Search engines love press releases. Why? Because press releases tend to be focused on a single topic or theme, they tend to be longer than a typical web page, and they tend to naturally repeat the use of search-friendly terms (making the release “keyword-rich”). All of these traits are ideal in aiding the search engine spiders to understand what the document is about and then rank it well. Writing press releases with search engines in mind is an often-overlooked tactic that can amplify the positive results of a company’s public relations efforts, as well as greatly increase a company’s overall Internet presence.

The following is the methodology we recommend to write search engine friendly press releases.

• Choose keyphrases that people are likely to use.

By using an online tool, such as the Overture search suggestion tool (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/), one can determine what keywords are commonly searched on. By typing any word into the search box, one can see related search terms, as well as how many times each term was searched on last month. The obvious end goal is to choose the best keyphrase to act as your topic—one that matches how people actually search online for information contained within the press release you are about to write, as well as one that is as commonly searched on as possible.

• Strategically insert the keyphrases to optimize your press releases.

In order for search engine spiders to determine what a particular page is about, one must use that page’s keyphrase topic throughout the copy. Most importantly, the keyphrase should be included in the title of the press release. Then, the keyphrase should be used again as soon as possible somewhere in the first paragraph and then several more times scattered throughout the remaining body of the press release’s text. A typical rule that can be applied is that for every 250 words you should use the keyphrase 4-5 times—but only as long as you are not sacrificing the flow of the copy.

• Optimizing press releases so that they acquire “backlinks.”
  Links that point back to your site from other websites are called “backlinks,” among other phrases. The number of backlinks pointing to your site is a significant factor of what search engines tally and then use to determine how well your web pages rank. The theory goes: the more links pointing to your site from reputable industry-related websites, the more important your site must be in the eyes of the engines. One way to get links to your site from other sites is to include a link to your site in your press release. Other sites will reuse or republish your press release on their site, and that link in that release then creates a link pointing to your site.

It is also important to note that the “About Us” information that frequently gets placed at the bottom of press releases, and which often contains your URL, sometimes gets removed when a press release is reused elsewhere. Therefore, if appropriate, attempt to place a URL to your site at the beginning, or somewhere within the main body of your release.

• Optimize press releases placed on your website using title and description tags.

Title “tags” are related to website code, but you don’t have to understand programming to develop them. They are simply descriptive sentences. For each optimized page, you will need to write a title tag and a description tag and then submit them to your webmaster.

The title tag is the most important aspect of optimizing a press release. A title tag could simply be the title of the document, assuming you are able to create a keyphrase-rich title. If you are unable to do so, you should create one for this tag. The title tag does not have to be the actual title of the document, but it should represent the topic of the release. It should be no longer than 60 characters. If it must be longer, try to place the less critical words towards the end of it. It does not need to be written as a properly formed English sentence, but the keyphrase should be as close to being the first words in the title as possible. Although this may sound odd, this means that your company name should be at the end of the title tag – a main reason for this is because your home page is likely already (naturally) optimized for your company name, so you need not try and optimize for it.

Example:
Title Tag: Fax Server Software Solutions by CompanyXYZ

The Description Tag should be about 120 characters long, and should be written as a proper English sentence, or two. The keyphrase does not need to be in this tag, but it doesn’t hurt. But, most importantly, the sentence(s) should use what might be considered “marketing verbiage,” as it should be something that compels the reader to click on the listing.

Example:
Description Tag: Reduce cost, save time and improve productivity by enabling users to send, receive and manage documents directly from desktop, email and other business applications.

Once you have these two tags written, simply send them to your IT person and ask him/her to add the tags into the electronic version (whether HTML or PDF) of the press release that is going to be put on your website.

Free keyphrase and web presence review

This report will provide you details as to how your website is currently performing in search engine rankings for your most appropriate keyphrases. This report will also look at how well your competitors are ranking for those terms as well. Among other things, this data will allow you to determine where there is opportunity to acquire a competitive edge within the search engines.

There is no obligation – simply email the following information to toddw@mktx.com:

• What are the top 10 keyphrases you expect your site to show up for when users perform a search on a search engine?
• Name your top 3 competitors.
• Let us know if you are also interested in a cost and performance estimate for a start-up pay-per-click campaign (search engine advertising) – which we will base off of the keyphrases you mention for question #1.