Should You Consider Writing Press Releases for SEO? How Does it Impact On SEO?

writing press releases for seo
Content Writing

Should You Consider Writing Press Releases for SEO? How Does it Impact On SEO?

What Are Press Releases?

Press Releases are mediums to distribute information to the press. They are an official statement and are often in written format. However, today, with technological advancement, press releases are also being created in audio and video formats. So, How to go about writing press releases for SEO

A press release is the quickest, easiest, and most efficient way to generate awareness about a happening in your business. All your business needs to do is write a piece of content, and distribute it through appropriate channels.

Benefits of Press Release Distribution

Gain customers

The media alone is no longer the only audience of press releases. It is estimated that 80 million people read news online. Most of them could be your potential customers. 

More visibility is more trust

When your story is covered by journalists, more people are likely to land on your website, resulting in higher sales.

Enhanced writing press releases for SEO

Higher the number of media houses publishing your press releases, the higher the number of valuable backlinks to your website. And when such content is optimized, the online visibility of your content is higher.

An escalation in sales with press release marketing strategy

Your company can base its marketing strategy around the press releases. With an authentic document like a press release it is easier to trigger credibility, expertise, and likeability amongst the probable customers and the world at large.

The Role Of SEO

Just like any other content, Search Engine Optimized press release gets better results for the progress of your business. 

Today, 70% of the population is likely to check out your brand and your business online before making a purchase. Therefore optimizing your press release for SEO brings with it multi-fold benefits. 

Business houses can be writing press releases for SEO as a tool to reach out to their target audiences. Not only do press releases contribute to generating more sales but they also help to create backlinks.

This is because a press release is indexed by search engines, helping it easier to pop up in searches.

Benefits Of Writing Press Releases For SEO

Having any kind of information published about your company or about an event conducted by the company on famous news sites is definitely beneficial. It helps not only your brand but is also good for SEO purposes. It may not have a direct value but has a huge indirect benefit.

The direct value would have come when the press release URL would have ranked in search engine results pages (SERPs). But such a thing is rare.

The truth is the real gold of a press release is its indirect value. A well-written press release holds the attention of newspapers/ media outlets. This way your company can generate traffic. This way your business not only gets backlinks from the news sites but also many backlinks from other webmasters.

And we all understand how difficult it is to build high-quality backlinks, naturally.

So press releases are mediums to build high-quality backlinks quickly and naturally without the worry of attracting any penalties.

Other additional benefits of writing press releases for SEO include-

  • Increased brand visibility
  • Increased brand recognition
  • Referral traffic generation

Press Release can prove to be extremely beneficial, but when done inappropriately it can become a complete waste of time, effort, and money. Not to forget the penalties it can attract, end up proving to be harmful to your website and ultimately your business.

How Long Should A Press Release Be?

A press release has to be concise. The purpose of a press release is to hold media attention. Short and crisp content ensures better outcomes. It should have about 300 to 400 words. It needs to have a title, possibly a subtitle. This should be followed by 3 to 4 paragraphs.

These paragraphs need to layout facts clearly and concisely. It works positively if it has a few key quotes. Having images and links to videos that support the content adds multi-fold to its value.

It is easy to use up your 400 words, so writing well, sharing all the required information, and still staying concise in the key.

Take it this way, if the press release were to be printed, it should be able to fit in a single a4 page!

Writing a press release requires a lot of expertise. The best thing to do would be to hire a professional press release writing service to do the job for you.

So what goes into each paragraph?

The first paragraph outlines the details of the announcement. It should hold answers to the 5 W’s, namely-

  • Who
  • What
  • Where
  • When
  • Why

The second paragraph and third paragraph can include a quote and some background to the announcement.

The last paragraph should provide backup facts including price, availability, and any other vital importance.

A press release is wrapped up with a boilerplate. This is a short paragraph and has basic information about the business. It describes the business’s background, and contact information like phone number/ email address, etc.

This gives potential customers a medium to contact the business. It can also help in building authority for your brand and business. The boilerplate is generally a standard reusable material. 

Are Press Releases Still Worth It?

A few years ago, writing press releases for SEO was a vital tactic. It helped to get free traffic to the website of the business in an organic way, without having to worry about advertising. This tactic was used as a means to get backlinks to the site. And these backlinks were indicators for search engines to rank the website better in search results.

Regrettably, this trend of press releases began to be misused by companies and became a scam where businesses began coming out with press releases with little or no actual need to do so. Then onwards the search engines became smart and now can distinguish between an advertisement type press release and a real press release!

So, basically, if the focus of your press release is to gain media’s attention and not just grab another backlink, they would continue to remain useful for the years to come.

Press releases can start a chain reaction. It’s not the backlinks alone, but also the likes, shares, and comments on social media. So, as far as actual news is shared, press releases are more than worth it and would remain.

Effectively Using a Press Release

A Press release is about facts. It should not contain any extraneous details apart from the topic. Like if your business has launched a new product, then the press release you should talk about just that, nothing else like sales projection, previous quarter’s earnings!

Basically, a press release is ‘to the point’ information-sharing! But that doesn’t mean it should be written in plain and style free words. It still needs to have its style, voice and a differentiating factor to stand out from the dozens of press releases done by businesses daily.

Press release target audience

A press release is meant to be shared across all mediums be it newspapers, magazines, websites, or even the radio. They are a great source of free advertisement for your business whenever someone publishes it.

The best part is it is created by the business, in it your own words. This way any chances of misinterpretation/ leaving out vital information/ bad writing are not possible.

So writing press releases for SEO can prove to be a piece of gold for your business, more so when you tie-up with a professional press release writing services like Towards 90.

So how often should your business send out a press release?

Well, there is no ‘to the point answer’ to such a question. The answer to this question is – as often as you have real news/ as often as it is necessary to do so. 

Press releases are important bulletins to announce about any noteworthy development in business. They are not regular business newsletters that send out mundane updates.

Frequent interactions with journalists in the form of press releases are a great way to get a journalist’s attention and create a stand for your brand.

Doing a fair number of press releases helps you to remain in the public eye and this gives you the scope to build your brand. Like when your letters pop up every fortnight or every month in a journalist’s mailbox, they are likely to become familiar with your business.

But you need to be known for the right reasons. Else your communication would be treated as spam and would create a more negative impact. Therefore, there is no fixed line to define how much is too much. The news you intend to share should have the potential to change something. So if the news is worth sharing even 2 press releases a week are justified. But with no sufficient news, even 1 press release a fortnight may not be welcome.

Therefore it is vital to issue press releases regularly, but it definitely has to be done strategically. 

What Are The Different Types Of Press Releases?

A press release target audience, as the name suggests is literally the “press” or news media. But press releases are mediums of providing outlets not only to the press but also enthusiastic consumers about any kind of changes to your business.  

The type of press release to be drafted depends on the kind of engagement you’re aiming for. The goals to be achieved help us decide the most effective kind of press release to choose from.

Whether you’re looking for press release writers for hire or have decided to promote your business on your own, let us help you understand the different types of press releases that can be done-

Business launch press release

When you have just launched a new business or your existing business launches a new division, this type of press release would help spread the word.

The content of this press release talks about the new venture and its importance and goals. This type usually happens just before the launching time.

New product press release

Product press releases are used to announce the launch of a product. They are also used to describe or promote a product. They can also be used to share special recognition/ accolades/ awards a product has won.

A press release contributes to building excitement about the product. New product press releases are often done a little before the product launch and help in building anticipation.

Product launch press releases are designed with just enough information to intrigue journalists/ people and encourage them to use the new product/ feature themselves. 

A product launch press release announcement contains all basic information about the product people would want to know.

Things like features, usability, benefits, why this particular product is superior from other available options, where can it be procured from, etc. basically, all the information that can help probable customers to make a decision to buy it.

Event press release

An event press release is a medium to promote a newsworthy event for a company. The aim of such a press release is to raise awareness among the media and also the general public.  

The event could be something your business is sponsoring, attending, or hosting. It could also be about a sale/ promotion or any noteworthy event about the company. Containing information about the venue, time, and date of the event.

It should also have additional information like dress code, parking facilities, ticket price if any of these are applicable. 

There is no point in sending a press release after an event or just one or two days before the event. It is to be distributed well in advance of the event.

It should let the readers know why your event is worth attending and what they are likely to benefit by attending. You also need to share information on how the press or the public, in general, can register for being able to attend the event. It should be in a convincing tone.

New hire press release

New hire press releases are used by a company to make public the important changes in leadership. This is a formal way of letting everyone- the customers, investors, competitors and the general public know about the new hire or promotion. It contains details like the new hire’s name, position, key responsibilities and priorities, background, and highlights from their career.  

Such kinds of press releases often include new hire’s headshot as an image and a quote from the new hire and from a senior member of the current executive team, each, to add a human element to the release.

Partnership press release

When a business decides to partner with another, releasing a press release is the best way to let the world know about it. This medium lets the world know why this partnership took place and how everyone is likely to benefit from it.

Other things that should be included in such a press release are other vital basics like how it would affect the customers of both companies, how long is the partnership for, vital outlines of the partnership agreement, etc. Also including an executive quote from both partner businesses is a perfect way, to sum up, such a release.

Distributing Your Press Release

The process you use to distribute your press releases is as important as the process that goes beyond its creation. Factors like the size of your business and budget help you determine the mode to choose for press release distribution

Tie up with a PR agency

Public relations agencies have the required experience and contacts that can help effectively distribute the press release of your business. They work with journalists and influencers who are experts on the codes of journalism. Apart from just distribution, the business could also outsource their press release writing requirements to such firms.

Press release distribution services

There are loads of PR forums available online. Such forums have an exhaustive database of journalists, bloggers, and influencers.

Distribution on social media

No business PR strategy can be called complete without social media. It is one of the easiest, cheap, fastest, yet effective mediums to create the presence of your business felt. Moreover, with online content customers can get the benefit of additional information very easily, with just a few clicks.

Own PR distribution list

A lot of small or medium-sized businesses also wish to handle their PR requirements themselves, in-house. Such businesses can create their own customized list of journalists and influencers.

The only factor that needs to be taken care of when your business wishes to adopt this medium is that it would have to dedicate specialized expertise and time resources for it.

A wide variety of press release solutions exist, and it is the business that needs to decide which ones to tap on, based on its budget and time constraints.

My Two Cents 

A press release can prove to be an effective content marketing tool. Writing SEO-friendly press releases at regular intervals can prove to be a very effective way to reach your target audiences. It can also work wonders on your business’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

A press release has been an effective medium to reach out to, and with SEO optimized press release, it is still and is likely to be an effective medium to generate organic ratings for your business.

And if you are still in doubt or are looking for press release writers for hire, contact the Towards90 team. We offer solutions for a wide variety of content marketing needs.

Give us a chance to be the reason behind those roaring profits!