Google is once again giving press releases visibility in search results.The search phrase “easter hotel staycation ideas” returned these results.
The first result, PRWEB.com, is a press release distribution service.A good PR program has always been good for SEO. Churning out press releases that have little to no value to the press or potential customers certainly falls in the Black (maybe grey) hat of SEO strategies. To help guide your press agent, here are a few tips on getting the most out of your online press release distribution:
- Continue to write your release to entice journalists to pick-up your story. Even though your releases will more easily find their way to the search engine results page, you will continue to get the biggest bump from your story being published in the popular press.
- Keep the customer, guest, prospect in mind when writing the release. Since releases in raw form are more likely to get in front of your main audience, write it for them. Stay away from industry jargon, acronyms or technical language that may be fine for a journalist who covers your industry beat, but could bore, confuse or dissuade your customer from reading further or, worse, jump ship and continue their search elsewhere.
- Include search terms in the headline, sub-heading and body of the release. Take advantage of the data you can already access to inform word choice. Mine your Google Analytics account for keywords that your visitors use to get your site. If this leads to a dead end, leverage Google Trends to compare competing word choices, or simply start typing the word or phrase into the Google search box. The suggestions Google offers will clue you into the most popular or frequently searched for words and phrases that relate to the idea you are writing about.
- Don’t spam. Follow #3 above, but don’t over do it! Your release should read pretty naturally, not sound forced or oversaturated with keywords.
- Be informational, don’t just push a product or offer. While you certainly can include product information or a relevant offer, this is a fine line. A press release is supposed to be self-serving, just tread carefully.
- Include links! Your release can’t contain all the information necessary to write a story. More information for the journalist and customer can be housed on your website; so link to it and make everyone’s life easier. This is a valuable link building opportunity, especially if the release gets picked-up by the press or a blogger.
- Include an image. (Your logo doesn’t count!) Use or find a compelling image that you own. This is not an opportunity to use stock photography.
- Distribute your release! Use a service like PRWeb. There is a fee, and various levels of offerings, but it’s worth it.
- Repurpose your press release as web content. House it in a Press and Media section. Ideally it would live as HTML instead of a PDF and certainly not as an image (JPG, PNG, etc) so that the content is more readable for the search engines.
- Be timely. Press releases like news have a short shelf life.
Following these 10 tips won’t ensure Google search dominance, but they will help you get the most of your press program. Even if Google changes their mind on the visibility and relevancy of press releases, these 10 press release tips will help you take your press program to the next level.
Google is once again giving press releases visibility in search results.The search phrase “easter hotel staycation ideas” returned these results.
The first result, PRWEB.com, is a press release distribution service.A good PR program has always been good for SEO. Churning out press releases that have little to no value to the press or potential customers certainly falls in the Black (maybe grey) hat of SEO strategies. To help guide your press agent, here are a few tips on getting the most out of your online press release distribution:
- Continue to write your release to entice journalists to pick-up your story. Even though your releases will more easily find their way to the search engine results page, you will continue to get the biggest bump from your story being published in the popular press.
- Keep the customer, guest, prospect in mind when writing the release. Since releases in raw form are more likely to get in front of your main audience, write it for them. Stay away from industry jargon, acronyms or technical language that may be fine for a journalist who covers your industry beat, but could bore, confuse or dissuade your customer from reading further or, worse, jump ship and continue their search elsewhere.
- Include search terms in the headline, sub-heading and body of the release. Take advantage of the data you can already access to inform word choice. Mine your Google Analytics account for keywords that your visitors use to get your site. If this leads to a dead end, leverage Google Trends to compare competing word choices, or simply start typing the word or phrase into the Google search box. The suggestions Google offers will clue you into the most popular or frequently searched for words and phrases that relate to the idea you are writing about.
- Don’t spam. Follow #3 above, but don’t over do it! Your release should read pretty naturally, not sound forced or oversaturated with keywords.
- Be informational, don’t just push a product or offer. While you certainly can include product information or a relevant offer, this is a fine line. A press release is supposed to be self-serving, just tread carefully.
- Include links! Your release can’t contain all the information necessary to write a story. More information for the journalist and customer can be housed on your website; so link to it and make everyone’s life easier. This is a valuable link building opportunity, especially if the release gets picked-up by the press or a blogger.
- Include an image. (Your logo doesn’t count!) Use or find a compelling image that you own. This is not an opportunity to use stock photography.
- Distribute your release! Use a service like PRWeb. There is a fee, and various levels of offerings, but it’s worth it.
- Repurpose your press release as web content. House it in a Press and Media section. Ideally it would live as HTML instead of a PDF and certainly not as an image (JPG, PNG, etc) so that the content is more readable for the search engines.
- Be timely. Press releases like news have a short shelf life.
Following these 10 tips won’t ensure Google search dominance, but they will help you get the most of your press program. Even if Google changes their mind on the visibility and relevancy of press releases, these 10 press release tips will help you take your press program to the next level.
