Press Releases and SEO

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Search Engine Optimization or SEO is one of the few successful digital marketing techniques adopted by many businesses for their growth and success. SEO is all about simplifying your business’ search results and giving it the necessary reach and exposure in the market.
There are so many tools to help your business with customer acquisition and promotion. Press releases are one of a kind tools for your customers to know about your business and services. SEO combined with Press Releases is a marketing strategy that is advantageous for your business.
There are still many questions and doubts about press releases' relevance in SEO strategy. This article will cover everything from writing a press release to incorporating it with your business SEO strategy.

What is a Press Release

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The first question first, what is a “Press Release?” There are many different definitions of a press release, and it varies with contexts. A press release is an official statement with information to customers and journalists about any noteworthy event from a business point of view.
For example, here’s a press release from NYTimes.
The purpose of a press release is to inform the public about an upcoming event or development with your business institution. Press releases are essential for several reasons for a business:

• It is necessary to build a business’ reputation.
• It also provides a business with the necessary media coverage for brand promotion.
• A press release effectively controls a crisis – by publishing an official statement, a company can save its public image.

When a company sends out press releases to a media house, they get a published link. This link boosts their SEO by mentioning them as backlinks.

How Can PR Impact Your SEO

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1. Improves Relevancy

Yes, press releases are important and relevant for a business’ SEO strategy. If not popular as it was before, but it will still be an integral part of a business’ promotional campaign for years to come.
See how Kylie Jenner made a smart move with a press release about a limited edition cosmetics to exploit World Smile Day.
Press releases are an excellent way for businesses to get media coverage for their events. Hence, it will be beneficial for the brand and SEO. If done right, press releases are great tools for business promotion, and if not, they can attract penalties for your business. Press releases are a waste of time without proper implementation by a professional.

2. Increases Site Traffic

Proper implementation of press releases can get a business more on-site engagement. It can increase site traffic and create a buzz around your business and its online presence. PR can get your business the improvement in site ratings and rankings in the market.
A proper PR implementation can help a business get in touch with more potential customers and retain loyal customers. Increased site traffic results in improved customer engagement, leading to a better local and organic ranking of your business.

3. Easy to Get Backlinks

Building backlinks is one of the most challenging tasks for SEO implementation. Citations and backlinks are the building blocks of a business’ digital marketing strategy. Because backlinks from media magazines bring more authority to a website.
Media sponsored links are high-quality backlinks made by using PBNs. These links are natural and easy to obtain from media houses.
PR makes backlink implementation in SEO more effortless, but it has a downside. Press releases can quicken your business website’s link building process, but they can attract penalties without proper implementation.

4. Improves Business Visibility

An SEO-friendly press release can widen the reach of your business. Due to the media coverage, a press release can lower your average customer acquisition cost. It will make your business reach a larger audience base.
It will save you money and time for other marketing strategies.
When your business is popular, it will trend on popular social media sites. It will give your local as well as organic rankings a healthy boost. More visibility will lead to more customers, sales, and profits.

5. Improves Brand Recognition

For many businesses, brand recognition and credibility are more important than profits. It lets you provide the latest and up-to-date information to audiences. For instance, the Apple press released their whole year’s plans and events.
An SEO-friendly press release can get your business the recognition it needs.
Your business will have a surge in sales due to improvements in visibility and local search rankings. It will also pose a new challenge to get your customers best in class experience with your business. Better services will get you better reviews, and it will give a massive boost to your brand recognition and credibility.

Related : Impact of Reputation on SEO Services

How to Use PR and SEO Effectively Together

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1. Create Something Newsworthy

Press releases are formal documents carrying important information on a business. Ensure that your Press release creates a buzz when you release it.
Making a combined PR and SEO strategy is harder to incorporate than it sounds. Press releases should contain newsworthy details by keeping the audience and journalists in mind.
SEO-friendly press releases are the best way to get new prospects for your business. It will help your business stand out in the market among your local competitors. Hence, creating a catchy PR title would grab mass attention instantly.
Company achievements, special events, charitable donations, staff changes, and new product launches are examples of newsworthy press release contents.

2. Optimize Your PR Word Count

If you are a new business, try studying your local audiences' shopping habits before releasing a press release. Press releases can range between 250 and 600 words depending upon the announcement topic. For a new business, one can experiment with the total number of words to know what works for their SEO strategy.
If possible, optimize with keywords to make SEO friendly.
Irrespective of the length of a press release, it is critical for a business to impact the audience from the beginning. Many SEO studies show a significant part of the audience shows interest in the first three lines of a formal announcement, such as a press release. Hence, make sure to create an impactful start to your press release.

3. Emphasize on Keywords and Links

Keywords and Backlinks are some of the most vital parts of a business’ SEO campaign. SEO-friendly press releases should emphasize making keywords bold and backlinks visible to the users.
Backlinks from media houses, which have more value-based content, bring authority to your website.
Making keywords bold or italicized will make it easier for your audience to notice essential points. An explicit mentioning of your business link will make sure the audience visit your business site and know more about your products and services.
Users want to navigate through your press releases as soon as possible to know about the announcement. Hence, it is better to make them notice what matters efficiently.

4. Use Hyperlinks and References Appropriately

Using hyperlinks and citations can make your press release compatible with your business SEO. Hyperlinks can get your audience the necessary information on the press release announcement. Whenever you choose to use a hyperlink on your press release, please make sure a professional provide them wherever necessary.
Citations or references can be useful for an SEO-friendly press release too. Off-site links and contact can increase your business site's visibility. The appropriate usage of connections in a press release can improve your customer engagement.

5. Create an Online PR Space

It is advantageous to create a separate space in your business site for all your business-related press releases. You may have seen that most leading business sites have a separate web page for putting all their PRs.
It will improve your site's SEO in many ways.
As we know, a single press release can hold a limited amount of information. Creating a separate space for all your press releases can improve your customer engagement. You can provide all your necessary contact details on the page. You can also mention the link to this page on press releases for your audience to follow up.

Tips to Write Press Releases

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Writing an SEO-friendly press release is not an easy job. We have curated ten crucial points for you to keep in mind while writing an SEO-friendly press release for your business.

1. Assess the Importance of Your Event

Yes, before rolling out press releases to the public, it is essential to assess your business event's importance. If it is a newsworthy event and will get your business the necessary growth it needs, then you can create a press release.
Press releases have a formal tone and limited information on the event. Depending on the event's importance and impact, you can pan out your press release framework. If the event is of trivial value and will not get your business any practical benefits, it is wise not to prepare any press release.

2. Study Your Audience’s Interests and Habits

After assessing your business event, it is essential to know what works best for your users. Their shopping habits and social interest will play a significant role in preparing an SEO-friendly press release. It will give you an idea of all the information you need to include in the press release.
You can identify your business-related local keywords that have the most impact on customers. Preparing an SEO-friendly press release with those keywords and phrases will get your business more potential customers. It will result in a surge in their engagement with your business. It will make your marketing strategy create enough opportunities for better sales profits.

3. Make an impactful Headline and Start

As we know, press releases can range between 250 to 600 words depending upon your business event. More critical events such as a product launch or a leadership change could take 600 words. Events such as monthly sale or relocation can take 250 to 300 words.
Irrespective of the word count, it is imperative for a business to develop a catchy headline for the press release. If you have confusion about drafting a headline, follow these instructions. Optimizing the first 250 words is the key to creating a successful SEO-friendly press release. It will create an interest among the users to know about the event. They will inquire, and your business will have more customer engagement.

4. Keep it Short but Informative

As per SEO studies, the longer the press release, the lower its impact on the audience. While it is necessary to provide your users with important information regarding your business event, it is also crucial for you to keep the word count to the minimum. Short and impactful press releases are a must to a successful SEO for your business.
You can provide all the necessary contact details at the end of your press release. It helps you drive traffic and potential audiences towards you.
You can also offer hyperlinks to your business site and other references relevant to the business event. It will help your customers and media houses for further inquiry.

5. Follow a Proper PR Format

A press release is a formal business document, so it has a proper format and writing tone. The following points are a standard format for a business press release.

• A press release can have 3 to 6 paragraphs depending on the word count.
• Important information (Who? What? When? Where?) It should be in the opening paragraph to develop interest.
• The second paragraph should contain supporting information relevant to the event.
• In the closing paragraph, you can include information such as background details, company descriptions, etc.
• The tone of a business press release should be the same as a news piece, in the third person narrative.
• It should be one page in length, and you can add contact details either at the top left or right of the page.

6. Use Online Tools for Editing and Proofreading

Any press release should be free from grammatical errors and have proper word placements. It is essential to keep this in mind because a missing comma or an incomplete sentence can leave your business reputation in the deep.
Ginger and Grammarly are some of the online editing tool services you can use to edit and proofread. These tools can suggest proper word replacements, sentence errors, and much more. After writing your press release content, you can use these online tools for improvement. Grammarly has a free chrome extension, which greatly helps correct content in your Press Release.

7. Add Necessary Links and References

What we see, we remember. It holds for press releases as well. A press release can be a bit bland at times for longer announcements. Hence, it is crucial to add relevant image references to capture the audience's attention. For example, typically, Senheisures headphones attract a lot of audiences. So, they don’t like to disappoint with a plain PR. They make sure it has enough images of headphones captured from different angles.
Visual references develop an interest in the public, and it will give your business a significant boost in customer engagement.
Events such as a new product launch, a mega sale, or a recruitment press release can include photos relevant to the events. A sneak peek of a new product before launch can attract more buyers to your business.

8. Add Necessary Links and References

A short press release may not contain all the information regarding your business event. When your audience reads the press release about an event, audience members will want to get more information. As it is a formal document with a word limit, adding reference links helps your customers with their inquiries.
References and relevant links will give your audience all the details and description of your business event. A press release with references and hyperlinks grabs the attention of the audience. It will create an opportunity for your business to get a surge in sales profits.
It creates opportunities to attract a wide range of audiences.

9. Learn From Your Local Competitors

If you have a new business in the market, it is wise to observe how your local competitors are releasing their PR. It will give you great ideas to write an audience-friendly press release. You can learn the number of keywords they are using to write their PR. You can also get an idea about the audience's behavior by comparing theirs before and after event sales.
Perform research to find out the press releases that your competitors have done earlier and check their engagement using SEO tools.
Use the PR of your competitor as a reference for your own business. It will help you write a better press release that works for your business and audience.

Related : Importance of Local SEO for Local Business

10. Keep it at One Place on Your Business Site

It is vital to keep all your press releases in one place on the business site. Customers nowadays are keen to visit a business site with a better user experience and less clutter. By keeping all your press releases at a separate location on-site, you will help them get all the necessary information in one place.
You can create the online PR space and sort all your press releases by date and relevance. It will provide your customers with seamless user experiences and a better understanding of your business events.

Top 8 Press Releases Marketing Tools

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Gone are the days when press releases are printed in newspapers to promote a business event. There are many platforms to promote your business events in this age of digital marketing and online promotion.
When you submit your press releases online, your business gets benefits such as,

• Improve in link popularity
• Site traffic and sales boost
• Timely press release with catchy headlines and captions results in higher sales/profits.
  
• Reduced marketing costs
• Better Online Presence

We have made a list of the top 8 marketing tools for your press releases to get a wider reach and better promotion.

1. Prowly

Prowly is one of the well-known PR distribution tools for a business. With Prowly, you can manage your press releases effectively. It is a modern and user-friendly tool with a collection of media contacts. It will let you find business-relevant media contacts for your press releases.
You can organize your media contacts in a PR CRM and create visual press releases. With Prowly, you can send personalized emails and maintain a newsroom. It has affordable pricing for the services and helpful support. Many users praise its free seven days trial for its transparency.

2. Muck Rack

Muck Rack has the software that will help businesses find the relevant journalists for their press releases and stories. It’s one of the few software that guarantees a company to quantify their impact online.
Muck Rack provides features to send customized pitches, real-time notifications, and team collaboration. It has the software that enables businesses to take their communication game to the next level.
Muck Rack also provides businesses and journalists to post their portfolios and achievements online. It helps with a business’ marketing strategy and promotional campaign as well.

3. PRWeb

PRWeb is an online distribution tool that could help you with three main things related to your business press releases.

• Creating your news release.
• Distribution of your news
• Keeping track of your news.

You can use PRWeb services to curate your press releases for a broader audience of journalists. As far as press release distribution goes, PRWeb is second to none. It has a news tracking feature to update you about your press release's attention. It is suitable for all businesses irrespective of their size.

4. Prezly

Prezly is a PR publishing platform for journalists and communication professionals. Prezly allows you to publish important business events and press releases, enabling your business to get maximum online exposure.
You can create your newsroom and a journalist-friendly environment online. Prezly allows you to create content and share them directly in the same tool. You can send curated email pitches to your business relevant media personnel.
Prezly creates ample media opportunities for your business to get proper online marketing. It is suitable for any mid-range business setup that promotes its brand.

5. Meltwater

Meltwater is the perfect platform for managers to interact with potential promoters. If you’re the business manager, this platform is the best place to promote your brand via virtual press releases.
Meltwater is a great tool to track search engine buzz and trending data on social media platforms. Hence, it allows small scale business to participate in business conversations when it matters the most.
Meltwater allows you to connect with relevant media houses, track competitors, curate content, and much more. If you are a well-settled business empire and want to improve your press release game, Meltwater software can help you.

6. PressPage

Presspage is a leading PR distributer software loved by hundreds of leading global brands. Over the years, PressPage has created its reputation of being a user-friendly and transparent distribution software.
It provides businesses with a turnkey PR management platform to deploy SEO-friendly press releases online. As a business owner, you can connect with hundreds of media personnel and journalists for your brand promotion and recognition. It enables you to customize your modules and set up your newsroom.
It is suitable for small-scale businesses to mid-range organizations in the market.

7. Cision

If your business needs an ultimate PR campaign, then Cision is the best place to get that.
It is a high-powered PR software with more than 1.6 million journalists, editors, and influencers to get in touch with.
Apart from these massive databases, Cision has some salient features such as,

• Advanced Press Releases Distribution.
• Tools to track performance.
• Tools to get in touch with relevant mentors.

Cision also has tools to monitor social media, print media, online media, and daily news briefings. It provides insights into the outreach of your press release in the different public forums. Cision is suitable for businesses with a dedicated budget for PR marketing.

8. Release Live

Release Live is a PR distribution tool with AI-powered software.
It enables users to customize their audience for their press release distribution. It provides users with an AI-driven translation tool that allows them to post their press releases in multiple languages. It also enhances a business’s SEO value by providing Optimum keywords.
Get in touch with us to know more about integrating these two strategies and get the maximum benefits from marketing.