March 9th, 2010 by Susie

Press releases can be an integral part of an internet marketing campaign. Even more so in a search engine optimization campaign as a well-constructed SEO press release can provide excellent backlinks for a website. Press releases are an excellent off-page SEO tool and can help increase exposure for a company, but like everything else in search engine optimization, content is king and press releases won’t be effective unless they are well thought-out and pack a serious punch.

A press release should predominantly be a method to socially promote a company and keep users up to date with its latest internal happenings, or to promote a new service or product that the company is offering. Unlike the link building strategies found in an SEO blog, press releases must be much shorter – usually a page in length – and should be more concise and to the point so that readers get the gist of the news quickly.

A well-constructed SEO press release will give the reader all the information they require about a company through nothing more than a simple scan. Pieces that should quickly catch the eye are contact details about a company including its address, phone number and contact email, as well as a short ‘About’ section containing information about the products and services the company offers. This can be an excellent section to slip a couple of hyperlinks into – ‘Dartmouth doors have been supplying the United Kingdom with oak doors for sixty years’, for example (oak doors being the keyword used as anchor text).

An interesting, eye-catching title will help to attract readers to a press release should they come across it. A press release should never be general on uninformative. The topic should always be eventful and detail a specific event that the company is attending or a new product that they wish to promote. If the topic is too general or too many press releases are submitted then major search engines may consider them as spam and penalise the website in question. Two a month should be of an appropriate frequency when performing SEO link building for most websites, though it is entirely at the company’s discretion.

Whatever the topic is for the press releases, all of its key information must be delivered as concisely and as thoroughly as possible in as few words as possible. A press release is also an excellent way for a company to communicate with its customers and show a more personal face, much in the way a company blog does.  Including a quote from a company representative can add some positive spin onto the story and show more of a human element to a topic. It is also a greatway to add SEO link building to your other SEO efforts – provided the quote flows and looks natural, of course!

A good search engine optimisation press release will be brief and to the point, getting as much information about the chosen topic in as possible. It should also include a positive quote and current contact details, alongside a short paragraph explaining what the company does and – of course – those all-important SEO links.

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