20
Jun
2010
Drive Traffic To Your Site: 9 Reasons Why You Should Use A Press Release Service
Here are 9 reasons why using a press release service will help drive targeted traffic to your site. Doing so can be very beneficial for your company’s website.
1) Not only will they identify who the targeted audience is, but they also understand what the goals of the PR should be. That enables them to be able to write a focused release and include the correct keywords.
2) The purpose of many search engine queries is done by people trying to solve a problem. A well-written PR will show an understanding of the issues of consumers and a clearly stated solution. This will increase the chances of the release to be found during searches.
3) They will consult the business for the best one or two keywords and phrases. Google AdWords Keyword Tool also assists in finding less competitive keywords that will still have a high search volume.
4) An effective press release service will understand where to strategically place the keywords. Not only in the heading, but also in the summary and the body. They will also place link text to maximize optimization. Using keywords in a quote by a company president or employee is also effective.
5) One common problem of many PR’s is to include the keywords too often. A PR service understands this and will work them into the release naturally without overdoing it. This will keep the release from being penalized by search engines.
6) Anchor text links, of various keywords, will be hyper-linked to other website pages. It’s not enough to just link back to the main page of the website.
By adding three to five anchor text links to other pages, you increase the important links for search engine ranking. These can be linked to pages that describe the company’s service, products, features, and promotions, etc.
7) A press release written and distributed professionally can also include a video and related images. Research shows that these can increase the click-through rate by up to 25 percent on standard and news services.
By adding a video you can also increase the time a viewer spends on the site. A press release service will make sure they have the targeted keyword phrase in the image’s file name when adding an image to the release.
It’s very common for press releases today being shared with social media through social bookmarking. A PR service will make it easy for readers to share the release in the many sites such as Digg, Twitter and Facebook. These are beginning to have a huge effect on traffic driven to company’s websites.
9) Finally, a press release service knows how to write a release that engages readers without obviously promoting a company. They will keep the release relatively short (400 to 800 words maximum) which encourages the reader to finish the story.
Answering questions and solving problems of the consumer is the key. In the process, the release can subtly promote a product or service while providing valuable information.
If a company is unsure of the whole press release process, they would be wise to enlist a professional press release service. They will take all the necessary steps to ensure that targeted traffic is driven to the company’s website.
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If you enjoyed this article by Terry Schuman about press releases, please visit our website today. We provide SEO press release services to small local businesses in addition to offering many other local business marketing services. We help local businesses increase their online presence. http://www.localbusinessgroup.com
16
Jun
2010
Adhere To These Press Release Tips For Local Business Promotion
A well-written professional press release should be designed to gain excellent exposure for local businesses. A press release will announce a business, their products, and news-related information of interest to the media and consumers.
It must be written in a journalistic style rather than a marketing style, so as not to come across as an advertisement.
There are specific guidelines to follow when writing and placing press releases. By adhering to these press release tips, you increase your chances of being seen and picked up by more outlets. It can also improve search engine optimization.
The headline for a press release is very important. To encourage the readers, it must grab their attention quickly.
It needs to be short, but descriptive. It should be limited to 12 words or under. Send yourself an email with the headline as the subject. If you can’t read the entire headline in your in box without having to open it, it’s probably too long.
The headline should only summarize the main part of the story, so it doesn’t need lots of detail. Your main goal is to get the readers to open and read the rest of the press release.
It also needs to be accurate and relevant to what the article is about. Stay away from writing clever-type headlines. Those should be mainly used by newspapers; press releases should steer clear of them.
Finally, keep the font the same style as your text (Times New Roman is the most accepted and professional) but use a bigger font size. Your press release text should be a size 12 with the headline either a 14 or 16.
Your hook needs to be in the first paragraph. Summarizing the five W’s is a good guideline to follow. Who and What is it about? Why would the reader find this important? Where and When does it happen?
By answering these you will be able to hook the reader easier. Many readers will not proceed through the rest of the story if the hook isn’t sufficiently planted.
By placing the most important information at the top of the article, you take advantage of a journalistic tip and “trick”. This is a rule of journalism that is tried and true.
The reason? If the readers don’t take the time to read the entire press release, you want to make sure they at least read the necessary information. The most prominent or consequential material should not be held until the end of the article.
Readers like to see stories of local business promotion. It gives them a sense of pride. Local businesses need to be aware of that and should strive to distribute press releases often and whenever they have information that will appeal to local consumers. Hopefully these press release tips will encourage them to do so.
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If you enjoyed this article by Terry Schuman about press releases, please visit our website today. We help local businesses increase their online presence and provide press release writer services to small local businesses in addition to many other local business marketing services. http://www.localbusinessgroup.com
9
Jun
2010
A Press Release Service Can Connect Your Business To A HUGE Audience!
With such a big and varied audience out there, companies should be taking advantage of press releases. A press release service can direct the story writing to any number of potential types of readers.
- Press releases written mainly for search engines have become very prevalent, and even common-place. Many companies have realized that distributing press releases strictly for search engine optimization can have a positive effect on search page rankings.
A good press release service can write a professional release, with timely and interesting information, and then see that it gets proper distribution to the necessary search engines.
Back-links can be easily created by using several anchor text links, images, and videos in the release. This is a key to boosting a company’s presence with the leading search engines.
A word of caution: some press release writers are basically producing articles rather than a release. They are then distributed via free press release services. Although some of these services are better than others, a press release may have very little SEO effect going this route.
- Affiliates can be a great target to write a press release for. Who better to keep informed about product changes or releases than those who benefit greatly from them. Businesses who keep affiliates up-dated increase their chances of greater promotion of their products.
- Consumers should always be kept clearly in mind when planning and writing a press release. Loyal customers definitely like to be kept in the loop. Companies need to be fully aware of how consumers are searching for the products online (keywords searched) and work those into the release.
When stories are written that address customer’s issues, even more interest is raised. A press release can be effective by being informational and newsworthy, and should not become a blatant advertisement.
- Targeting online influencers such as bloggers, podcasters, and social networking gurus can also be a great way to spread a message and garner additional customers. This is known as capitalizing on the new media.
Once it’s determined which of these is interested in a particular company’s niche, and a relationship has been established, the domino effect of this utilization can be huge. A loyal and large following can be gained when using an interesting and helpful press release sent through this form of media.
- During this era of the internet, it’s easy to overlook distributing press releases to the traditional media. However, there is still great potential with these if a company’s story is picked up by local and national newspapers, television and radio. They are always seeking human-interest stories or information about a product that takes care of problems.
It’s important for companies seeking a press release service to completely understand the purpose of their press release. If increasing SEO potential is the main goal, they should go one direction. But if they’re looking to get the word out to the masses, then their distribution considerations should be wider and their budgets expanded.
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If you enjoyed this article by Terry Schuman about press releases, please visit our website today. We help local businesses increase their online presence, and provide a press release service in addition to many other local business marketing services. http://www.localbusinessgroup.com
6
Jun
2010
Press Release Service: 5 Reasons Your Business Should Use One
A press release service can play a huge role in getting company news out to those who will publicize it to the interested masses. It’s important for all businesses to realize that they do have newsworthy information to share with the public.
News services are constantly seeking interesting or timely information and stories from companies. In fact, they’re actually in demand by news services. Editors of newspapers, radio and TV stations, and the many online news services are always looking for stories to fill space. This makes the press release still a very viable form of news reporting today.
However, without the ability to properly publicize them, a company’s various achievements and interesting story angles may fall short. Knowing how to do this properly is crucial to the success of the story “getting out there.”
The better the story is told, the better the chances are that it will be picked up by numerous sources. And it might even possibly lead to more in-depth follow-up coverage. That is the equivalent of hitting a grand slam in baseball!
What most companies do is either hire a professional press release writing service or utilize an in-house department to handle the duty. For most businesses it makes sense to hire a service. They know how to create a story of interest and how to properly submit it for distribution.
Here are 5 key reasons for a company to utilize a press release service:
1- It’s a great way to improve the company’s visibility. Trying to get recognized today can be difficult, especially for smaller local businesses. Valuable exposure can be gained by utilizing a long-term press release distribution plan.
First, it puts you in front of potential customers, giving you the opportunity to tell a unique story about your company. Secondly, if the press releases are well written, the media picking up your stories will give you more coverage over time.
2- You can become known as an industry leader and expert through press releases. Most people tend to trust what they read and hear through reputable news sources. The press release will help you gain consumer trust and eventual business.
Also, the media is always looking for industry experts to comment on related news stories. Constant exposure can place you in that expert position. This is another grand slam!
3- A well-written press release can give you far reaching exposure. Media outlets share stories and most of them come from local news items. Due to the internet, these can quickly spread. It only takes one reporter to show an interest in your local story for that story to quickly become national or even international. Think of the business potential!
4- They provide SEO (search engine optimization) benefits. Press releases using beneficial keywords can gain great exposure for your website. This is a great way for small business to increase their website page ranking with the various search engines.
5- For the exposure you can get, a press release is relatively inexpensive. This is especially true when you compare it to other various forms of paid advertising, and the quantity of exposure that can be gained through a release.
If you haven’t considered utilizing a press release service to greatly expose your business, it’s time to do so. Even in this day of high tech and new media, they are still very much alive and very beneficial to businesses.
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You can read more about press release by Terry Schuman on our website. We help local businesses increase their online presence by providing press release services in addition to many other small local business marketing services. http://www.localbusinessgroup.com