Press Release Optimizaiton is an advanced SEO technique. It can not only bring you the first page visibility for your targeted keywords but also can help you take over the front page and knock out your competitors.
If you do them right, there are tons of benefits of an optimized press release:
- Get backlinks from authoritative publishing sites
- Get rankings in Google/Yahoo news for your targeted keywords
- Get impressions across plenty of blogs and news sites who are running RSS headlines
- Get higher rankings for your keywords
So what is an optimized press release and how to create one?
An optimized (search engine friendly) press release is an opportunity for you to craft each one of the press release elements so that your press release gets the most visibility possible on search engines when potential customers search for your keywords. If you do not optimize your press releases, it is very likely that your press release will never appear anywhere in the search results for your keywords. To create one, here are few simple steps
Identify Targeted Keywords
Just like content optimization, before you start writing anything, you should know which keywords you are trying to optimize for. A keyword is a search term that your potential customers search for when they are looking for solutions that your company provides. Here I recommend Goolge Adword Keyword Tool, which will give you a good idea about which keywords to optimize for and which ones will bring you the best results.
Include Long Tail Keywords
Long tail keywords are those that are less competitive and less searched for, but collectively generate more total searches than your general, highly competitive terms. When you are writing a press release, make sure you include them.
Optimize Press Release
There are usually five sections of an online press release: Headline, Summary, Body, About and Contact information
- Headline: Include the keyword phrase in the title. The title must be at least 20 charactors and should not exceed 80.
- Summary: Give a summary of the press release in 2 sentences using your main keyword and 1-2 secondary keywords. The length of the summary should not exceed 250 words.
- Press Release Body: Always writing subjectively and in the third person, give the details of your news. Length should be at least 400 words and include quotes as well as keywords.
- About Section: Again wrting in third person and in 2 or 3 sentences. Be sure to include a link to your homepage or product/service page.
- Contact Details: Don’t forget to fill out this section. Most press release publishers won’t accept your submission without contact details. Please note: if you are optimizing for your name, you may want to include your name as the press contact.
Find where to submit
It is hard to find Press Release Websites where you can submit your press new to get backlinks (especially anchor link). Anyway, there are few selected sites that can give high SEO juice for your blog. Here are them:
- PRlog
- SeeNation
- 1888PressRelease
- SanePR
- FreePressReleaseCenter
- I-Newswire
- ClickPress
- OpenPR
- IdeaMarketers
Now it time for you to Rock & Roll
I hope you enjoy my SEO column and it has answered many of your questions about writing optimized press releases. However, I’m certain that many people will have additional questions! If so, feel free to shoot me an email me!