Press Release SEO Mistakes You Might Be Making
Writing press releases is part art, part science. It has several goals. One is to get media coverage, and the other is to improve Search Engine Optimization for your site.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is one of the best ways to get free traffic to your content, on your own site, and on any sites where your press release appears. Free traffic is the lifeblood of any online business. It will come from a range of sources, not just search engines, but being able to rank highly on Google could help you drive a considerable amount of traffic regularly, for more customers and profits.
Not having a media center
Firstly, you should have a media center at your site for journalists to find all of the most important information about your business in one place. This will also be the place where you will link to all the press releases you publish, so they are at your site and earning traffic due to the keywords you use in each press release.
Not using keyworded headlines
Keywords will help your press release get discovered. Your headline will appear as the link on the search engines and also help determine relevance, which can get your press release into one of the top spots on the search engine results page.
Writing overly long headlines
Search engines only show the first 45 to 65 characters (including spaces and punctuation) of a headline, so keep it short and to the point.
Not keywording your summaries
Add keywords to your summary in order to also increase the relevance score of your press release. It will be visible under the headline of your press release, with the keywords highlighted. This can help you get more traffic.
Not using anchor text
In your press release, don’t forget to use words and phrases that you want to rank highly on as the words you use to link to your site. These off-page links can help drive free traffic from the search engines. However, don’t overdo the links. You should have a limited number, each with a clear call to action.
Not using the words the people in your niche or industry search for
Think about the words and phrases your target audience would type into a search engine. Don’t use jargon, over-inflated words, or fancy words when simpler ones will do.
Over-optimizing your press release
It’s tempting to “stuff” your press release with keywords, but this is one way to get penalized by the search engines. Write naturally using relevant keywords that both real readers and search engines can understand.
Google uses what is called “semantic search,” looking for all words in relation to one another to determine what a page is about and how relevant it is in relation to searches being run by ordinary users. Use keywords related to your product, niche, and industry.
Use them in social media posts, as well. Many people use social search through Facebook and other sites, so don’t forget to share your press releases on your social media accounts.
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