Press releases are still relevant for SEO. If you’re curious about what they are, we wrote an article on what press releases are and how they help here. They are useful in getting words out there, especially if there is something new in your business, like a new line of products and services. They help build brand awareness, improve your authoritativeness in your industry, and increase online visibility. Take your press releases to the next level with these quick press release SEO tips.
Table of contents
- Create original and newsworthy content
- The press release itself should be structured and written well
- Be careful of keyword and link spam
- Post and share as usual
- Actually distribute the press release
1. Create original and newsworthy content
The very point of a press release is that you have something important to share with the public. You can use a press release for company announcements, product and service introductions, clarifications of company controversies, and much more.
For your press release to be successful, of course, its content should be original and newsworthy. That’s the point of a press release anyway. If it is not original or newsworthy, it won’t be very effective. The public is not likely to care. People may not even see the story because the journalists and publications who did have not even written anything about it to distribute it to the public.
The content doesn’t have to be huge or super impactful. It just has to be something new and unique to make it worthy of a press release.
2. The press release itself should be structured and written well
Your press release is a piece of content that is directly from your company. It can build or change the perception of the public towards your company. If your press release is poorly structured and written, it’s not a good look for your business. It can ruin your brand, reduce your authority in your niche, and ultimately lead to fewer conversions.
Have a good headline – something that can catch interest but at the same time is not clickbaity or spammy. Make it straight to the point – you know, just like news reports.
The same thing applies to the body of your press release. Follow the inverted pyramid method because that’s pretty much the standard for writing newsworthy content. Start with the most important details up to the least important.
Don’t make the press release too long as well. Just say what you have to say in a few hundred words.
3. Be careful of keyword and link spam
Some public relations and SEO professionals SEO the crap out of press releases. They do keyword research with the usual tools – Ahrefs, Semrush, and the like. Then they sprinkle these keywords all over the press releases, with priority to the headlines and the first paragraphs. They also include links with keyword-rich anchor texts, especially in the later parts of their press releases.
There is nothing wrong with these techniques. But just be careful. You may appear spammy if you stuff keywords and links on a press release. Search engines and even ordinary people can distinguish between online content that is just used for SEO and genuine content. It’s not a good look for your company if you give the impression that you are just using press releases for digital marketing and search engine optimization.
4. Post and share as usual
Post the press release on your website, especially if you have a blog or a dedicated section for communications. Keeping your website active and updated is always a good thing. Nudge the search engines and crawlers once in a while. Share the post on your social media profiles as well. Press releases are essentially announcements. What better way to announce something to your audience and customers than social media?
By posting on your website and sharing on your social media profiles, you are not just building your brand and increasing your authority in your industry. You are also creating engagement, which is always a good thing in the digital world. And you are also increasing the number of local citations the company has, which is always a good thing for your digital footprint.
5. Actually distribute the press release
Some businesses have a set-and-forget attitude when it comes to online content. They just post the content on their website, share it on their social media profiles, and pray that it will bring eyes and money. In the case of press releases, some just pray for news people to see them and talk about the story on their own platforms. This is not effective at all.
Make your press release more digitally impactful by sending out the content properly. Use press release distribution services or newswire syndication services. If you do, you will notice a spike in real referral traffic.
You can also reach out to journalists and publications yourself. But they receive so many press releases a day, so yours should stand out to make them look twice. Again, this highlights the importance of writing something newsworthy – and writing it well.
Press releases are still powerful
Press releases are still relevant. But for them to be effective, you have to know what you are doing. Write only about newsworthy things. Write it well, as your company and its reputation are on the line.
Also, don’t treat press releases as a digital marketing gimmick. Everyone online, even those who are not necessarily into digital marketing, is bombarded by content every day. They can see clickbait and spam from a mile away.
Press releases can only be powerful if you do them right.
