organization's
name. The engines put more emphasis on a link in the first paragraph
or sentence of a page, so I highly recommend that you include the URL
in that spot in each release. One of my contacts at one major newswire
also recommends including the full path URL (including http://) so
that all news-based content management systems will activate the link
(some will not activate the link in their CMS if only "www.url.com" is
used).
5) Use relevant keywords to describe the organization at the end of
the press release. Adding your generic keyword phrase or category to
describe the nature of your business not only serves to describe and
introduce what your company does, but it also gives the engines a
little bit of keyword context to go by. Ensure that a generic and
relevant description is in the boilerplate (eg "Org serves homeless
youth").
6) Add relevant ancillary keywords to trigger the release via keyword
alert services. Remember that keywords and keyword phrases placed
anywhere in the document can trigger a release alert via Google, Yahoo
Alerts, online news wires or any other keyword-based notification
system, so it is important to use relevant trigger keywords throughout
the release.
7) Use keyword research to reach your target. Once again, just as
search engine marketers regularly research keywords and phrases for
search engine campaigns, understanding how your press or blog targets
think at the query level can put your release directly in their
inboxes, without having to make an additional phone call or send an
email. Utilizing the terminology that searchers use to find
information ultimately increases your chances of being found. Keyword
Discovery offers a database of news-based keyword searches taken from
its sample population, and this can provide direction in the level of
interest around a particular keyword or topic.
8) Educate your PR team on press release optimization. If you're not
the person who is responsible for writing your company's press
releases, talk to your team. Using best practices for writing releases
to attract journalists' attention generally also helps with
optimization.
9) If your press release includes a public company (a donor perhaps),
request that its pr folks give permission to distribute the release on
that company's feed. This will increase pickup on financial outlets.
10) The Associated Press and Reuters are no longer the only news
services in town. Targeting a press release for a publication like
bizjournals.com can result in pickup in multiple local markets.