Press releases are a key component of a company’s marketing strategy. They are used to communicate newsworthy content to investors, customers, and the general public. While most people treat press releases as official statements, it’s possible to craft your press release for SEO and use it to boost your rankings on search engines.
On average, 500 to 1,000 press releases get published daily on a newswire service. Therefore, you need to draft a well-structured, optimized, and keyword-rich press release to impact your SEO efforts. If you already have an existing SEO strategy, they can complement your website, blog posts, and other content marketing tools.
In this article, we’ll look at how to write a press release for SEO, the benefits, and the key components to include.
Types of Press Releases
According to a report by Cision, about 83% of press releases cover company or business news, 47% are primarily on leadership content, and 40% cover product launches. Here are the two common types of press releases.
News Announcements
Companies use targeted outreach to create newsworthy press releases when they have news announcements. This process involves building a targeted contact list at specific publications and pitching to them to cover the story. PR professionals and link-building agencies use this targeted outreach to source quality links for the company.
Press Releases for SEO
SEO Press releases are designed to achieve the company’s SEO strategy. Most of them are promoted via a syndication service to ensure that they are published on several websites.
Typically, the press release appears on your news site, company website, or social media pages. However, crafting it for SEO presents an opportunity to grow into something bigger. For example, it could appear as an article on news sites, industry newsletters, journals, or trade magazines.
What are the Key Parts of an SEO Press Release?
As you draft a press release for SEO, here are the parts you need to include.
Have a Title
Your press release needs a title to boost search rankings. You can include the primary keyword in the SEO title to ensure the content is about the brand. If possible, you should add the key phrases at the beginning of the title and keep it brief.
When your press release appears online, the HTML title tag will tell the search engine what the press release is about. This title tag is the most important part because it makes it easier to spot and rank your press release online.
A Summary
Your press release summary should contain your primary keyword and one or two secondary keywords. However, ensure that you should not have too many keywords in this summary. The search engines will pick your content as long as you include the important keywords.
Include a Body
Writing a good SEO press release means you should develop it for people and search engines. For your press release body, include the primary keyword within the first few words. However, you should avoid keyword stuffing by adding too many keywords in the body. On the other hand, the body should be as natural as possible, finding a perfect balance.
Add Company Information
Whether launching a new product or sharing news about a merger or acquisition, you need to include company information in your press release. This third-person company summary can also have relevant secondary keywords.
You can use this section to add a link to the homepage. For instance, SEO press releases are ideal for building deep links which redirect the audience to other pages apart from the homepage.
Contact Information
Once you draft the SEO press release, you need to submit it for publication. There are different companies and packages that you can use for press release submission. The most popular sites include Business Wire and PR Newswire.
Include the press contact for journalists and online bloggers at the bottom of the press release.
Guidelines on How to Draft a Press Release for SEO
For your SEO strategy to be successful, you need to include specific keywords, links, citations, alt tags, and image descriptions. Here are the best SEO practices to ensure your press release is valuable.
Optimize the First 250 Words
Keep the word count below 500 words as you draft your press release. It’s important to provide the key information within the first few words. You need to optimize this content for the following:
● Journalists: Editors receive multiple press releases daily. Therefore, unless you have an established relationship, it’s advisable to provide a short and snappy press release that can pass for publishing.
● Search engines: The algorithm also rates content by looking at the first 200 to 250 words. Therefore, to make use of SEO in your press release, ensure that it captures the relevant and valuable content at the beginning.
● Audience: The average human attention span is 8.25 seconds, which declined from 12 seconds in 2000. Because of this, you need to provide your readers with precise and clear content. The press release should be compelling and brief if you want people to read it to the end.
Write the Press Release for your Readers
While most people focus on writing content for search engines, you also need to consider your target audience. Answer the basic 5Ws to ensure that your press release is comprehensive.
To keep your readers engaged, present the facts, add valuable information on the subject, and keep the content concise. To achieve this, you must understand the target audience.
Write Headlines for Search Engines
Like humans, search engines are always looking for the signs that they have identified the right page. They use keywords and phrases to detect the type of content in your press release. No matter the type of press release, you need to make it identifiable by search engines.
Avoid using large blocks of text in your press release to make scanning easy. Here are some key tips to guide you.
● Incorporate italics, bold and other fonts to highlight content in your press release.
● Add the most-relevant keywords in the headings and subheadings. Search engines pick out headers; therefore, they prioritize the content if the keyword is included.
● Your keywords and phrases should be at the top of the press release. However, you should also organize these key phrases in the entire press release for better optimization.
Use Search Phrases that Your Target Audience Will Likely Search
As you draft the press release for SEO, you should know your keywords. Each industry has specific terms; therefore, most users will look for this in the search engine.
For your press release guideline, ensure that you use primary and secondary keywords. In addition, these phrases should be relevant to the press release and the recipient. For instance, if your company is sending out press releases with financial information, you should include industry keywords to meet your SEO goals.
The objectives and target audience should dictate the keywords to focus on. Additionally, the key phrases should be evergreen. For example, if you are launching a new product that the audience doesn’t know about, you should incorporate unbranded and generic keywords that describe the product.
Journalists also look for industry-standard keywords in press releases before they publish the content. So, to increase the visibility of your press release, use the widely accepted keywords in your content.
Use Long Tail Keywords
Once you add a primary key phrase, you’ll also need long-tail keywords. For instance, if the primary keyword is “digital marketing,” the long-tail keywords could be “how does digital marketing work” or “popular digital marketing strategies.”
Today, most internet searches use long-tail queries. These queries are more specific and will yield relevant and targeted results because they have three or more keywords. Therefore, incorporate these keywords to improve your rankings as you work on your SEO press release.
Add High-Traffic Keywords that Outrank Competitors
Your competitors will be targeting the same audience as your company. Therefore, they are likely to use valuable keywords. Research the most popular keywords in your industry to ensure that the press release is competitive.
Research the popular terms and phrases to ensure that the press releases rank well. In addition, you can check the expensive keywords through search engine advertising. Then, you can use these keywords in the following press release.
Use Link Building Strategies
You can strengthen your press release SEO by using link-building strategies. To achieve this, add optimized backlinks in the body of the press release to redirect your reader to the relevant pages on your website. This strategy will help your website and press release rank higher.
To boost the website’s domain, you can also include an optimized anchor text on the link. With this, you can improve your rankings whenever the press release is shared or posted.
Use the Hyperlinks Correctly
Although the keywords are essential for the SEO of your press release, you should not overdo it. One of the common mistakes people make is by over-linking. Instead, ensure that you have proper keyword volume in all the sections to make the release readable.
The press release will be hard to read when you go overboard with the keywords. In addition, Google prioritizes readability; therefore, if you have keyword stuffing in your release, the search engine will consider your content spammy, lowering your content score. Your content might also be pulled down for black hat practices or your site penalized.
Furthermore, consider adding hyperlinks that are important for your company. For instance, if you want to promote a specific service or product, add a link that directs your audience to that page on the website.
Ensure that the Content is Newsworthy
For your press release to be well received, it needs to communicate properly. Ensure that the content solves a problem, impacts your audience, and displays your key message. Keep the end user in mind as you develop the content.
As you write an SEO press release, here are some topics to consider.
● Company events
● Information about awards
● Promotions or giveaways
● Information resources
● New company products or services
● Company changes
● Expansion or improvement of product range or services
● Key achievements
Your target audience is likelier to open the press release and take action if the topic is newsworthy.
Add Off-Site Links and Contact Information
You need to also provide the company’s contact information in your press release. Again, consider adding links when appropriate for better visibility. While some sites may not display this information, you should include it before distributing the press release. It is important because it links back to your website.
Optimize Images and Text
For your SEO efforts to be successful, you need to optimize your text and images. Some technical elements include a title tag, meta description, appropriate hyperlinks, infographics, and SEO-optimized images.
If you have to add images to a technical press release, ensure they are in the smallest file size and the best quality. The images should also have a title that’s SEO-friendly. Additionally, the pictures should have an alternative tag for easier accessibility.
Benefits of Writing an SEO-Friendly Press Release
When you curate your press release with SEO in mind, here are some benefits you could get.
● It boosts your website’s visibility on the search engines
● You can use it as a marketing tool for the company
● The press release improves your search engine rankings
● More exposure to your products and website to new users
● It increases the number of backlinks
● It saves money during marketing campaigns
● Your website will get referral traffic
Conclusion
Whether making a big announcement or building customer and investor relations, you need a press release to share the news. In addition, you can use press releases to boost your SEO efforts besides website content, blog posts, and social media content.
Writing a press release for SEO will boost your visibility on search engines and organically grow your rankings. However, you must consider key elements like keywords, link building, optimized images, and text. Press releases are still relevant in today’s market, and with the right strategy, you can use them for successful SEO campaigns.
