I’ve spent a heck of a lot of time writing hundreds of press releases over the past couple years learning what works and what doesn’t. Some releases completely struck out, while others landed noticeable links and targeted traffic. Yes, if you are in SEO, you know Google has been reducing the impact from the links a SEO press release sends, but a well-timed and well-distributed piece is still quite effective.
5 Main Parts of a Press Release
There are 5 main parts of any press release:Title Summary Body About the company Contact info Here’s the basic layout process we’ve found and regularly follow for maximum effectiveness: Title: Include the keyword somewhere, ideally near the beginning. we spend much of my time considering the title because that’s what determines whether or not people actually read the release. Summary: Here we put a couple sentences offering a brief synopsis of what the release is all about. If possible and they’re provided, we include a few secondary keywords for additional optimization value. Body: This is always written in the third person, and the stronger the story, the better. Coming up with regular SEO press release ideas regularly is difficult, so we often give clients a list of ideas to choose from. Adding a new product or service, promoting an employee, or celebrating a company milestone are good, and typical, ideas. But what really works well with press releases are atypical ideas. For example, your company could donate time or money to a charity – that’s a powerful story. Or, you could provide customer service that far exceeds anyone’s expectations. An example that comes to mind is the one we recall is where Best Buy sent 5 iPads too many to a certain customer and didn’t bill them for it. Then, on top of that, they let that customer keep them and then publicized the story. Now those are killer press release ideas. About the company: Just give your 30-second elevator speech about your company in this section. Press contact: Someone has to be responsible for this, and it can be anyone at the company. Unless you really have a compelling story, press contacts are very difficult to get.
Tips That Make Your Press Release More Effective
In addition to all of the above, here are several various tips we use to increase the effectiveness of any SEO press release:Dateline – Include the geographic location of the event and avoid using a date if possible. The information will sit in the SERPs for a while, so you don’t want it to seem outdated to your potential readers. Google also prefers recent information, so if that release has been sitting around for some time and Google knows it, its rankings will tank. Opening paragraph – Here you want to get in one of the keywords for optimization purposes. The idea also has to be made very compelling to keep people reading through the end.Quote – Although you have to be somewhat sly in promoting your company and use the third person throughout your release, the quote is the place to sell. Every release should have one, and if you can’t get everything you want in 1, then 2-3 are okay. But, you have to make sure your whole release doesn’t end up becoming quotes! The quote should be loaded with benefits that offer value to your target audience. we often write them myself and let the client approve them.
How You Use Press Releases to Sell
Even though press releases aren’t explicit sales pieces, they still are sales pieces. The sales process is done just a little differently is all. Here are the steps we use for selling in a press release:Introduce the need“Prove” the need by showing negative outcomes that can happen without the solution offered or by using facts the product/service/company solves a real problem Address objections Carefully introduce doubt about other solutions Promote benefits Display data the solution works for other people, showing it’s the right one.
SEO Agency San Diego Wise Swans
