How to Write a Press Release for SEO
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is one of the best ways to get free traffic for your business. The whole goal of SEO is to use certain practices in order to make your website as visible as possible to Google, Bing, Yahoo! and so on.
Each search engine has their own algorithm, for determining the relevance of a web page in terms of a search being conducted. It scans through trillions of pages in nanoseconds and delivers search engine results pages (SERPs) with what they think are the most relevant pages for the inquiry.
The algorithm is based on a number of factors, including keywords and links to the page. Keywords are by far the most important percentage of the formula and one you can control relatively easily. Linking can boost your score if the links are from high-quality sites. Press release distribution services would be one example of a quality link.
Why issue a press release?
Issue a press release any time you have any major news at your business, such as a new product, live event, or other milestones. You will get media pickups, that is, journalists using your story in their own column to inform their audience. The page you create for your press release should be SEO-friendly.
Keywords
Using keywords related to your niche or industry, and the products you sell will earn SEO credit for your press release.
Add keywords to the:
- Headline
- Subheadline
- Opening paragraph
- Subsequent paragraphs
- The names of images and video
- Quotations
- Your boilerplate information about your business, who you are and what you do
Keywords should also be used in the anchor text for your links.
Don’t just say, “Click here” in your links. Instead, use keywords like, “Visit URL to learn more about online marketing,” and link the words online marketing. The link should then take them to a relevant page about online marketing.
Creating great content
Keywords don’t exist in isolation. They are in a context. That context should be a high-quality content of genuine use to the people interested in your niche or industry. If you provide this, you will get more pickups, links, and social media shares.
Links back to your site
Don’t overdo the links in your press release, but do have a couple of relevant ones, with a call to action as to why they should click the link. The first link should be the landing page you want to send them to for them to learn more, subscribe or buy. The second link can be your media center, where you have all of your most important information about your business on one page. In this way, journalists can find out all they need to know about you and be able to contact you for more information.
The more media pickups you get, the more likely they are to include at least one link, the link to your specific landing page.
The search engine will follow this link and discover your new landing page. Over time, you will get more links as people share the information.
Many press release distribution services have social media buttons. You will get links to your press release and perhaps even your landing page if people like what they see when they visit. Be sure to put share buttons on every landing page.
An SEO-friendly press release can keep on driving traffic to your site long after you have published it, so take the time to organize it correctly and you should see results.
Call us today to speak to one of our PR specialists: 1-800-713-7278
