SEO for press releases

Public Relations is not what it used to be. It is more and more about inbound lead generation that proves the value of the content that is being promoted.

Today public relations can be affected not only by the people you know, but also by search engines and social media. In order for PR professionals to be successful, they need to think as writers, marketers, SEO experts and business development strategists.
A lot has been talked about SEO and it seems like many companies are doing it. Meaning, optimizing their online content so that search engines find it and make it searchable by people, looking for your services.

Before I explain the SEO usage for press releases I like to give a 'refresher definition':

'Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search and industry-specific (...) search engines.'(1)

PR has moved into a content management job that can more and more be found online. Here are a few examples: Website content, blog content, online press releases found in the media section of your website, twitter updates, e-newsletters etc. Many of these tasks that used to go out by mail. Billions of companies are online and take their information into the net. In order to stand out, they all compete for visibility. That's when good SEO comes into play.

Let's concentrate on SEO for press releases.

A regular press release can net results for your business for a short time, an SEO press release can use the Internet to your advantage. If you use SEO, your company’s website has the potential to rank high in search engines like Google.

The difference is that a SEO press release is using keywords. Google is picking up on keywords in your article. The more times your website is associated with those keywords, the more likely an Internet user will stumble upon it while searching.

When we write a press release for our client, we consider these keywords. We want to make sure the keyword usage is full enough to catch Google’s attention.

A good ratio is to keep the keyword density to around 3% (or less). It is also crucial to figure out which keywords will be the most effective. Using niche keywords can set you apart from the companies who use more common keywords. Your site may not rank on the first page for the keyword “software,” you might be able to be found in a more specific approach under “QR software”.

When writing a press release, we write it with consideration. It should find interest among its readers of the publication. That's not always on the Internet. As a result, you can’t exactly put links, pictures, and videos on your press release.

An SEO press release is made for the Internet. You can add links, embed videos, insert charts — anything you would do on a website.


(1) Source: Wikipedia

Also read FREE pr tools you can't ignore