Imagine a situation when you are writing a press release about your new product launch or a big company announcement. But what will happen if no one sees it? Your effort will simply not serve the purpose. When you have some exciting news to share, you want people to see it and yes react to it. Simply writing the press release and releasing it on the internet would not do justice to your excitement as well as the importance of the news. That is where you need to learn and implement SEO for press releases.
What is SEO for press releases ?
Search Engine Optimization or SEO in simple words is the process of optimizing your online space so as to get noticed by search engines like Google and the users. Now these users will ultimately turn into paying customers or loyal audiences. The purpose of writing press releases is to reach a wider audience, and that is exactly what SEO for press releases do. In reality, SEO is more than that. It helps you to attract the right audience and get your press release seen by the people who really matter, for example, the big media houses.
What is the importance of SEO for press releases ?
Now that you know what is SEO for the press release and a few of its features, let us see a detailed explanation of why is it important for the promotion of your press release:
- SEO will help you rank higher for the right keyword, the one your targeted audience is searching for. So now, with SEO for press releases by your side, people who will search for information provided by you in your press release will find it with ease.
- SEO will also help you increase your website traffic. It is said so because the people who will read your press release might be interested in visiting your website. It is a great way to generate more sales for your business.
- SEO for press releases will help you increase your brand awareness.
- If you are still doubtful about whether you should start a press release or not, then we must tell you that search engines index new content like your press release quickly.
Best 6 SEO Strategies for Press Releases
Till now we have understood the meaning of SEO and its importance for increasing the overall growth of your company, let us move straight towards the best SEO strategies for the press release:
- Keyword Research and Planning for press release
- Write catchy headlines for your press release
- Content is important
- Use links wisely in press releases
- Include Call To Action or CTAs
- Mobile Optimization
Let us study them one by one so as to get full advantage of each step.
Keyword Research and Planning for press release
When it is about SEO, it has to start with keyword research and planning. This is true for press release SEO as well. The first step is to research the search queries your potential audience is searching on the internet, for which you want them to land in your press release.
Now you might wonder how to research keywords for your press release. Actually, it is very simple. You just need to have a clear idea of what you are offering in your press release, whether it is a new product launch or the announcement of a new subsidiary company. The second thing is to understand your customer behavior. What will they type in the search box? Or what are their needs and wants from a new product launch announcement? Make a list of all those search terms you can think of.
Further, you can get help from Google itself. Google acts like a bridge between you and your targeted audience. It knows what your audience is looking for. Therefore, Google Search is one of the best places to research keywords.
For example, let’s say you own an organic food company. You are starting a new line of organic, vegan baby food for which you want to write a press release. Now if you type “Vegan baby food” in Google, you will be shown these keyword suggestions:
- Vegan baby food recipes
- Vegan baby food pouches
- Vegan baby food 6 months
- Vegan baby food delivery
- Vegan baby food recipes 6 months.
Further, these are some related search options that you might consider in your keyword research:
- Vegan baby food in us brands
- Best vegan baby food in us
- Vegan baby food in us recipes
- vegan baby food recipes 6 months
- plant-based baby food recipes
- vegan baby food Recipes 1 year old
- vegan baby formula
- dairy free baby food
The other keywords that you can use are:
- Organic baby food
- Non GMO baby food
- Healthy baby food
- Best baby food brands
Once you are ready with your list, narrow it down and select the best-performing keywords. You can use various available online tools to research the performance of the listed keywords. You can use these platforms:
- Google keyword planning
- Semrush
- Ahrefs
- Ubersuggest
Pay close attention to these metrics:
Search volume: Analyze how many people are searching for the keywords on a monthly or annual basis ?
Keyword difficulty: It means how many other websites are targeting this particular keyword.
User search intent: What is the purpose of searching these keywords? Does the audience want particular information, or want to visit a site, or compare something?
The pro tip is to target long-tail keywords since they bring in more leads and can generate more revenue.
Some of the best keyword planning tips for press releases are as follows:
- Avoid keyword stuffing else it will be seen as a faulty practice by Google. If a keyword is repeated again and again, you can try using its synonyms in its place. However, make sure that it has high search volume and low competition.
- Use keywords in your titles and headings.
- See the performance of your targeted keywords. Track how your press release is performing on the search result page for your target keywords. Analyze the report and make changes when and where necessary.
Write catchy headlines for your press release
Headlines are important for grabbing the attention of your audience. A good headline will not only improve your SEO ranking but will also boost your conversion ratio.
Let’s see some of the best strategies for writing a good headlines for your press release:
- Keep your headings short and sweet. For this, it is recommended to keep your headlines at around 60 characters, preferably below it.
- Try to use strong action verbs like reduce, grow, boost, save, achieve, etc. in your headings. These words appeal to the emotions of the users and create a sense of urgency.
- Be to the point and put the much-needed emphasis on the benefits of your news.
For example, the topic of your press release could be: “New Product Offers 20% Faster Performance,” or “Reduce cost by 50% with this service.”, etc.
- You can use numbers and stats as they have a comparatively higher conversion ratio.
For example, your headline could be: “Company achieves record growth of 300%”, etc.
- Or if you want you can simply ask a direct question to your audience through your headlines. For example, you could write: “Is Your Data Safe? New Security Solution Offers Peace of Mind”.
SEO for press release: Content is important
Content is important in online marketing. You cannot communicate with your customers in person and content is the only way you can connect with them. So let us see some of the best strategies for writing an engaging content for press releases:
- Make a good start and the only way you can do this is by creating an engaging and attention-grabbing first paragraph. The first paragraph of your content should be impactful and to the point. Plus, it should summarize the key news content you are sharing in your press release.
- Use keywords strategically throughout your content. Here is how you can do this:
Headline: What is the first thing you notice on a website? Heading, right? The same is the case with press releases as well. So make sure your heading is catchy, compelling, and includes a relevant primary keyword.
Body: Try to use your keywords throughout the body of your press release. However, make sure that you are not stuffing the keyword. Just do it naturally.
Meta description: The meta description is a short summary of your press release that appears in search results right below your title. Include relevant keywords here as well.
3. You should focus on the newsworthy topics. Create content on something that would cater to the interest of media sources.
For example, in a time of recession, you can create content on how you are increasing the wages of your employees.
Further, it is advisable to highlight and emphasize the important words that make your news relevant and interesting to journalists and your target audience.
4. Storytelling is one of the most effective ways of content marketing. You can use this strategy in your press release as well. Present your news in an engaging and effective story line. This will further help you connect better with your audience and make your content more emotional and memorable.
5. Do not use technical words that might be too difficult for your users to understand. Anyways, why will they read your news then? Therefore, try to use plain language and explain difficult concepts or situations in simple terms.
6. Your content must be visually attractive as this will make your content more attractive and easy to comprehend. For this, you can use graphics such as images, infographics, and video.
7. Increase the readability of your content by segmenting it into subheadings, bullet points, and short paragraphs.
8. You can use platforms such as Prezly to create your press release layouts.
Use Links Wisely in Press Releases
Using links is important in a press release but if you use them in the wrong position, you will not reap the benefits. Therefore, it is important to place them strategically in your press release. Let’s see how we can do that:
- Be mindful when you are adding links to your press release content. No one likes to read content that is full of links. So make sure that every link that you put in is adding value to your press release. In simple words, it should give additional supporting information to the audience.
- Your link placement should be seamless and go well with the flow of your content. Plus, avoid using too many keywords in your anchor text. Remember that, too low and too high do more harm than good.
- Try to use both internal as well as external links. Give links to your website as well as high authority relevant websites. Doing this will also increase your credibility among the users.
- Be descriptive when writing the anchor text. Your users should know to which information they will land after clicking on the links. Otherwise, it will look like spam and increase your press release bounce rate.
Include Call To Action or CTAs
Call to action or CTAs will help you in converting mere visitors into loyal customers. Therefore, you must include powerful CTAs to increase your conversion rate and turn impressions into clicks and then finally into customers. Some of the CTAs you can include in your press release content are as follows:
- Visit our website
- Get in touch now
Mobile optimization for press release SEO
Nowadays the majority of people use mobile devices to read press releases and other online content. Making sure that your press release content adapts seamlessly to the screen that is seeing it is an important step to ensuring a better customer experience. Here are a few tips to create mobile optimized press release:
- First of all, you must select a responsive layout for your press release.
- With the increase in the consumption of short content, the attention span of your audience has decreased over time. Therefore, keep your content short and bold the important parts to deliver your message in an effective manner.
- Compress your images and other media files for mobile devices.
Press releases are a great way to get more backlinks. When a big media source links back to your website, it increases your trustworthiness and also increases your website’s SEO ranking. SEO for press releases is a way through which you can reach the radar of those media houses.
At least, if you have any queries or want more details about a particular strategy, you can always contact our team.