Search Marketing Blog
Are Your Press Releases Really Press Releases?
Posted by Kent Schnepp on 12.26.2007If your company routinely creates press releases announcing new services and news-worthy developments, you obviously understand the value and purpose of these PR vehicles. However, given that more and more individuals are now using major search engines to gather product information and retrieve consumer news, it is very important to understand the value of ensuring that your press releases are “optimized” as well.
When we say that a press release has been “optimized”, we are referring to the fact that its content and structure has been enhanced in a manner that enables it to be easily indexed within the Natural search engines. Thus, the value of an optimized press release is to ensure that your newsworthy content, and your Web site, is actually found by individuals interested in your products and services.
A press release that does not get in front of an audience is not a press release. It’s a waste of time and money.
The most important component in the process of optimizing press releases is in-depth keyword research and analysis. In fact, optimized keywords are the foundation for effective press release optimization. This is due to the fact that, in order for the search listings associated with your press release to rank highly with Natural search results, the major search algorithms (a.k.a. “spiders”) must be able to associate the relevant keywords, that individuals are typing into their search queries, with the content in your press release.
Think about it. If individuals are searching for products and services in your industry, the major search engines greatly desire for them to be able to readily find the most relevant and most up-to-date information possible. The search engines call this a “positive user experience”. They also realize that the more positive user experiences that occur, the more individuals are likely to use their search engine, rather than a competitor (i.e., use Google instead of Yahoo! search).
The engines also realize that press releases many times provide the most current information, and thus more positive user experiences.
Therefore, if you are going to take the time to create a press release, it is paramount that it be optimized for the search engines. There are many strategies and techniques to consider, however the process typically involves the generation and analysis of an optimized keyword list, followed by proper inclusion of the optimized keywords and associated anchor text links into the title and content.
Note that is important to strike a proper balance between optimized keyword density and good copy. That is, do not overuse keywords just for the purpose of stuffing them into your press releases. The search engines actually frown upon this practice. In addition, judiciously use anchor text hyperlinks throughout your press releases, so that readers are encouraged to visit your Web site directly from your press release. Note that your destination Web pages (that the hyperlinks are pointed at) should include the same optimized keywords featured in the content of your press release.
In addition, it makes sense to include a list of the hyperlinks featured throughout your content, at the end of your press release, just before the “boilerplate” information. This provides easy navigation for the engines and your audience.
The final component to ensure that your target audience is rapidly finding your product and service announcements is to carefully select the distribution channels for your press releases. It is crucial that your press release be published directly to the major search engines, as well as the popular news wires. Note that many of the news wire services actually remove all hyperlinks within press releases prior to distribution, which may inhibit their release across the Internet.
Please drop me a quick post for more information pertaining to the value of optimized press releases. Or, let me know if you have any additional suggestions to add to this post.
SEO for Yahoo Small Business - Terry Reeves 12.26.2007 at 12:45 pm
Something else to consider. From experience, I know that many want to distribute a press release to as many distribution services as possible. This is not always a smart use of the time invested in these services. Many of the releases will be flagged as duplicate content within Google and will never be presented in a search result.
Also, locate PR web sites that pass PageRank in the press release. Most do not but a few do and added PageRank is a very beneficial gift for the ranking of any release.
Kent Schnepp 12.26.2007 at 2:31 pm
Great points Terry! I agree 100%, research PR Web sites just as you would research directories or potential linking partners.
Search Engine Optimization Direct » Are Your Press Releases Really Press Releases? 01.10.2008 at 10:41 am
[...] alex article is brought to you using rss feeds.Here are some of the top articles on search engine optimization.However, given that more and more individuals are now using major search engines to gather product information and retrieve consumer news, it is very important to understand the value of ensuring that your press releases are ‘optimized’ … [...]