Tips on How to Leverage a Press Release to Boost Your SEO

SEO is inevitable and neglecting it only denies your business a competitive edge.

16:01 28 April 2022

Today, SEO is inevitable and neglecting it only denies your business a competitive edge. Thankfully, you can craft your press release in an SEO friendly way to add more value to the communication you intend to issue.

 

A press release allows you to communicate news, special announcements and events about your business in a powerful way. By combining it with an effective SEO strategy, your content can tick all the relevant boxes for your digital PR.

 

A press release can get search engines to index and count different links on your website when used well, and it can provide quality keyword-rich links to your website. Here are some tips to help you achieve that.

 

Select your keywords wisely.

When it comes to content optimization, keywords should be at the top of your mind. The first thing you should do is assess your next release topic, event or news. Assume you are a prospective customer searching for your latest release. What keywords will they use in their search?

 

Luckily many resources are available online to help you identify relevant keywords related to your company. Incorporating the appropriate keywords is an excellent way to optimize SEO in your press release, whether an article, video or interactive content.

 

Generate sharable headlines

The headline is the most critical aspect of a press release because it is the first thing prospective readers notice. It might also be the only thing that a reader bothers or manages to read in an age where readers have short attention spans.

 

Furthermore, the headline can boost or reduce the number of readers who interact with your content.

 

Unless you are crafting your press release for a specific audience, the headline should be informative and in natural language, free of jargon. It should have the following features:

 

• It should include the relevant keywords.
• It should be sharable across different social media platforms- keep the characters minimal.
• Incorporate the heart of the press release in the first 50-70characters. That provides clarity for search engine results.
• Headlines containing a number tend to do better than those without.
• Use subheadlines to provide more information on keywords.

 

Ensure your content is newsworthy

When crafting your press release content, keep the reader in mind. Regardless of how excellent your SEO strategy is, it cannot get the readers to interact with irrelevant or uninteresting content.

 

So what qualifies as newsworthy press content? Your answer to this question vastly depends on your audience. You should keep their interests in mind and ask yourself the following questions:

 

• What question will this press release answer?
• What will compel my readers in this press release?

 

Search engines like google have upgraded their algorithms to rank content that answers users' queries quickly. Additionally, content that inspires engagement through social media shares, clickthroughs, and reposts gets an extra boost on search engine page results.

 

Crafting content with a unique hook outreaching to journalists and bloggers for coverage is easier thanks to digital PR experts such as Type A. Some of the topics to capture in your press release includes:

 

• Special events.
• Promotions and giveaways.
• Company achievements.
• New products or services.
• Information resources.
• Charitable donations.
• Expansion of products or services.
• Staff/management changes etc.

 

Optimize the first 250words

It would be best to optimize the first 250words of your press release for two critical reasons. Firstly, it provides the reader with relevant information regarding your message and keeps them interested to read through the rest of the text.

 

Secondly, providing the relevant content upfront is suitable for search engines as it makes it easier for them to understand your press release and index it. Therefore ensure you give the meat of your message within the first 250words.

 

The proper use of hyperlinks

Hyperlinking the keywords in your press release contributes significantly to your SEO campaign. However, you must be keen to avoid common mistakes business owners make, such as overlinking. Good linking is a strategy you can achieve by placing your anchor text with a relevant keyword, and it indicates to the search engine what the linked page is about.

 

Search engines see your page as spammy when you go overboard with the hyperlinks and may ignore your link-building efforts. Others might even penalize your website for skimpy hyperlinking practices.

 

Incorporate a call-to-action

When readers are familiar with your company news at the end of your press release, utilize a call to action that allows the readers to follow up on the material they have read. You can achieve that by including a hyperlink on a relevant keyword. Note that the more logical the call-to-action placement, the more clicks it is likely to get.

 

The takeaway

Don't hesitate to experiment with various strategies to fine-tune your press releases in an SEO friendly way.