A press release is one of the integral parts of every business and individual’s marketing plan. Due to its paramount importance and effectiveness, this marketing tool or written document is widely used in various industries around the world. Press release helps to gain organic exposure and popularity from the market and niche while boosting sales and growth of a business.
However, one common mistake is noticeable in every field: nothing but the quality of the content. While most users are so much indulged in press release distribution that they forget the writing part is crucial as well. Without a good quality PR, it is fairly impossible to gain desired results even if you manage to hire the best paid press release submission sites. The results gained from the campaign are directly proportional to the quality and effectiveness of the PR. Therefore, the better you can write and optimize; the chances of getting maximum media coverage increase.
If you are not aware of the tricks for optimizing your PR, here are some of the tips that you can utilize.
5 Simple Ways to Craft and Optimize Press Releases
Press release and SEO practices allow leveraging optimization and social interaction which eventually offers more exposure while improving brand awareness.
1. Find an Engaging Angle and Purpose for the PR
While a press release can be used for any kind of business announcement; it is your responsibility to figure out what can attract the readers or potential customers more through a written document. A story that comes with newsworthiness and relevance for the niche audience is something that attracts people more than just a piece of bland business news. Starting from its title to the body, there should be a compelling angle to your business story that engages readers even when they skim read. The PR should be offering a solution to a problem or should at least fulfill a need for the readers or else they will be more likely to skip it.
2. Understand Your Audience
When crafting an SEO-optimized press release, you need to keep your target audience in mind to tailor the message for the expected readers. The target audience for the PR can change with time and purpose and you need to understand it every time. This way, you not only create a high-quality PR but are also able to reach the audience with more precision and accuracy. For example, when you are PR is being written for the customers; you should be incorporating high-density keywords and simple language that makes more sense to the mass. But, when you write for journalists and reporters; the key lies in making the content more technical, official, and newsworthy.
3. Format and Technicality
A press release is written in a particular style and structure that churns out more authenticity. Its format and technicality are familiar to the readers, reporters, and marketers and thus, you should be following it too. Check out the elements and how you can use them.
- Create an attention-grabbing headline that will be read by 100% of the target readers. The challenge is to place the keyword while creating a brief and attractive headline within 70 characters.
- Utilize 5Ws and 1H: Who, what, where, when, why, and how. This help to answer the queries of the readers from the beginning of the content.
- Follow the inverted pyramid structure where the most essential facts are provided at the beginning of the content and then it generally leads to the source, quotes, and other details.
- The ideal length of a PR should not be more than 300 to 350 words but you can keep it up to 500 words.
- Avoid fluff and jargon.
- Keep the boilerplate clean with the necessary information regarding the company. You can also add social media links to this section which can gradually lead to media contacts.
4. Use Natural Links and Long-tail Keywords
Using natural links is the best way to make the PR appear more organically instead of spammy. With many keywords and hyperlinks stuffed into the text, the content looks less like a legitimate document for both the readers as well as the search engines. You can integrate the hyperlinks into an anchor text that makes more sense while guiding the readers to the relevant content on your website. The key lies in making flow more naturally which does not bother the flow of reading.
In terms of search engines, the terms and search phrases are categorized into two types, short tail, and long tail. While short-tail keywords are mainly formed with two or three words, long-tail keywords can consist of more words which helps in getting a more targeted result with precision and accuracy. Adding long tail keywords is what helps to optimize your PR for search engine result pages (SERP). It also adds more value to your audience. You can leverage it more by adding photos or other multimedia attachments that help to spice up the story.
5. SEO is Important but Doesn’t Get Carried Away
While optimizing your press release, it is easy to get carried away with the SEO practices to make your content more visible to the world. But the problem is, too much of it can hamper the quality of the press release. Do not sacrifice the readability of the content just for the sake of stuffing keywords in it. Make sure to go through proper keyword research before you start writing the content and list them out. Then opt for only the keywords that are relevant to your target audience and have a high search value. The key lies in making the PR look more natural with a smooth reading flow. So, do not worry about keyword density. A press release is a written document that is supposed to be read by millions of readers. Therefore, you should never compromise its reading value just because you are using it as a marketing tool.
Following the aforementioned tips will help you craft a highly optimized PR that is effective and capable of garnering attention from the target audience. Now, it is time for distribution!
Press release distribution requires a distribution network that should align with your industry so that you can gain maximum media coverage when the PR is being distributed. It usually contains several reputed newswires and media platforms that have a huge reader and online audience base. You can find many professional press release distribution websites which are ready to offer you all the services. All you need is to purchase a distribution package and you will get desired results within time. These paid services are quite reliable and offer results within a short duration.
However, these are paid packages. In case you are unable to invest currently, you can pitch the journalists personally who can publish your press release. If you are not aware of the fact of how to do it yourself, check the following steps.
- Shortlist Niche Journalists – The first and foremost thing to do is to make a list of journalists who work in the niche industry. Such journalists and reporters are always in search of up-to-date news based on the industry and being a newsworthy document, PR has a high demand among them. Search for their email ID and media contacts to pitch them directly.
- Pitching Email – Once you find out the journalists, you need to pitch them via email in a professional way that makes you appear like an authentic person or organization. Remember, they receive a lot of press releases every day and the industry is quite competitive. Therefore, make sure to add an attention-grabbing subject line that makes them go through the content. You also need to explain why your story can be valuable for the reporter and how did you find him.
- The Press Release – Instead of copying the PR content into the email’s body, sending a PDF of the press release is more professional and helpful. This way, the journalists can easily understand what the PR is about and can directly send the file to publish. Make sure to add the links correctly to help the media persons cross-check.
Final Thoughts
When you write the press release and pitch it directly to the journalists, it sure reduces a lot of budget due to the DIY approach but takes a lot of time to gain ample exposure. And there is no guarantee whether every PR campaign will be successful or not. Hiring a professional, on the other hand, allows more time to cultivate your PR to improve the approach while offering impactful results. So, make sure you write the press release in the right way, optimize it and send it out to the right people for distribution to gain effective results.
