Posts Tagged press releases
PR is good for SEO but it’s got to be handled well
Over the last couple of years, public relations has become a very important online tool. Alongside article writing and increasingly video marketing Internet marketers have begun to take public relations far more seriously as a method of ensuring that they or their clients’ sites reached the top of the main search engines.
The biggest danger is that inexperienced marketers might think that the tried and trusted techniques used for search engine optimisation are appropriate for PR. Firstly it must be remembered that there is a broker in between the writer and the person you’re trying to influence to buy. That broker is a journalist and journalists have a certain way of writing and interpreting data.
The web is legion with articles on how to write a press release, but writing one and having read to totally different things. Even online, journalists have to wade through quite a few e-mails and press releases on sites like PR newswire PR leap in order to get to yours. Why would they want to? What is so special about your product they would want to read about, let alone write about?
And it’s not just about online press releases. With the final growth of the Internet, it is easy to forget that newspapers, radio stations, TV channels didn’t simply disappear. In fact these traditional forms of media fighting back. As far as small businesses and non-profit making organisations are concerned, this huge sector should not be ignored. If a story is a compelling one, there is every chance that your product or service will make the pages and programs of this traditional type of media.
The point is that there are no corners to be cut. There are no easy ways to persuade journalists. Yes you can pay PR Newswire $149 to distribute a news release, but that’s not to say that it is necessarily going to get you to the top 10 of Google as a result of the payment. It doesn’t work like that. Certainly sites like PR Newswire, PR Leap and many of the free sites have a decent ranking in Google, but you’re wasting your money if you fail a) to come up with a compelling story can b) you fail to optimise the keywords within press release.
The trick is to box clever. When selecting stories for possible publication, it is often the more quirky stories that journalists looking for. To use that adage about the stake and the sizzle, journalists not so much looking for stories about what you do, it’s the effect of what you do on their readers. For example, if you have a choice between two stories, warm publicising a $1.2 million extension to your building and another about a product you really you releasing to help decrease eyestrain, I know which one I would choose. The first is pure bragging, and the second fulfils a need. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that journalists will necessarily be interested in how you spend your money.
Where possible, and with the advent of online press release sites, this has become little more difficult, it is best to chat to journalists first. Or at least e-mail them before you send. Clearly if you’re using a distribution service, this isn’t always possible. You will gain better results, if you get to know the journalists that are operating in your market either locally, nationally or internationally. That way, you will build up a two-way relationship with the reporter or editor so that coverage is more sustained over a period of time.
It’s really a case of mix-and-match all horses for courses. If done correctly, public relations can increase your presence in the market place and subsequent articles will show you how.
The Five Minute PR Plan Part Two
by Keith Thompson MA, CMIPR, PG Cert
My name’s Keith Thompson and a warm welcome to my blog regarding PR tips at Effective Media. In the first article we looked at how businesses should look at PR as something they do already and simply need to focus it a bit more. So let’s first look at the benefits of this.
- Firstly being media savvy doesn’t just affect sales, it can also have an impact and branding and reputation both offline and online.
- Secondly search engines like press releases, video content and also photographs (properly tagged) too
So we’ve already ticked two major boxes here and we’re still not causing any great hole in the working day. So far all I have proposed is that you find and add one journalist per day, one from a local paper, one from a trade mag and so on for the next couple of weeks so that you build a database of contacts.
Now all we need to do is learn how to write a press release and here it is:-
Type 1: Paper press releases to be released physically by fax or snail mail.
1) Don’t for get your logo at the top. Sounds like an obvious one that doesn’t it? Well not really. It’s amazing how many companies still send news releases out without one.
2) Keep your language simple and to the point without being flowery. Don’t use five words when one will do e.g. “It is possible for customers to” “they can”
3) Beginners should use the three paragraph format on one side of A4 although there are longer versions. Let’s stick to the three paragraph version in this article.
4) Formatting: News Release at the top. To the left indicate when the press release is available from (avoid embargos like the plague). 1.5 space the text and single space the “Note to Editors” Include your immediate contact details here. Leave wide margins for notes.
5) Headline should be boldened, relevant and keyword biased. Attempts to be witty wil almost certainly be met with yawns. They do the jokes! “You can get slim by thinking about it says psychologist.”
6) First paragraph: Tell the whole story and nothing but the story. Who? What? When? Where? Which? Why? e.g. “You can put on muscle tone just by thinking about exercise according to a report by a top psychologist, Dr Tim Jones at a conference in New York today.
7) Second paragraph reinforces the story and might include a quote e.g. “Dr. Jones was speaking at the International Psychology Conference where he delivered his findings from experiments on 26 office workers.”
Third paragraph will be a call to action or invitation (this is your chance to sell your location) e.g. ” Dr Jones has his own webinar on the subject and wil be inviting readers to ask him questions this Wednesday at www.drtimjonesinc.com….”
9) End the press release with ENDS so that you don’t run the risk of any of your private contact details being published to the world.
10) Include a “note to editors” if you are inviting them to a photocall or other press event online or locally. perhaps you might wish to inform them that there are photographs available. Don’t forget to proofread and grammar check. Sometimes crucial phone numbers and website addresses can be typed in wrongly.
Type 2: email
As above except:-
4) Use normal text based emails single spaced. If you want to use HTML, check with the publisher first. In fact you should never spam editors with unsolicited emails anyway. You wil soon find out how they want your email by having a conversation with them preferably by phone or at least an advance email. Mass submitter software is not recommended for press releases.
If you are still nervous about writing your own press releases or content, we do offer a copywriting service here at Effective Media and Effective Publicity which is cheaper than you think. Please feel free to contact me for details at keith@effective-media.co.uk If not read on and we can see if we can provide the knowledge and skills you need to follow the Five Minute PR Plan.
In part three I will show you to shoot a video news release and also compose a picture which will dramatically enhance both the quantity and quality of coverage you receive both online and offline. Picture stories rule. find out why in the next installment.
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