Thanks to the internet, small-business owners can now get the kind of
visibility that was previously only available to large companies. And one
important tool that'll help you achieve that goal is the online press release.
All press releases should include news: new information about your company, a
new product launch or a new service. And they should never be blatant sales
pitches. But while the primary goal of a traditional press release is to get the
media interested in your story, the primary goal of an online press release is
to increase your natural search rankings and drive traffic to your website. This
leads to the main difference between writing a traditional press release and an
online one: keyword optimization.
Keywords
Your press release should include keywords your clients would be searching for.
Keywords are search terms that someone in your target market might use to look
up your type of business, product or service on a search engine.
When writing a press release for my business, the keywords I chose were
phrases. They were "get on the Oprah show" and "do it yourself public
relations." If someone typed one of those phrases into a search engine, I wanted
my information to show up in the natural search results, preferably on the first
page.
While this press release was sent in October 2006, I did a recent Google
search for those terms. When I checked "get on the Oprah show," my press release
showed up in a search on the first page. When I searched for "do it yourself
public relations," my online press release didn't show up in the first couple of
pages. However, because I've used "do it yourself public relations" in other
online efforts, I showed up twice on the first page.
Distributing Your Press Release
There are almost an unlimited number of places where you can distribute press
releases, according to Allison Nazarian, president of
Get It In Writing Inc.,
a firm that specializes in search engine optimization copywriting for online
press releases, websites and blogs, and copywriting for other marketing
materials. Here are some of the distribution options Nazarian uses for her
clients:
- Industry publications
- Blogs
- Discussion boards
- Article sites
- Newsletters
- Trade associations
- Online news sites
- Online newswire services such as
PRWeb
- Your own website
- Free press release listing sites like
www.arrivenet.com
Keep in mind that you often need to submit your press releases to each site
separately, sometimes through a cut-and-paste process or an uploading process.
It can be very time consuming.
What to Expect After You Submit Your Press
Release
It's hard to know how quickly you'll start getting web traffic, e-mails or
calls, but you need to be ready in case there's a quick response. The worst
thing to do is to send out your online press release and then go on vacation
without coverage. If people find you online, they generally want a quick
response, usually within one business day.
If you're not getting a quick response, don't worry. Sometimes things take
time. Often, a snowball effect will happen, where other sites will pick up your
press release from the original posting sites, and you'll get more traffic over
several months' time.
Was Your Effort Successful?
At this point, you've put a lot of time and maybe money into this effort.
You want to make sure you get a return on your investment. And unlike some
traditional forms of PR, it's relatively easy to analyze the success of an
online press release campaign. Here's how:
- Use your web analytics program to determine increases in traffic to your
site.
- See if you get new newsletter subscribers.
- Check the natural rankings on several search engines to see if your
press release information shows up.
- Ask prospects how they heard about you and tally the number who
mentioned finding you via your online press release.
Just like any other marketing effort, you'll need to repeatedly send out
online press releases to get the best results. Remember, people often need to
see your information several times before they're willing to contact you.