Press releases have traditionally been associated with public relations. Over the past ten years there have been major changes in the field brought about by the development of the web.
This has led to the online distributions of releases and so the function is now being increasingly associated with the technical skills belonging to search engine marketers. For many people in the search marketing field who are not experienced in public relations and have been approached to optimize press releases the field can be confusing. The basics of press release optimization are similar to keyword optimization for web sites; however there are some areas that demand specialized knowledge.
Firstly an overview of the basics of press releases. Generally speaking the goal of a press release is to generate favorable media coverage that is aimed at your target audience. Therefore you need to know your target audience and where they go for their information. From this you can build a media list of journalists and publications you want to contact. Once you have your media list you need to determine your distribution method.
What makes up a successful press release? There are many ingredients to a good press release. It has to be well written, preferably by a subject expert, it has to be a good read, and it has to be newsworthy so that journalists and your target audience will be interested in your news. A good press release always has well written content offering unique information presented in a story type of format.
When you have prepared your press release how do you deliver it to your media contacts? You have a few options. You can correspond directly with individual media contacts. You can distribute it via a media database service which enables you to pay for and build a media list from their database of editors, reporters, producers, etc. Your other option is to deliver your release via a newswire service.
A newswire service distributes news and information. It may also offer additional services related to targeting, evaluation and measurement of results. Your distribution may be targeted towards a more specialized distribution list or on a more broad, national or international level.
There are many newswire services to choose from and for someone new it may be confusing. If you do a search for ‘newswire service' you will come across many services including PRNewswire, BusinessWire, PR Web, MarketWire, PR Leap, US Newswire, and many others.
Choosing a newswire service depends on your approach. Press releases can be approached from a public relations viewpoint or a search marketing viewpoint or some combination of both. Before the growth of the web it was primarily used as a public relations tool to get news published. With the growth of the web it developed into a way to target prospects, not just the media. It also developed into a way to get additional search engine traffic through almost immediate indexing and placement, incoming links, brand development, and keyword targeting. Press releases can also be used to control and dominate a search engine space by focusing on a particular brand name.
I have observed that some of the older, more traditional, newswire services such as PRNewswire (est. 1954) and BusinessWire (est. 1961) were slow to adapt to the needs of the digital environment. However they have rapidly caught up. Unfortunately their services are relatively expensive ($500-$700 per 400 word release and can include an annual membership fee of $100+). These are the newswire services that tend to be used by traditional PR agencies for their corporate clients.
Some of the newer newswire agencies such as PR-Web (est. 1997) and PR Leap (est. 2003) were at forefront of adapting to the digital age. They promote their services by stating that they offer free press release distribution but do accept contributions for an increasingly expanded range of services. These contributions for expanded services range from $20 to $200+. These newswire services are generally used by small to medium sized online businesses, search engine marketing and new media agencies.
From my experience, and trial and error with the various services I tend to favor PR-Web for optimized press releases. PR Web is on the leading edge of online news releases and is geared towards optimized press releases. Not only do they release instantaneously to online media sources and journalists but they also offer a database of older press releases for media research. Then there is the cost advantage. I find that the $80 contribution works well and gets you listed in Google News and Yahoo News on the day of release. I also use the $200 contribution which enables you to include hotlinks in the text and also attach images. (In my experience the free service does not offer the range of services that you will need to maximize exposure for your release.) These news listings also filter through the web search engine results pages (SERPs) within a few days where they can stay active for around a month. When they are picked up by other media sources and added to their site's content they can say in the SERPs for an indefinite time.
If you are involved in a search engine reputation management campaign or if you are trying to control a particular search engine space you may want to use more than one newswire service and use multiple releases for the keyword. I have found that this is a useful way to increase your total presence within the SERPs for a brand or corporate name. This enables you to have your unique content located on different sites to show up for your keyword.
More and more search engine marketers are making use of the possibilities that press release optimization offers for their clients. And more and more public relations professionals are coming to these marketers to optimize their press releases. To take full advantage of these possibilities my advice is to experiment with different newswire services to find out what service works best for you and your clients. Also be aware that the field is very dynamic so try to stay on top of new developments and stay on the lookout for any new newswire services that enter the marketplace.
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