The Associated Press Stylebook is every journalist’s bible when it comes to writing their articles. As an entrepreneur there’s no need to be intimidated by this, but you’ll get better results by following the AP style in your news and media releases.
Nobody expects you to be a master of the AP style, but below are some quick tips for your press releases. Run over this list before you send off your next release:
So you’ve written a very easy to read and keyword optimized SEO press release. You get it all ready to send out and upload to your website so you can start raking in the dough, but you hesitate. Suddenly it occurs to you that you have no idea how to actually track this press release’s level of success.
How many eyeballs will the press release reach? How effective will your keyword placement be? Did you anchor your links properly for optimum SEO? So many questions, and they all make a huge difference to your company’s well-being. So how to track how well your SEO press release does?
Search Rank
The easiest way to tell just how great your SEO press release is doing is by how far up you’ve moved in your search ranking! If you started out buried on page four and suddenly find your website listed on page two, then you can rest assured your SEO press release is working, barring any extenuating circumstances.
Keep in mind this might not happen all at once, and not for every single web crawler. All use different algorithms to search the Internet and may provide different results. As a result, you’ll want to check each search engine to see where you rank. Over time this will change, hopefully for the better.
If there is little to no result, you may want to go back to the drawing board with your SEO press release. Again don’t expect everything to happen all at once, but if days and weeks go by and your site has gone nowhere, give it another shot.
Trackers
If you’d rather not spend half your day looking at multiple search engines, then you may want to give an SEO tracker a go. These automatically crawl around the web looking to see where your site ranks, and can even let you know when other sites and bloggers mention you.
They range from the inexpensive, like Sheer SEO, to the free yet a little more complicated, like Google Analytics. The more expensive ones are naturally going to be more in-depth and headache free, and most will do everything you need without you lifting a finger.
Remember when I mentioned looking at the different search engines to see where you are? Technically, that’s almost impossible to do by yourself, as there are over 700 search engines. You’d literally do nothing all day long if you tried to do that! However, it’s important to recognize that three search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo!) comprise more than 95% of all search traffic. Focus on these engines and don’t get distracted by the others.
Also, some higher end tracking software can suggest related keywords to use in the future to increase your page rank. This can give you a better idea how to get to that coveted “page 1,” which can often make a huge difference in how easily potential new customers find you.
This guest post is by Mickie Kennedy, the founder of eReleases – home of affordable, next generation press release distribution. Mickie also publishes PR Fuel, a PR-centric blog that showcases advice and articles on all things social media, PR publicity, and online marketing.
Even though the public relations industry is changing fast, some things never change.
That includes the need to write a clear, compelling, and relevant press release.
Unfortunately, while press releases are straightforward, factual and objective, they aren’t always easy to write. In fact, if you’re used to writing other pieces — advertisements and fiction for instance — you’ll be at a disadvantage when writing press releases.
Below are some of the most common mistakes I’ve seen on press releases.
In these Internet fueled times, nearly everyone has to evolve. The good ol’ press release is no exception. On the web, writing a stagnant press release just doesn’t cut the mustard. Instead, the SEO press release is much more dynamic. Not only does it get the word out, it can also call to action and even help your business in unexpected ways, such as boosting your website’s SEO.
If you’d like to tackle one of these press releases, there are a few ways that an SEO press release differs from a traditional press release:
Research
While most suggest starting with the body of the press release first, I actually think that’s jumping the gun a bit. Why? Because SEO press releases rely heavily on keywords. If you write the press release and then try to “squeeze” the keywords into the body somewhere, it will come off looking deliberate and possibly ridiculous.
Coherence is key. Just because you’re wanting to get your website to rank higher on Google doesn’t mean you can write mediocre copy and expect it to fly. Mainly, because you’re better than that, but secondly because search engines like Google take this into account now. Google wants its users to have a good experience and great copy is the way to achieve that!
So do proper research. Find out what keywords will work best for your company. These words may not be the most popular words, either; a more niche phrase (i.e. a long-tail keyword) could yield better results. But you won’t know until you do the proper research. The Google Keyword Tool is a great resource for such research.
Format
Because the SEO press release is an evolution from the press release, you’re going to have basically the same format. I say basically, though, because there is much you can play with. A press release is usually a set number of words, as low as humanly possible. This is due to the fact that a press release is used by editors to develop stories … and busy editors respond to concision.
But on the Internet, you don’t have to worry about space. You’re only bound by the limits of your imagination. Of course, don’t make it too long, as most web users don’t want to read some epic tome.
Another major difference between a traditional press release and SEO press release is you’re not limited to text – you have access to video, links, pictures, and anything else the Internet provides! So if you don’t want to just have a few boring paragraphs to describe your big news, you don’t have to.
When actually writing the press release, it’s best to keep the keywords you want to use in the back of your mind (and on a handy sheet nearby). This way, you can organically include them in the press release, so as to not appear, well, like a vehicle structured solely to influence search engines. The goal of all SEO is to get your content seen by actual eyeballs, so you want to pique your readers’ interest first and improve Google searches second.
This guest post is by Mickie Kennedy, the founder of eReleases – home of affordable, next generation press release distribution. Mickie also publishes PR Fuel, a PR-centric blog that showcases advice and articles on all things social media, PR publicity, and online marketing.
Today we have a guest post by Mickie Kennedy of eReleases.com. Mickie writes about the difference between a traditional press release and an SEO press release, so read on!
While a regular press release can net results for your business for a short burst of time, an SEO press release has the potential to unleash the power of the Internet to your advantage. If you want to get your company’s website to the first page of search engines like Google, an SEO press release is just one tool in your arsenal.
So is there a big difference between traditional and SEO press releases? Sure, the aims are different, but other than that, aren’t they identical? Let’s take a look.
One of the most common misconceptions about PR is that you need to distribute press releases to get media coverage.
Few people know you can get media exposure without writing a press release — many of my students have done it!
But first, what is a press release, how is it different from a media pitch, and when do you use one or the other?
A press release can be a full-blown news article. It has a definite format and conventional style. It’s written in a journalistic tone, which is objective and impersonal.
To be successful, a press release must read like news and be worthy of being published as such. In fact, it should be complete enough to be published as is, or quoted in a bigger news item.
A well-written press release can also get you media interviews. That is, even if journalists don’t use the piece itself, the press release can pique their interest enough to contact you.
Today’s guest post is by Tony Wanless of Knowpreneur consultants. Tony is a management consultant and journalist who writes for one of the top business sites and a national newspaper in Canada. He is often called upon by professional communicators to doctor marketing materials for modern media consumption. Tony has seen thousands of press releases tossed into trash baskets and is on a mission to help some escape that fate.
While there’s been much noise about the demise of the press recently, the truth is that there’s more media than ever around. The big difference is that the “press” has changed considerably over the last five years – it’s now gone electronic, has wider distribution than ever, and includes other media outlets like blogs, online news operations, Facebook and Twitter.
Today, the media’s need for information is insatiable, and as a result it’s never been easier for small businesses to achieve that Holy Grail of marketing – a mention in the media. However, with media proliferation also come higher speed and an avalanche of competition for attention.
But the bottom line is that you can get noticed by the media today if you know how to issue a press release that creates a compelling story.
To that end, here are some general tips to what used to be called “getting ink”.
If the thought of having to write a press release to get publicity will stop you from even trying to get some buzz for your biz, then I’m here to tell you…you don’t have to do it.
Instead, you can simply tell your story to the media by writing a media pitch.
However, if you’re serious about promoting and growing your business, a news release program should be part of your overall marketing efforts.
Here are 5 reasons WHY you should write a press release:
In the last few weeks, more and more of you are asking where to post your press releases. Although I have a post on 60+ Free Press Release Distribution Sites, free sites simply do not have the distribution reach of a paid newswire service.
It’s no secret that the right media coverage has the power to sell your company’s image, reputation, brand, or product to a mass audience of potential customers in one single story. But with so many companies and so many stories, the challenge for small to mid-sized businesses is to simply get your company noticed.
Yes, you can pitch the media individually. However, one of the most effective ways to gain visibility with your public relations program is to include news release distribution.
I’ll be honest in that I have very little experience in using free sites. My PR agency for high-tech clients has always used a paid service. However, that costs upwards of $500 per release, and now that I am helping entrepreneurs and small businesses get PR, I am asked this question all the time:
“Where can I post a press release for free?”
Before I give you the answer (hint: there are a lot of sites), another question that should be answered is, “is it worth it?”
Well, it depends. If you post on just a few of the better sites, you will likely get picked up by the search engines like Google and Yahoo, and will rank even better if you know how to optimize your release with keywords.
Personally, I prefer to put together a customized media list and send press releases to individual reporters, especially the ones in the local city or niche we are targeting. If your press release is newsworthy, then putting it on a wire service is a great add-on that can bring you more attention from media, customers, potential employees and partners you would otherwise not be able to reach.
If you want to try out a free news release service, I’ve heard good things about:
www.PR.com
www.PRLog.com
www.pressrelease365.com (this one looks like they will charge you $24.95 but all new registrations get a $25 credit so really, it’s free)
Then, there is another school of thought that if you have the time and energy, you can post on as many sites as possible and get more sustained traffic and visibility to your site. If you’re so inclined, here is a list of over 60 free press release distribution sites, compiled by Press Release Point and they will even post to all those sites for you…for a modest fee. It kind of defeats the purpose of using free sites but for a few dollars, it could be worth saving your valuable time.
Note: I am not endorsing these sites, nor have I used most them. I am merely sharing this information in case you find it useful.
If you need help with what to do with this list, or are stuck on next steps, my ebook PR in Your Pajamas has practical tips to make use of the information in this chart. Check it out!
“Elena, I loved it!…YOUR BOOK WAS THE BEST AND THE MOST VALUABLE LESSON I HAVE LEARNED SINCE I STARTED MY BUSINESS.”
Natallia Antanovich
Organic by Nature
(Editor’s Note: Those capital letters, written by Natallia. More testimonials here)
 Thanks for visiting! Claim your free e-course:
"5
Things You Can Do Today
To Increase Your Visibility"
 Elena
Verlee
The Passionate Publicist |
And more 