Writing a press release serves the same purpose of producing a blog when it comes to SEO. A press release is another means of link building, a credible one at that. Writing an SEO-friendly press release and submitting it to the top 5 leading wire services in the United States – Business Wire, Marketwire, PrimeNewswire, PR Newswire, and Vocus – will fast track your business and help audiences find you faster. Sarah Evans of Mashable.com shares some helpful tips on how to create SEO-friendly press releases.
1. Stay away from technical terms and jargons consumers will not understand. The point of writing a press release is to give information to consumers, who are basically your main target audience. Press releases should be written in a manner that is easily understood. Ask someone involved in the industry to proof your press release and make the necessary adjustments.
2. Keywords are the best way to make a press release SEO friendly. Previously we shared with you some ideas on how to choose the right keywords. There are also keyword search tools to help you with this process. When writing press releases for SEO, make sure that you have the relevant and appropriate keywords set and focus on these key phrases.
3. Place hyperlinks in keyword anchor texts or phrases because journalists and consumers find them extremely useful when searching for additional information on what is stated on press releases. The links should direct the reader back to your website other than the homepage.
4. Press releases often have a minimum of 300 words. That being said, it is important that the first 250 words are optimized to create the highest impact on overall search results and keep the reader interested at the same time. To make it SEO friendly, the press release should be clickable, enticing the reader to click on the release.
5. As with any news, topics of press releases should be newsworthy. It should create impact, generate information, and written in such a manner that compels your reader to do something after reading the article. Brush up on your writing skills. Be patient as it takes time. Successful SEO campaigns don’t happen overnight.
With an optimized press release, not only will your business garner more media mileage, it also brings content to your audience while allowing for quality keyword anchor backlinks to your website, which can consequently help your pages rank higher in Google and Yahoo! News.