It used to be that writing a press release required a little more than the five W’s and H. But as many public relations pros now understand, it’s also about the S-E-O.
Press releases are not only being used to inform journalists about your client, but simply by virtue of being posted to wire services, a client’s website or other social media, press releases are being read by customers, potential customers, clients and many others.
While it’s important to write clearly, it’s also important to make sure that keywords are added so as to optimize it for the web.
There are several ways to accomplish this:
First: Figure out how you want to be found. What keywords will you use? There are several free tools you can use including: wordtracker.com, keyword discovery.com and Mikesmarketingtools.com, to name a few.
Second: Use those keywords in your headline, in your subhead and in your first paragraph. At the same time, keep headlines short and to the point so it is fully displayed in Google search results.
Third: Post your press release to a wire service. There are paid ones and free ones. Your budget will determine where it will go. Also post it to your company website and from there tweet it. Put it on Facebook and any other social media outlet you are using.
Fourth: Analyze the results. Google Analytics is a good tool. Track the retweets.
Finally, follow up. Learn from what you have accomplished and build on it. Are some keywords working better than others? Eliminate those that don’t work and experiment with others that do.
