All an online business wants today is more & more of website traffic and reach. Till date, all we can think of when we say good SEO is getting quality backlinks from a search engine optimized press release, but to do this well one must know how to write a press release.
Though there are lot more ways to get the business SEO thing right, if we come down the actual line; how many of them actually work?
Let’s face it, we all took bits of advice from market leaders at some point in time, but the million dollar question is how effective those tactics were. Where majorly they were a disappointment, some of them worked comparatively well.
With Google’s algorithm getting smarter day-by-day, old techniques like link building are now penalized and thus is no longer preferable. Now the new way that has substituted this is getting links of your content being shared in other people’s writing or sharing.
This means external linking, the process of getting recognized for your quality content and mentioning you as a source that is beneficial to the readers. Back-linking is another useful way to get the desired reach and becoming an industry leader.
Best Way To Receive Backlinks
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With evolving SEO over years, we have witnessed one of the best ways to earn backlinks and i.e. press release. I might sound weird to you, but you’ll totally relate to it, keep reading.
Compared to paid advertising, distributing a press release is way more economical option available to businesses today. It can be the best way (if done correctly) to maximize your website’s traffic and revenue instantly. A true value for money option.
Before your questions and doubts kill the highest level of your curiosity, here’s how a press release holds great SEO value.
The % Of SEO Value In A Press Release
Press release holds its origin somewhere in 1906 and has been a powerful marketing tool since then. Its purpose is to get your business news out to people and inform and educate them about your business.
Not just this, your business needs media attention too and something newsworthy is what they need to write about. To accomplish this, all your business needs is a well-written press release that carries news value.
How To Write Press Release
The press release is in existence before the web and with the introduction of internet and other writing platforms like blogs and social media, the way press release is written has changed tremendously. Press release distribution is no more limited to newspaper or print media but is now sent to online media as well. The press release is not only commonly used by big companies, but startups too.
Writing a press release is actually really simple. All you have to do is follow the press release style and include the message that is newsworthy to your target audiences.
To make sure your target audiences will receive the message that you’re sending across, let’s get started by going through the basics of a press release.
When you’re sending out a press release for distribution, make sure you give as much information as possible so that your potential customers are well informed about the post-knowledge actions and find you if interested.
When deciding on press release structure, make sure you work on the headline, summary, and first paragraph because that’s where your audience will mostly focus on it will set the first impression for you.
Press Release Structure
Headline
With press release, the headline shouldn’t be a promotional stunt but the most informative start and that is how to write a press release perfectly. Be clear, specific and free of promotional ideas.
It should be an announcement that is offering certain news like your audience reads in the newspaper. Use active verb to make the most valuable headline that must be up-to-date and newsworthy.
Summary
Just one paragraph summary that gives out a brief description that informs the audience about your content. To make sure you create the perfect summary, first thing is being informative in your summary, second, avoid matching the first paragraph and summary, this is a big NO.
A repetition of information makes the reader lose interest in your press release very soon. To engage them for a longer duration, it is crucial to keep your press release short, concise, crisp and to-the-point. For e.g. the book synopsis we read. They haven’t repeated again in the book at all.
Dateline
This must include the city, state and the date of the press release. This is placed in the first line of the copy and should be followed by the introduction of your news or announcement.
Note: Dateline should be in ALL CAPS and the full date should be mentioned that includes the year as well.
Lead Paragraph
The lead paragraph should answer all the 5 W’s & 1 H (Who, When, Where, What, Why, How). The start should be engaging & capturing to hold the reader’s attention. As said above, the first paragraph should not match the summary and must highlight the message so that readers can easily grasp the idea of the press release through the first paragraph itself.
Body
When writing a press release, it’s very important to write it from a third-person point of view. A press release should report on what’s happening on an event from a third-party perspective because the first-person language is usually used in advertisements. So it wouldn’t be relevant to use the same method in a press.
Think like a journalist. You don’t see journalists writing a piece of news from their perspective, right?
But there’s always an exception for it. Unless you’re quoting from a company, partner, or customer, then it is alright to use the first-person language.
Boilerplate
The boilerplate is the short paragraph that gives information about the company or organization. It is usually placed in the last paragraph of a press release.
This is where you describe your company’s background. Most business owners will add a subhead “About Us/About [Company Name]” so separate it from the body to that readers can easily identify the company’s details.
Contact Info
Providing your contact information such as name, phone number, and email address is vital.
This makes it easier for potential customers to contact you when they’re interested in your products/services. In another way, you’re also building your authority here by giving details for audiences to reach to you.
And now that I’ve got your attention, I’m gonna show you the effective way of how to write a press release to maximize your exposure.
Press Release Format
Press Release Sample
How To Write SEO Press Release
Writing SEO-friendly press release always starts from the fundamental of SEO – choosing your keywords. You need to aim for the keywords that people will search for regularly. Then, you can rank your content for that particular keyword.
Use Google Keyword Planner to look for the search volume of our targeted keywords. Once you have your targeted keywords, make sure to include it in your headline, summary, and content. However, you wouldn’t want to put too many keywords in it and end up getting Google’s penalty.
To avoid that from happening, always use variations in your content by using LSI keywords, which are the keywords similar to your main keywords.
Press Release Tips
- Offer solutions, not problems.
- As business owners, we should be the one who offers solutions to our customers and makes things easier for them.
- Avoid asking questions.
- Since press release is about announcing news, it’d be the best to not ask any questions in the press release. Instead, your message should be clear and concise. Readers will lose interest when they see questions because they’re interested in finding out more about you, not to think about the solution.
- Include images in your SEO press release.
- When you’re inserting images and links into your press release, remember to also optimize the on-page SEO such as inserting image ALT tags and anchor texts to direct the readers back to your site for maximum exposure.
- Tone down your promotional messages.
- People send press release full of promotional content stuffed with keywords and hyperlinks to affiliated sites and networks that manipulate the bots so that their content will appear in the search engines. It’s unhealthy to do so because your press release will get rejected by the media outlets, resulting in losing the money that you’ve paid for press release distribution.
- To give you a clearer idea on how to write an SEO-friendly press release, here are a few types of press releases that may be suitable for your business.
Types Of Press Releases
Most press release distribution websites accept these 5 types of press releases:
1) General News
General news doesn’t refer to any news. Instead, it should be newsworthy – announcing something new that’s happening in the company or organization issuing the press release. Other than that, I’d suggest writing your headline in an active verb to make it look more like a press release.
2) Launching
If you’re currently working on a new project, which is going to be launched sooner or later. You can always write a press release about it. Good things must be shared!
3) Staff Announcement
More staffs are joining your company, and you want to talk about how much has your company grown? Sure thing. You can announce it on a press release too.
4) Event
Ah-ha! This is probably what most companies have in common. Whenever you have any event and you need more exposure, a press release will help to get your news out there.
Well, you might think, “Who needs that when you have social media?” But what about those startups that don’t have much exposure yet? Especially when your followers are still increasing, social media wouldn’t be able to reach to everyone.
But with a press release that will be distributed to different media outlets, it definitely will.
5) Product
Every business has their products/services offered. Other than talking about the launching of a product, you can go into more detailed on the details and specs for your product.
However, you have to make sure that the press release should not be written like a sales letter or advertisement.
You’ll get more exposure after sending a press release. Then, your traffic will eventually increase. But how often should you send a press release?
Writing A SEO Press Release
At the end of the day, writing SEO-friendly press release will definitely help to reach your target audiences, and position your site to be ranked on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Spend more time on optimizing your press release and you’ll definitely see the increase in traffic to your website and more publicity like never before.
If this is the first time you’re approaching press release in your marketing strategy, you’re probably thinking of getting those free or expensive press release services. Well, consider hiring a professional freelancer who can cost-effectively help you attain best results out of this marketing strategy – Press Release.
Do you think SEO-friendly press release can actually help with your marketing strategy to drive more traffic and reach for your website? Tell us more about your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you!
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